my life

Or, Europe 101.

I say "Europe" because while each country is distinct in its culture and language, the appearance and most customs are quite similar. Or maybe, that's just to the untrained observer, like myself.

I took a few pictures around Schwedelbach, which is the village where Chris lives and where I stayed for my vacation. These pictures will provide some idea of how most villages in that part of Europe look. First, though, be advised that with the exception of the big cities, such as Frankfurt and Munich, most everyone lives in a village. The homes are very close and the streets very narrow. They are generally surrounded by acres of farmland and two-lane roads without shoulders upon which the natives drive like a bat out of hell. Here's a picture of Schwedelbach from the bike path, about two miles away.

Note that cozy, nestled feeling.

Also, there are bicycle/walking paths literally everywhere, connecting one village to another and occasionally stretching for miles along the autoban. They paved and well-kept affairs, and the natives use them. We could learn much from this....

Now, a shot of the street where Chris lives.

A couple of the houses in the picture are works in progress. This is also a very common sight in Germany: homes being built by the owner in his spare time. The process takes years. The two here haven't made it to the outer layer yet, but the owners have been occupying them for some time now, and I daresay the insides of them are immaculate.

The homes are built of cinderblocks. The rooves are clay tiles--usually red. The windows of the newer homes have brilliant contraptions known as "Rolladens." Apparently, you can get them anywhere--at a price. I've not seen them in America, though. In Germany, they are standard on all new homes like cupholders are in American cars. Rolladens are activated electronically from indoors and the shutter drops to cover and actually seal off the entire window. Within minutes, you can have an entire room or your whole home cavelike. (Hear that, shiftworkers? No more aluminum foil! The neighbors would be so happy.) Rolladens are also quite secure and make your home not be the target of opportunity it was before for thieves.

As you can tell, I'm quite enamored of them. I want Rolladens in much the same way that I want a heating system like the newer German homes: one that creates heat under the floor. Smart, huh? Warm floor, heat rises. Also, provided you dress appropriately, far less energy is required to keep your home warm than we use here with central heating.

So anyway.

Note the brick street and sidewalks and gutters and driveways in that picture. Bricks are everywhere. They are incredibly durable as paving materials. I suspect we avoid such things here more often than not because more skill is required to install them, they take longer, and they're more than likely far more expensive than blacktop or cement. Depending on the type of brick, they may be less safe, though. But they are beautiful. Here's another street in Schwedelbach.

And a courtyard down the street with a very popular wave design...

People do not have "yards" there; they have "gardens." Gardens, like driveway/patio brickwork, are a point of pride. From what I've seen also, they are created and maintained by homeowners, not professional gardeners. The ability to cultivate beautiful gardens is apparently something learned with the ABCs. Here are some samples from around Schedelbach.

We visited Munich for a couple of days and I noticed that even those people who live in apartment buildings will have big, healthy plants on their windowsills and tasteful flower pots on the balconies. It simply isn't a home unless it has plants.

Each time I visit Europe, I think the gardens--flowers in profusion--that impresses me most.

Enough for now. Time for bed.

d