Evening Stroll Around Augsburg

Hazy Lazy Sunday

I decided to take a walk around the neighboorhood this morning.

This tree caught my attention:

I  could hear the buzzing from the bees well before I could see them:

The individual flowers were very delicate and pretty:

I am very intrigued by this flowering bush:

Not sure what this is, but I like it:

I have seen several of these creations in various places around Germany:

I was curious about what used to be here given that that horseshoes don't seem to go with the apartment building that is currently behind the fence:

I just liked this:

All through my walk, the sun was definitely trying to peek through the volcanic ash haze:

P.S.

So R and I took the round-about tour of Augsburg at the tail end of our  drive "home" this evening.  And by round-about tour, I mean we went through 7 round-abouts in maybe a mile.  It went from "okay, whatever" to "this is getting kinda ridiculous" to "okay this is kinda funny now!"

Butterfly

I kinda like the butterfly - graffiti combination  :)

Fuggerei

On Saturday I took the tram into downtown Augsburg. My main goal was to make it to the Fuggerei Museum, but it was also interesting to see everyone out and about the one day of the holiday weekend when stores and such were actually open.

The concept of the Fuggerei intrigued me the first time that I heard about it not only because it the oldest social housing complex in the world, but also because the entrance and rent requirements have not changed in the almost 500 years that it has been around.

I was able to walk through a coupl of apartments.  The first was one that has been modernized:

There is another apartment that is attached to the museum that is set-up in pre-1900 fashion:

One of the more notable past residents is Franz Mozart, great-grandfather of the Mozart:

Some random shots:

 

And a few shots from new explorations of Augsburg:

City Galerie

I had heard reports about the City Galerie being a pretty good mall, so Thursday evening I went to check it out and to pick up a couple of things (such as some flat shoes since my feet don't like the heels and cobblestones combination).  It felt like a mall.  Lots of store names that I didn't recognize - the only one that I did that I can think of at the moment was The Body Shop.  But my shopping trip was successful, so I'd be totally willing to go back!

I walked through some parts of downtown Augsburg that I hadn't been in before.

Local Sightings

Between the daylight savings time switch, and the fact that the garden pictured below was covered with pine boughs just last week, it is definitely springtime in Germany! Despite that the temperature had dropped quite a bit these past couple of days.

Another site that I often pass on my way into work in Augsburg is this wood pile that I find very impressive:

Plus, it is so true that sometimes it really is the little things. I am very used to sitting in a cubicle with a desk and walls that are grey, in a room with no windows. Having spent the past week and a half or so working off site, both locations that we have been at have plenty of windows in the office which is more than a little refreshing.

From where I sat in Augsburg prior to our move to the containers earlier today, the window straight in front of me perfectly frames the church steeple pictured below.

After spending so much time looking at it, I took a walk during lunch on Monday to investigate.

The stones at the front of the church had a cross pattern in them:

I thought that the moss growing in the cracks between many of the stones was pretty cool too:

Also, there was a very intriguing statue outside the main entrance to the church:

Today R and I spent the latter half of our work day in Manching again. Prior to heading into the office there, we swung by Ingolstadt. This brief detour gave me my first ever sighting of the Danube!

We got caught in a rainstorm pretty close to getting back to the hotel.  It wasn't a total loss since there was a full rainbow over the cemetary across the street.

Best. Yogurt. Ever.

After getting back to the hotel after work today, I decided to head down to the grocery store to grab some dinner. 

There was definitely a good storm brewing as I was walking to the store - and thanks to not having grabbed my umbrella, I got to walk through some of it on the way back from the store.  I got some pretty good pics of the storm rolling in though:

I am a big fan of Oiko’s Greek Yogurt, particularly the honey flavor, back in The States. This might actually top that:

The marzipan yogurt was AMAZING! Yesterday I tried some walnut-macadamia flavored yogurt from the same brand. If I had to rank them, I would go with the marzipan, Oiko’s honey and then the walnut-macadamia.

Pussy Willows

I've always been a fan of pussy willow, and have been noticing a lot of them around here - carrying them, in gardens, in the cemetary, etc.  Or even as door decorations such as here:

According to several online sources, in areas too far north for palms to grow, pussy willow is often used instead, with Bavaria being one of the mentioned locations where this is common.

Out and About

Yesterday was a very good day adventure wise.  One of my coworkers and I got to take a field trip to another site that is about 80km from where we are currently working for a meeting.

There was lots of farmland (as well as "eau de cow" courtesy of the fertilizer being used) being prepped.  One thing that that stood out were these:

The first one is a bit blurry but I thought that the telephone pole was good for scaling purposes.  We were both a bit confused for a minute but then R determine that they are for growing hops!

We got to the area a bit early and while he grabbed some lunch, I walked around Manching and took some pictures.  It is a cute little town:

I also got to enjoy a few flybys from a Eurofighter:

After getting back to Augsburg, I enjoyed another awesome German sunset:

I joined the guys when they headed downtown for dinner.  However, instead of having dinner with them, I wandered around and took pictures.  :)

The town square had some very cool cobblestone patterns:

St. Ulrich's and St. Afra's Abbey:

Augsburger Rathaus:

And some fun with time lapse: