Bath Bridge Club visit their Counterparts in Braunschweig.

Judy from the Bath Bridge Club presents a lovely blue fruit bowl to the Chairman of the Braunschweig Bridge Club.   A lovely gift to Braunschweig Bridge Club from the City of Bath, Bath Bridge Club and Bath Bridge and Games Club.

 

The Bath/Braunschweig Twinning Association fosters cultural and educational exchange visits between the two cities.  The cities were formally twinned in April 1971.  More information about the twinned cities can be read in the link below.

City of Bath Twinning - Mayor of Bath

mayorofbath.co.uk/twinning-associations

The Charter Trustees of the City of Bath assist the Twinning Associations to maintain the links.  The Bath/Braunschweig Twinning Association has a Facebook page

 

The Bath Bridge Club members visited the Altstadtrathaus Museum, and viewed the model of the old medieval town, enclosed within walls and a moat, formed by diverting the River Oker to flow around the city. 

 

 

Eva standing centre, took us up onto the balcony to view the Altstadt quarter of the city.

 

 

Members of the club standing with some of the "Everyday Figures" by Chrystal Leichner, that are on display throughout the city.  Paul Vaughan, Chairman of the Deutsch/English Association in Braunschweig, is standing in the white jacket almost centre.

 

The group seeking the shade of a tree in the Burgplatz.

 

In the background can be seen the found of the city´s "The Castle of Henry the Lion" and the "Lion Monument."  The building was damaged during WW2, and this is a modern rebuild.

 

Henry and his English Queen Matilda Plantagenet, the daughter of King Henry ll and his wife Eleonore of Aquitaine.   She was born at Windsor Castle in 1156, and died in Braunschweig on 28th June 1189.   Please read more about Henry in the link below.  Some say the the marriage of these two people, made Matilda the first member of the English twinning association.

 

The Bridge Club members returned to Bath on Monday 29th May.

Henry the Lion - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_the_Lion

Henry the Lion (German: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty and Duke of Saxony, as Henry III, from 1142, and ...

 

 

Day 6 Tuesday 23rd May - Dover to Calais on the Ferry and the Long Journey Back to Braunschweig.

On board the ferry at Dover.

 

After the last early start of the six day holiday, we arrived in at the port for our 9am ferry crossing.  The sea resembled a smooth pond and the sky was blue, and as the White Cliffs disappeared over the horizon, I waited to feel a pang of regret at leaving England!   No pang of any description arrived, only a feeling of freedom, that I was going back to my lovely flat in Timmerlah, near in Braunschweig.  I eventually got home at 11pm, completely kaput!

 

My fellow singers felt more sadness than me at leaving, as they loved the small houses and villages in the green and pleasant landscape of Southern England.  

Bye bye England.

 

The crossing was a dream, and as England disappeared I went up front to watch Calais arriving on the other side.  I had completely forgotten how narrow are the Straits of Dover.

Arriving in Calais after the 1:5 hour cruise.

Yet another Wurst and coffee stop in Antwerp.

 

The journey from Calais to Braunschweig is 438 miles by motorway, a long journey, but we stopped every two hours for the driver to take a break.  The German coach had its own little kitchen, so hot Wurst wrapped in bread was available at 2E a time, and a coffee at 1E.

 

Monika and I started organising this trip in the summer of 2016, and after a lot of work on both sides of the English Channel, the visit went without a hitch.   Thanks go the the City Council in Braunschweig and to the Mayor and Mayoress in Bath, and also to their office  staff in Bath Guildhall.  Thanks also to the Bath/Braunschweig Twinning Association, and the Deutsch/English Society in Braunschweig, who both assisted with the arrangements.

 

Most of all thanks to all the singers and friends who made the visit a memorable occasion.  I am particularly happy to say that no singer was lost in Bath!  My biggest fear was playing "hunt for lost singers" in Bath´s congested streets and visitor attractions on a hot afternoon.

 

A lovely trip, which maybe we can repeat in another year or so.

 

The End!

 

 

Day 5, Monday 22nd May - A visit to Avebury and Sissinghurst Castle.

 Our "Ulli Reisen" coach in the car park at Avebury.

 

We left our Swindon hotel after yet another early start, and set off to Avebury, where we arrived before 9am, to find ourselves alone in the carpark.   I had forgotten to tell the staff about our coach party visit, and received a bit of a ticking off for not doing so!   I had organised all the other visits down to the final detail, but I somehow forgot to  tell the staff at Avebury, the famous stone circle almost on my Devizes doorstep.

 

We spent an hour waiting for everything to open at 10am, and once coffee and snacks from the café were available, all ran smoothly.  The National Trust shop also opened, and after  souvenir shopping and refreshments, we boarded the coach and set of for Sissinghurst Castle in Kent.

Avebury - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avebury

Avebury (/ ˈ eɪ v b r i /) is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in ...

 

In the gardens at Sissinghurst Castle.

Sissinghurst Castle Garden | National Trust

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden

The National Trust's Sissinghurst Castle and Garden, near Cranbrook, Kent, is the famous garden of writer Vita Sackville-West.

Most of us climbed up the tower to see the wonderful view over the gardens and surrounding countryside.

 

The oast houses in the grounds are now used as the visitor centre and souvenir shop.

 

The weather was beautiful, with an almost cloudless sky and warm sunshine.  I'd never visited the Castle before, and I felt lucky that we had chosen such a wonderful day on which to do so.

Two of our singers enjoying the peace and quiet of the gardens.

 

We left Sissinghurst at around 4pm, and travelled back to the "Ramada Hotel in Dover for the night.   We all enjoyed our last wonderful day in England with a good evening meal in the hotel.   Two successful visits in one day, what more could we ask for.

 

Day 6 follows tomorrow, and then my daily diary of the visit will be complete.

Watch this space!

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4 Sunday 21st May - Singing in St Michael's without and a visit to the Roman Baths.

 

Waggum Ladies' Choir with the Mayor of Bath and his wife standing centre.

 

 Monika standing with scarf centre, the choir secretary discussion the order of service in St Michael´s Without in Bath.

 

After another early start to avoid the traffic in Bath, we arrived in plenty of time to be seated before the service.  The Mayor and Mayoress of Bath arrived at 10.15, and after the formalities, the service began with the exchanging of gifts from Braunschweig to Bath, and gifts from Bath to all the singers and families in the choir.   We sang three songs within the service itself, and at the end during coffee and tea time, we sang several more in both  English and German. 

 

It was a moving experience, and at the very end we sang "Think of Me, Remember Me"  a heartfelt song from our hearts to those of the people of Bath.  The Mayoress a former choir singer, joined in singing with the sopranos, which was a lovely gesture.

 The ladies of the second sopranos.

St Michael's Church, Bath - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Michael's_Church,_Bath

St Michael's Church, Bath ... St Michael's Church is a Church of England parish church ... the parish reverted to its original name of St Michael's Without.

 

 The lady altos sat opposite the first and second sopranos.

After the service we rejoined the coach, and drove off to the Riverside coach park, and from midday until 1.45pm, we had free time for shopping in Bath.

The Roman Baths.

 

  At 1.45pm we all met again outside the Roman Baths for an afternoon visit.  The sun was shining, and we all found the visit really fascinating.

 

Dinner at "The Angel Hotel" in Chippenham.

 

The choir members had requested dining at some point during the holiday in a traditional old coaching inn.   I found two local Inns for dinner, and we visited the lovely "Bear Hotel" in Devizes on Saturday evening and "The Angel Hotel" in Chippenham, both former 17th and 18th cent. coaching inns.

 

Day 5 will arrive tomorrow.  Hang on in!

 

 

Day 3, singing "Lass die Sorgen" at Devizes Wharf.

Thanks Angelika for making this videoclip in the rain at Devizes Wharf.

Please scroll DOWN for the main news about the visit to Bath.

Day 3 in Devizes - singing "Annchen von Tharau" in the rain at the Wharf.

Thanks Angelika for this videoclip of the choir singing at Devizes Wharf.

Please scroll DOWN for the main blog about the visit to Bath.

Day 3 Saturday 20th May - Bath and Devizes.

 

 Waggum Ladies' Choir, seen here singing in Waggum, a small village just outside Braunschweig.

 

***

This was the day everyone had been waiting for, the chance to visit Braunschweig's twin city.   As usual we had an early start, and after breakfast left Swindon for the M4 and Junction 18, where we hoped to meet our German speaking guide Otto, for a guided tour around Bath.   We were supposed to meet at 10am, but the coach arrived earlier, so we set off towards Bath, hoping to see Otto standing in a layby.   No Otto!  

 

We then rang him, only for him to explain that he was at Junction 18 at 10am, but we had passed through at 9.50am, a tad early, and missed him.   After much discussion, we arranged to meet further along the road in a layby near the Lansdown Park and Ride, and there standing in a layby waving a huge Swiss flag was our guide Otto.  He came on board, introduced himself, and set off for the city centre.

 

Otto had to join us outside the city, as a day of cycle races in the city centre meant that some of the roads were closed, and Otto of course, knew an alternative route we could take.

 

Choir members and Otto holding the Bath Rugby flag standing in front of the "Crescent." 

 

We stayed on board the coach for some of the visits, and then continued on foot through the many interesting city lanes.  Ottos gave us a potted history of the spa city, and pointed us in the right direction to find cafes selling "Cornish pasties,"  a treat that our driver had recommended tasting, together with marmite, before we headed back to Germany.

 

 Under the mighty tree in Parade Square with Otto.
 

 It rained of course, but spirits were not dampened.

Monika, wearing red above, is the choir secretary in Waggum, and the two of us worked well together to organise the trip on both sides of the English Channel.

 

Street decorations in the new shopping centre in Bath.

 

After a few hours visit we left Bath, and headed off at 3pm to sing in Devizes.  On arrival it was raining, and then threatened to pour down, but we sang English and German songs at the wharf, and then walked off to "The Bear Hotel" in the Market Place, for a welcome evening meal.

 

 Day 4 will also arrive soon.  Watch this space and drink English tea!

 

 

 

 

 

Day 2. Dover to Windsor Castle, and onwards to Swindon.

A rainy arrrival in Windsor for a visit to the Castle.

 

We left the Ramada Hotel in Dover at around  9:15am and set off for Windsor Castle.  All our morning starts were early, and I made a big mistake that morning by getting up an hour too early, because I had not changed my watch to GMT.   However my room mate and myself carried on regardless, although after showering, we took to our beds and lay down for half an hour to pass the time away.   Breakfast was excellent, with plenty of choice  although no tasty, rock solid nutty wholemeal rolls were available.   An attention to roughage intake is a must on a long, sitting down on the "botty" coach journey!

 

Windsor was crowded with tourists of course, and as our coach driver had never visited before,  we had to pick our way through hundreds of tourist to find the Castle entrance and buy tickets.   We all had to wear ribbon bracelets to show that we were bona fide visitors, and then we had to pass through an airport style security body and bag check.  Once in, we all collected audio guides in German, and set off for a two hour visit.

 

 A trio of singers attending to their smartphones.

 

The drizzle was its usual British irritating self, a continuous damp fog, that was wetter than a downpour, but we carried on regardless.   I last visited the Castle about forty years ago, and although I remember the outside well, I had forgotten the magnificence of the state rooms.

 A damp view of the inner bastion through dripping umbrellas.

 

 A statue of my namesake Queen Victoria, although I was not named after her.  At my birth in 1945, my father named me Victoria, in recognition of the victory over Hitler. Had I been a boy, I would have been named "Victor" and I would have hated the name!

 Looking very British whilst standing in the drizzly damp.

 After the visit everyone stopped for a "Cream Tea" in a local tea shop.

A song with Schnapps, which is drunk very quickly after the final chorus!  

 

By this time I had run out of concentration on the German language, but whatever the words were, it was easy to get the gist of the song´s meaning.  It must have gone something like, "Schapps, Schnapps, Schnapps, we all like drinking Schapps, Schnapps, Schnapps for ever and ever, Prost, all Schnapps down the throat"  gulp!   I didn´t partake, as Schnapps quickly impairs the functioning of my brains cells and makes me a bit giggly!

 

At around 4:30pm we set off without a hitch down the M4 for Swindon.   We left at the Swindon/Devizes Junction, where I realised that the driver was on course for a visit to the "Magic Roundabout."   I wondered about his reaction to this famous roundabout, having to driving his big German coach in the wrong direction on the wrong side of the road.   It didn´t seem at all preturbed,  and I think he drove through it without noticing its complexity.

Day 1. Thursday 18th May - A Very Early Start for Waggum Ladies Choir.

Waggum Ladies Choir gathering around the coach at 6:30am on Thursday 18th May, in readiness for our 8 hour, 382 mile coach journey from Braunschweig to Calais for our ferry crossing to Dover.  The driver took four 20 minute breaks along the way.

 

***

During my stay here in Braunschweig in the summer of 2016,  Monika, the choir's secretary, suggested to the choir that it would be a good idea to take a coach trip to Bath, Braunschweig's twinned city, to sing in the Abbey and to see the famous sights.  To "get the ball rolling" Monika and I visited the Mayor's office in Braunschweig to discuss the possibility of organising such a trip, and what sort of financial help the city could offer.

 

Soon after my return to the UK in August, Monika emailed me to say, "Yes, the choir will definitely visit Bath, and the City of Braunschweig has offered us financial help." This was the beginning of the six months it took us to organise the trip.  Monika contacted the coach company, "Ulli Reisen" who quoted her a price for a six day coach tour, and also helped organise our overnight hotel stay in Dover.   The coach places were soon filled with 48 singers, family and friends, and then the "nitty gritty" of planning each day began. 

 

The journey had to fit around the driver's needs, so the coach company planned the journey to Calais via Hannover, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Essen, Eindhoven, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Dunkirk and eventually Calais.  We drove through Germany, Holland, Belgium and France, before crossing the channel to Dover.  We got stuck in a traffic jam in Antwerp, so missed our booked crossing, but took the ferry an hour later, and eventually arrived at the Ramada Hotel at around 7.15pm, in time for dinner at 7.30pm.  By this time most of us had taken to drinking beer and attempting to stay awake long enough to eat a meal.  It was a long day!

 Eating Wurst in a service station in Antwerp. 

 

The driver had to stop every two hours, so, as with all long coach journeys, most of us spent the day nibbling the wrong stuff at the wrong time of day!  During the journey we occasionally broke into song, singing English and German folks songs led from the front of the coach by our conductor and microphone.

 

 The White Cliffs of Dover emerging from the heavy rain and fog in Dover.  The weather was atrocious, the rain battered down on the ferry windows, and completely obliterated the view.  We did venture out on deck in the downpour and wind, to get a glimpse of the famous cliffs.

 

Our Dover hotel was comfortable, and after an excellent evening meal with beer drinking and much laughter, we took to our beds in readiness for Friday morning's drive to Swindon via Windsor.

 

Day 2 to follow, just one day at a time, so watch this space.

 

 

 

Back to England for me with my German Choir.

 

Waggum Ladies` Choir, seen here singing in Waggum Church with the Gentlemens` Choir.

 

When I stay in Braunschweig in the summer months, I sing with this wonderful choir of 55 lady singers.  They are a friendly group of singers, many of whom form the church choir, and also sing at events in Waggum, a small village just outside the city of Braunschweig.

 

This Thursday 18th May, they are travelling by coach to Bath, Braunschweig´s partner city, to sing in St Michael´s Without Church on Sunday morning, 21st May.   I will travel with them, and although our programme will be hectic, it will be a most wonderful six days in England.

 

Our schedule is as follows:

 

Thursday 18th May:   We leave Waggum at 6:30am, and travel to Calais for the crossing to Dover, where we will spend Thursday night.

 

Friday 19th:  We travel from Dover to Windsor Castle for sightseeing and lunch, after which we travel to Swindon, where we will spend three nights in an hotel.

 

Saturday 20th:  We leave the hotel for Bath, where we will meet our German guide, who will show us around the city by coach and on foot.  At 3pm, we leave Bath and travel to Devizes, where we will sing at the Wharf at around 4pm, visit the gift shops, and then have dinner in the "Bear Hotel," after which we travel back to Swindon.

 

Sunday 21st:  We travel back to Bath to sing at the morning service in St Michael´s Without, where we will be welcomed by the Mayor of Bath and his wife, who will also attend the service.   In the afternoon we will make a visit to the Roman Baths.   We leave Bath at 4pm, to travel back to Chippenham for our evening meal in "The Angel Hotel."

 

Monday 22nd:  We leave the Swindon Hotel, and make a visit to Avebury Stonecircle for sightseeing and lunch.   That afternoon, we´ll visit Sissinghurst Gardens, and then travel to Dover for an overnight stop. 

 

Tuesday 23rd:  We catch the morning ferry back to Calais, and drive to Braunschweig. 

 

Waggumer Frauenchor

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waggumer-frauenchor.de

Der Waggumer Frauenchor - Singen ist ihr Leben ... Wir pflegen den Gesang und die Geselligkeit in harmonischer Gemeinschaft.

 

 

 

 

 

A New Greenhouse for Victoria Cruziana in the Botanical Gardens.

 

A new green house is being built for "Victoria" the huge water lily, that up until recently had a home in a rather run down greenhouse.   I had visited it many times in the past, although for the last two years it had been closed due to the danger of it collapsing.

 

"Victoria" is a genus of water-lilies, in the plant family Nymphaeaceae, with very large green leaves that lie flat on the water's surface.  The genus name was given in honour of the British Queen Victoria.

 

The specimum here is "Victoria Cruziana"  which originates from the Parana-Paraguay basin, is a smaller version of the better know "Victoria Amazonica,"  with the underside of the leaves coloured purple rather than the red of V. Amazonica,  and covered with a peachlike fuzz.   "Victoria Cruziana" opens its flowers at dusk, and each year the garden staff try to predict when the plant will bloom, and the greenhouse stays open for as long as possible, so that the public have a chance to see the magic.

 Diggers demolishing the old greenhouse.

 

 The first published description of the genus was by John Lindley in 1837, based on specimens returned from British Guiana by Robert Schomburgk.   Lindley named the genus after the new Queen Victoria, and the species "Victoria Regia."  

 

The leaf of "Victoria" is able to support quite a large weight due to the plant's structure, although the leaf itself is quite delicate, so much so that a straw held six inches above and dropped perpendicularly upon it would readily pass through it.  To counter the fragile nature of the leaf, the weight needs to be distributed across the surface by mechanical means, such as a sheet of plywood. This allows the leaf to support up to 32 kilograms (71 lb).
 

 

Opposite this greenhouse was my favourite reading seat, where I´ve spent many a hot summer´s afternoon reading in the shady peace and quiet.  Me thinks that now, I will have to find another perch!

 

 

 

"Pulse for Europe" on the Day of the French Elections

 

A big gathering outside the Schloss hoping that France would not elect the far right candidate.  Fortunately the good people France had the good sense not to vote for Le Pen.

 I'm standing at the back, underneath the "o" in Europe. 

 

Pulse of Europe is a pro-European citizen's initiative, founded in Frankfurt, Germany in late 2016.  It aims at "encouraging citizens of the EU to speak out publicly in favour of a pan-European identity."  As Europe is facing democratic deficits, Brexit, as well as the growing popularity of right-wing populist and nationalist political parties, the initiative aims at counteracting euroscepticism. 

 

I sent greetings to everyone from the people of Bath, Braunschweig's twin city, which also holds a similar meeting every Sunday in the month.

 

Foundation and development, info from Wikipedia.

 

The citizen's initiative was founded by the German lawyers Daniel and Sabine Röder. Using their private network of friends and social media, they held the first public meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, at the end of November 2016.  About 200 people joined them.  Further demonstrations followed at weekly intervals in January 2017.

 

On 5th February 2017, about 600 participants met in Frankfurt.  People in the German towns of Karlsruhe, Freiburg, and Cologne as well as in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, followed suit.   During February 2017, the number of individual participants, as well as of locations, was rising.  The initiative also gained media attention in the Netherlands, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Korea  and France.

 

The first French demonstration took place in Paris on 26 February.  Demonstrations take place in various European cities on a weekly schedule, every Sunday at 2 pm. On 5th March, public meetings were held in 35 European cities. 28 of these were German,  but citizens also met in Amsterdam, the French cities of Paris,  Strasbourg, Montpellier, Toulouse and Lyon, and in the English city of Bath. 

 

 On 5th March 2017, the number of individual attendees ranged from between 40 and more than 3,000.    On 12th March 2017, more than 20,000 people joined demonstrations in more than 40 European cities.

 

 

 

 

Everyday Figures in Everyday Situations

Washday women chat about having a chat!

 

There is some really amusing street art on display in the city centre this summer. The larger than life figures created out of concrete by Christel Lechners, depict ordinary people going about their daily business. The soft colours and each individual face are really interesting.

Street workers.

Christel Lechner was born in Iserlohn in 1947, and trained as a ceramicist and master craftsman from 1978-1982 at the Münster Master Craftsman workshops.   From 1984-1986 she studied ceramics at the University of Bochum.   She created her first works in concrete in 1988, and it is difficult to see concrete as the medium for faces and clothing in such subtle colours. The larger than life size figures on the theme of everyday life first appeared in public spaces in 1996.
 

Playing "Musical Chairs"

The "Everyday men and women" are all lovable characters you could encounter every day in any town, and who are rarely seen as fashionable or beautiful.  They are figures in everyday situations, just everyday people, although not made of flesh and blood, but of concrete.  They don´t have model body dimensions and wrinkle-free faces, they have the faces that most of us have.  Christel Lechner deliberately counteracts the widespread delusion of beauty: "Faces that tell a story are much more exciting than those with a perfect complexion and immaculate skin".

Ladies sitting and looking at the hairdressers.

 

They are sitting underneath hair dryers, but I seem to have failed to include them in the photograph.

One man and his dog.

 

It was interesting to stand at a distance and notice that most people patted the dog.

Business men attempt having fun whilst watching the carnival.

 

These figures stand in the Altstadtmarkt, the place where each year the autumn carnival sets off for its tour of Braunschweig.

Ladies and gentlemen enjoying afternoon tea. 

 

Who would have thought that concrete cakes could look so appetising!

The carnival jester takes a rest on his sofa.