Friday, August 07, 2009

Adventures in Travel, Part 3: Sculptures, Language, and Precocious Children

Here are a few odds and ends about travel in Germany.

Sculptures.


One of the interesting things about the city of Singen is the so-called “Skulpt Tour.” This is a pun on the word “Skulptur” (or sculpture in English), and refers to a self-guided tour of the city you can take to look at a wide variety of sculptures that have been commissioned and installed as part of the city's cultural and beautification program.

Now, I enjoy fine art - especially music and painting - but I don't understand a lot of sculpture, particularly the more abstract pieces. Especially an utterly incomprehensible piece of sculpture located on the pedestrian mall in the middle of town and titled "The Tree of Life." Here are a full view and a few closeups...

If you ever visit Singen, this is a must don't-see. The rest of the sculpture is fine. Or, at least, not outrageous.

Language.

Compared to that of most Americans, my German is pretty good. Unfortunately, the German I learned in school isn't what anyone speaks here...especially Agnes's parents. Her father combines several different dialects and he mumbles a lot. Her mother speaks the local dialect at about a million miles an hour. I smile and nod a lot.

Precocious Children.

Traveling with a small child has its ups and downs. Leya has had a tough time with jet lag and the change in her schedule, and it's been trying for her mother and for her grandparents and great-grandparents. We're all surviving, but poor Leya has not enjoyed the trip as much as she might.

We went swimming at the local Freibad (open-air pool) yesterday, and when Leya came out of the pool she wanted to get out of her wet suit and swim pants quickly. She then entertained us by running in circles shouting, "Naked baby, naked baby!!"

No, I do not have any pictures.

And that's all for tonight...it's late and I need to go to bed so that I'll be well-rested for tomorrow...when the weather is supposed to turn stormy.

Wonderful.

Have a good day. More thoughts tomorrow.

Bilbo

5 comments:

Leslie David said...

The statues are uh, certainly interesting. :) Poor Leya, too bad she's having so much trouble adapting to the time change, but I'm sure she'll be eternally grateful when she's 16 and you tell the story about her yelling "naked baby, naked baby," that there are no pictures to accompany it.

Amanda said...

LOL! A "must don't-see". That sculpture certainly does look strange.

Its a shame about poor little Leya. She's too little to know why she's not feeling so good either. I feel bad for her mom too....especially since she might have to deal with Leya's jet lag after the trip too.

I hope you're all still enjoying your time there.

Mike said...

When you come to St. Louis I'll take you to Laumeier Scupture park.
http://www.laumeier.com/

KKTSews said...

At least your trip is long enough that she'll adjust before you come home?
Remember that dialects are FAR more intelligible after you've had a couple beers or glasses of wine :)

The Mistress of the Dark said...

LOL @ the naked baby shouting. I got your post card yesterday...fast mail from Germany!