A trip to the coast

The weather is beautiful today. We are helping Eve to dry out her tent from the camping trip but we were messing around so much that she put us in the tent and we can’t get up to anything any more.

In the afternoon we went to the beach with Eve’s friend Liesa, she’s South African and really funny! Nobody told us that the weather in Ireland can be nice, it’s 27 degrees today (very hot for Ireland) and we’re sitting here in long trousers, heavy boots and coats! The beach was lovely, Dublin has lots of them close to the city as it’s right at the coast and we went to one at a place called Sandymount in South Dublin City. The tide was out and there were lots of people there and in the distance between Howth Peninsula and Dun Laoghaire (yes, Irish place names are sometimes really weird, you pronounce this “Dun Leary”) there were lots of sailing boats and yachts in Dublin Bay. This is us at the beach, the big blob over Paul’s head is a massive dog, we were a little bit scared but he seemed nice. The other photo shows all the boats.

Eve plays Tag Rugby and was helping out a team today but because we were running late (well, it’s really Eve’s fault, she talked to her friend for too long) we didn’t get a chance to take pictures. But next Wednesday she is playing with her own team again so there will be plenty of time to kick the ball around. We heard it’s a funny shape, a bit like an egg, we didn’t even get to see because we were stuck in the bag the whole time.

We visit Ireland

After a long and complicated trip we are finally in Ireland. We just got collected at the post office (Oifig an Phoist) and are on our way home. We are staying with a girl called Eve, she is 27 and from Hannover in Germany but has been living in Ireland for over 7 years, we are with her in Dublin now, where she has been living for about 5 years. This is us on the Luas, the tram, which is one of the three means of public transportation in Dublin. The seats have prints of several sights on them.  

We were so tired from the trip that we just went home to relax, Eve was tired as well as she just came back from a camping trip in Dingle which we unfortunately missed but there will be loads of exciting things happening over the next couple of days so we’re not too sad! 

Irish cuisine!

We did a lot of food shopping and cooking today. Eve always cooks dinners for 2-3 weeks ahead because she doesn’t like to cook in the evening after a long day in work, so we helped her make 5 big pots full of food. Hans got a bit too curious and hungry, he almost fell into the Bolognese but he wouldn’t have minded too much, he could’ve eaten his way out.

In the evening we went outside for a while, Eve lives right by the canal which goes right across Dublin and when the weather is nice it’s beautiful to sit there and read or have a chat with friends. Eve has her theory test for her driver’s licence tomorrow afternoon so she did some studying but we wanted to talk to her so we just sat on the book. Here in Ireland you don’t have to do lessons for the theory test; you just buy a book and learn all the answers. So fingers crossed she passes the test, she’s a bit worried!

We visit the palace gardens Harbke

Today we visited the former border town Harbke with the romantic palace gardens, a manor and the palace church.
 

The manor was built in 1308 as a medieval round castle in renaissance style and redesigned in the 18th century in baroque style.

Here they cultivated foreign woods and close to the church you can find which is probably the oldest ginkgo in Germany. It was planted in 1759 and it's very comfortable to sit in. (Fotos 3 und 4)

We also looked at the different sculptures in the park, how exciting! Even Goethe visited in 1805 and studied the wild breeding of trees.

On Sunday we were allowed to be there for the honey harvest.

First the honey combs were opened with a special fork. The opened combs are extracted in the honey separator and at the bottom the yummy sweet honey comes flowing out.

We had an exciting time and learned a lot.

Now we have to say goodbye as we have another trip planned.

All the best, Hans and Paul.

 

A day with bees

Our hosts have 3 colonies of bees. Yesterday we were allowed to come for inspection. It was really exciting, we were even promised to be received in audience with the queen. We were so nervous!

First we had a look around the entrances. Here you could watch the bees entering and exiting. There was heavy air traffic.

Such a colony always has a guard at the entrance; they're taking care that no predator like wasps or strange bees are coming in.

Many bees had yellow back legs, which is the pollen load (although the German name for that is much funnier, pollen trousers), the beekeeper told us. When looking for nectar the pollen get stuck to the back legs, are brought into the beehive and stored in the honeycomb. Pollen is the "bread" for the bees.
Then we watched the bees in a different hive, can you see the orange pollen load? In this hive they're rearing a new colony of bees. The beekeeper found a queen cell in a different colony. It's where the new queen is growing. This queen cell is put into a different hive together with bees, feeding combs and brood cells. That's how you have a new queen for the next year as they're getting older and don't lay as many eggs. So exciting!

 

Then we opened the first colony. So many bees! Right now you can find around 40.000 bees in a well developed colony. The bees like to build wildly in the hive when they find the space. Have a look, that's what it's like.

 We also looked closer at a brood comb. Here you can see freshly laid eggs, larvae and closed cells. The shiny bit in the honey comb on the photo are little bee larvae which are growing and looked after by the nursing bees. The little larvae are fed with a feeding juice, which is mainly pollen but also nectar.

 We were amazed at how busy the bees were, everybody seems to have a job around here. You can also see the male bees, they're bigger and can't sting.

And then the big moment came: the queen!!!

 This one is easily recognised as she has a marking on the back. This is a backfast queen, which is the name of the bee and both beekeepers were impressed. An amazing animal! During summertime she lays up to 2.000 eggs daily! Astonishing, isn't it? And so that she doesn't fly away the beekeeper looks for queen cells. They are removed or put into a different hive to create a new colony.

In the honey combs behind us you can see it shining yellow, that's the honey! Yummy! The queen had to leave quite soon, must be very busy!

Next week we're allowed to watch the honey separation and help with it, let's see how that's going to be! We'll be in touch!

See you then,

Hans and Paul.

Welcom to Beckendorf

 Hi there,
we have arrived safely here in Beckendorf and welcomed by a warm hearted family. There is even a real knight in this area, but see for yourself!
 

We visit Kaufungen

Today we are visitin Kaufungen, a smal town nex to Kassel.

 Kaufungen has a nice museum. It is located in this blue and white old half-timber house. 

Unfortunately it was closed.

Inside of the frontgarden is a big bug house and a huge herb garden. Besides the main house is a smaler half-timber house. There is a seminar hous for children to work like as it used to be.

 

In the northan part of Hesse are a lot of hiking path. Here are two signs of  hiking path and a resting area for hikers. We took a smal brake and enjoyed the nice summer day...

Kaufungen is a 1000 years old town. Here are a long old stables.

In 1017 Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor and his queen Kunigunde of Luxemburg founded Kaufungen Abbey, a Benedictine convent, perched on the steep edge of the Losse valley above what is now the centre of Oberkaufungen. Upon the death of her husband, Kunigunde entered the convent, and lived there until her death in 1033 or 1039. The Reformation brought the closure of the convent in 1527, but the large church (the Stiftskirche) is still standing and in use as a parish church today. At various points in its history, Kaufungen has been a local centre for mining, glass-making, charcoal burning, forestry and paper manufacture.

The farming settlement of Niederkaufungen, situated slightly downriver where the narrow Losse valley begins to open out into the wide, flat plain of the Fulda, is of more recent origin. In 1970 the villages of Nieder- and Oberkaufungen formally merged to form the present municipality. Since 1974, the Stiftskirche has played host to the Kaufunger Konzerte series of classical music concerts. (Wikipedia)

This is the Stiftskirche.

This is a memorial stone for Kunigunde.

Next to the church is a sign with a fairy-tale written on it. The region of Kassel and Kaufungen are the homeland of the Grimm Brothers.

This is the inner courtyard of the Stiftshof next to the Stiftskirche. At summertime here takes place a lot of concerts and other events.

Behind the Stiftshof is a nice old garden. We make a smal brake and enjoyed the natur.

Here was the old cloister.

This is a portrait of Kunigunde

This is the info board under Kunigundes portrait.

Do you finde us sitting on the funny door of the cloister.

This is a beautiful traditional hand-carved door.

Have a look at the nice town Kaufungen. There are a lot of old half-timber houses.

Kaufungen is build nex to the Losse a smal nice river

Also next to the Losse is also a sign with a fairy-tale.

In front of the townhall is a interesting monument. It shows four people which symbolize the old and the new citizen of the two neighbourhoods of Kaufungen named Oberkaufungen and Niederkaufunegn.