Because of bad planning on my part, Hans and Maria expect me in Karlsruhe on Saturday. I arrive in early evening. The train is actually on time (German trains have been mostly late on this trip).
Sunday morning we take a walk around the park by the “Schloss” (castle).
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- A small part of the Schloss in Karlsruhe
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- Pond in the Schloss park
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- In the park near the Schloss
In the afternoon Gabi and Wolfgang are coming for coffee. Hans and Wolfgang used to work together. I met Gabi and Wolfgang in 1978, when they were in Albuquerque. I was still married, my daughter was 13 months old, and we were planning a trip to Europe. The woman who was helping me refresh German and give me vocabulary for little-people things like “high chair” introduced me to Gabi. Hans and Maria came to visit Gabi and her husband and mentioned they would be living in Virginia for a year. As it turned out, we were moving to the same area about the same time.
I saw Hans and Maria a few years ago, but I hadn’t seen Wolfgang and Gabi for at least 30 years. It was really great to be back in touch. And Hans and Maria hadn’t seen them for some years either, so they seemed happy to have a reason to get together.
Monday was spent running errands. I found that my watch wasn’t working, I was trying to fix the jewelry I was planning to send to Longwy for the show on September 1, and I needed to get some more money at the bank. It turned out that the beads I bought didn’t work and the works in my watch were shot. The one success: I was able to get money.
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- Downtown sculpture of a man sitting on a trash container
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- Schloss, another view
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- Park near my friends’
A second trip to the shopping area got my package to Longwy mailed, the beads that didn’t work returned to the store, my watch picked up and a new watch found at Karstadt (a relatively nice department store chain). It was a little tough finding a watch that wasn’t too expensive — no Timex or Swatch in sight. And I wasn’t up for Movado and the expensive brands. I finally settled for a Rivado, which is the Karstadt brand and which worked with my watchband.
After I packed, I watched the news with Maria and Hans. Maria and I then were up even later when a French film, dubbed into German, came on. She said it was supposed to be a good film. I started watching — until it ended after 2 a.m. It was a good film, but I’m not sure of the title. And it was a short night.
diane's fused glass 