Pure coincidence that Rod Stewart’s exquisite album came out in 1971. But this picture really DOES tell a story. There are 3 butchers’ vans in a row at the Mainz…
The recent plague of babies population explosion around here has left us with a surfeit of storks (I have it on v. good authority that that’s the collective noun.) which…
..of Mary Whitehouse, what filthy mind designed that lighthouse” Mary Whitehouse was a firebrand protectress of public morals in Britain in the 1960s and 70s – Sisyphus springs to mind……
For 20-odd years, Senfkorn (“Mustard Seed – here’s the parable)has been a meeting point for folks with alcohol or psychological problems, where they could feel secure among their peer and…
A DHL delivery van brightens up an early morning Mainz, recovering after a good summer storm thumping yesterday afternoon. I’ve experienced some good storms around here, but this was closer…
This Riesling certainly packs a punch! 135% alcohol! They’re normally between 13% and 14%. They forgot the decimal point, you say? Oh…..
Heat waves have differing intensities depending on where you live, it appears. I was in the UK over the weekend and – in a land where anything warmer than 25°C…
This is in INCHES. What do you mean “You turned the ruler the wrong way for the top section plans and forgot that the bottom section is in centimetres” So…
Then we shall begin. An invitation to rest a while at Dicke Lilli’s in the Gaustrasse. Nice enough place, but really naff coffee and full of yapping wimmin. I kept…
Not sure which one of the two is of the original series – this (found behind the Gartenfeldplatz) or this. Local authorities abound on this issue….
There are these ones, of course, but I’m trying to avoid brutal modernism as much as I can these days… Used to be gas, now electric bulbs, LEDs can’t be…
You’ll find insect hotels like this all over the place – the German Friends of the Earth organization has them on their website as a DIY kitset for €40. This…
Grasshopper, actually. They grow them big around here – this one was the size of a small dog. I kept out of the way in case it mistook me for…
Ronald Huckels must be the friendliest guy on the market in Mainz. He’s usually there Tuesdays and Fridays selling organic sourdough bread and other goodies and I’ve never experienced him…
The SPD – Germany’s left-ish opposition party – has a discussion forum set up on the Schillerplatz. The slogan is a play on words – “Gute Aussichten für 2013” can…
Some bugger is running around, defacing manpersonhole covers with graffiti, declaring his everlasting PDAs for Lena I thought that was my job…..
We famous people know what it’s like, right? You’re out and about, hidden behind the RayBan Wayfarers, and people recognise you and then pretend NOT to recognise you. We just…
…or not to spray, that is the question. Whether ’tis Nobler in the mind to suffer The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Chemicals, Or to put up with bits of…
This morning, I did my Good Samurai act in saving Cynthia, Judy and Carol (all originally from New Jersey, but now spread between there, Baltimore and Texas) from a fate…
….my dear Watson Furred-up (and otherwise stuffed) heating elements on display at an electrician in the Neustadt
The hoolie on the Gartenfeldplatz a few weeks back was really quite excellent. And not only for N’Eis’s ices. Café Prego is a 1968 10hp Piaggio Ape 400, fitted out…
It was my birthday a couple of days back. This turned up outside the house the following day. Better late than never, I suppose. (They could have left the keys…
When you’re 1000 or so years old, things can start getting a bit shonky. Not talking of personal experience, of course, but Mainz cathedral is a bit like the Golden…
As were my legs 2/3 the way up the steps from Walpodenstrasse to Terrassenstrasse. AND carrying the bike. Bloody hell, it’s a climb. And it’s not as if we’re getting…
When I was in London last week for a school reunion of the Westlakers diaspora*, Paul from kaffeekommune zwei recommended that I rock on over to Talkhouse Coffee in Portobello…
The Nagelsäule, Dom and various green bits. Trees, I think.
It’s a sad commentary on the times that orchardists are having to fence off their groves and risk being beaten up (happened the other week) if they challenge someone stripping…
Drais is a village with a fair bit of history. Settlements dating back to the Celts and the late Iron Age (850–450 B.C.E.). Pretty much par for the course around…
Non, le Gare de Mayence. Cornrowed lavender at the main station
…intentionally blurred images, I held the camera (well, iPhone….) against the car window as Ms jb thrashed along the Autobahn at death-defying speeds. His last major sale was $34m for…
This figure is a constant in Mainz, appearing in expected and unexpected locations. This flanking the steps leading up from Walpodenstrasse to the Terrassenstrasse She’s also been featured frequently at…
Mainz Daily Photo 