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David & Goliath and Glass Recycling

 

Guten Abend!

Today the temp got up to 60 and the sun came out, causing me to break out a summer top that I had just tucked away. I'm walking 2 or 3 miles a day now, and that's what's defined the last 3 or so days. 

On a walk through the Old City (Altstadt), I ran across this landmark. The building is called the Goliathhaus, and was built in 1260. The painting was done in 1573. There's a certain atmosphere one feels when walking around such venerable old structures. I can't help but think that walking would not have been so pleasant back when the buildings were new. They didn't have modern plumbing, for one. Think about it. The streets would have been running sewers, with all the accompanying sights and smells. Now shops like the one seen here have modern plumbing and electricity, all nicely retrofitted. I visited several bookstores (one that had books in English as well, although not the sort I usually read), and an art store, as well as spotting places that I might go to should we stay and need to outfit an apartment. Trouble is, I don't think I could find them again without wandering around! 

The big orange truck is collecting glass for recycling. I was on my way to throw my empty glass containers and bottles into these bins just a little way down the street from our apartment, and got to see how they empty them. The Germans recycle their glass, and the big gray containers separate the brown glass from the green, and the 'white' (clear). I'm a grown adult, but I get a perverse pleasure out of throwing my bottles into the hole near the top of the container and hearing it clash and smash inside. The boom that hoists and holds the big containers pulls them apart at the bottom like a clam shell and all that glass goes crashing into the truck bed. Noisy for sure, but fun to watch and hear. I thought maybe I was being a tourist looky-loo stopping to watch this, but a German guy on a bike stopped to watch, too. I can imagine kids fighting over whose turn it is to throw the bottles. 

The sun came out this afternoon, and so did a lot of people to walk or jog or bike, and parents pushing strollers. We walked to the Baggersee after church and circled around it again, walking for a whole hour. I spotted two mute swans, big and white and beautiful, resting on a little island in the lake. 

Enjoy your Sunday!

Ciao




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