>The classic Mainz picture postcard view of the “Weinhaus zum Spiegel (Mirror)” with the spire of the cathedral on the right.

The Spiegel – built in the 17th C, destroyed by bombs in 1942 and rebuilt in the postwar period – is another of the classic “don’t-trust-anyone-under-60” wine bars. Used to be, anyway.

This is the top end of the Augustinerstrasse.

The narrow alley to the left takes you past the residence of Cardinal Karl Lehmann, Bishop of Mainz, to the Bischofsplatz.

To the right you’ve got the Leichhof – literally “corpse yard” -and originally the cathedral’s cemetery.

And it’s interesting to see how words migrate from this example

My grandfather lived way up on the Yorkshire Moors and talked about the Lyke Wake Walk, which is a 40 mile walking route over the North Yorkshire Moors and refers to the vigil over the body between death and burial.

Now, “Wache” is the German word for “guard” and the combination with “Leiche” gives you the meaning of the Old English word.

And “Finnegan’s Wake“, which is a pretty good yarn.

12 Jun This entry was published on 12 June, 2007 at 06:29. It’s filed under Uncategorized and tagged Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.