River Cruising Water Cooler

[notamermaid]

13 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

https://www.starbucks.com/menu/product/413/hot

 

Just don't ask at Starbucks for a 'small,' 'medium,' or 'large.'  They have invented their own language of cup sizes [another reason to avoid the place, IMHO]

Changing the language? Sounds very Orwellian to me. Never let a Starbucks CEO lay their hands on the Goldilocks fairy-tale. I dare not imagine what they would do to it. 😨

 

13 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

He's a Philly boy whose father was an urban planner and director of the city’s planning commission. 

That is quite a difference in occupation to his father then, I mean Kevin being an actor and a musician.

13 minutes ago, Coral said:

Then you have not been a part of "Six degrees of Kevin Bacon conversation". Probably a good thing!

No, never heard of this. For the last twenty years much of US entertainment has passed me by. Not going to watch the Academy Awards, perhaps news in Europe will show an excerpt of the nominations and if "Im Westen Nichts Neues" wins anything. The film has caused quiet a stir and attention. I watched a short clip the other day. Even more bleak than "Das Boot", I must say. Not good for my soul in this current frame of mind. Better stick to steam train documentaries.

 

Right, Sunday afternoon, I am off to a village in the hills or have a trip along the riverfront. Have not decided which yet. After a rainy Saturday the sun has come out this morning, but it is near freezing so will need to wrap up a bit warmer. It snowed in Germany yesterday, but only in mountain regions.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[Canal archive]

Evidently it snowed in LA this past week as well. We were there this time of year in 2021 and it was very warm.

[Lois R]

10 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

Evidently it snowed in LA this past week as well. We were there this time of year in 2021 and it was very warm.

Right now the whole country is having abnormal temps......Southern California? Yes, they had a terrible snow storm this week........😮 this is not normal and for those who say Climate change is not real? I just shake my head........

[CPT Trips]

6 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Are the strip, streaky, back, Canadian smoked or plain?

It’s Philly. So it’s either scrapple or pork roll.

 

@Lois R weird weather. Las Vegas had more snow this winter than Philadelphia. 

[UDChE89]

2 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

It’s Philly. So it’s either scrapple or pork roll.

 

@Lois R weird weather. Las Vegas had more snow this winter than Philadelphia. 

Fortunately, your comment didn’t bring in any North Jerseyans to start another round in the Great Pork Roll vs. Taylor Ham War…

[CPT Trips]

@UDChE89 If you could only get one pie, which Delorenzo’s? And you can’t go back to places in “The ‘Burg” from the last century. 

[Canal archive]

Crikey can’t get my years correct this time 2020 not 1 we were in Bass Lake California one of my most favourite places in the world and the weather was superb, just right today evidently it’s snowing.

[UDChE89]

7 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

@UDChE89 If you could only get one pie, which Delorenzo’s? And you can’t go back to places in “The ‘Burg” from the last century. 

I usually go to the Delorenzo’s in Mercerville on Sloan Ave

[CPT Trips]

That’s my choice too. 

[Canal archive]

Okay what’s that going to cost me just to try, not forgetting the travel expenses!

[notamermaid]

Bit of info from my ramblings in Rhineland-Palatinate, newspapers and locals. Made it to Cochem on the Moselle. The castle is quite the sight! On a cold day in late winter it overall does not look that attractive, though. Perhaps I will put a bit more detail in the Moselle thread. Exciting news for Traben-Trarbach further upstream from Cochem. One of the landing stages has got a new owner and the town is preparing for more river cruise ship dockings. That is all I could get from the article which is behind a paywall. Hope to find out more in the coming weeks. Neuwied on the Rhine is still way behind in planning their river cruise dock. Not sure what is going on there... Engers, which is just a little upstream, is trying to get a second pier, I think this one will be for excursion boats. They have the very successful one that Avalon uses already.

 

Heard from a local that Luxembourg has heavily invested in the river fronts along the Moselle. Very inviting area.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Notamermaid Luxembourg has the money to invest we went there on an excursion with Scenic you can smell the money! Interesting place an airport with virtually no passengers, it’s for cargo as a tax dodge. Every high end store you can think of and when we were there a few years ago the EU were shmoosing the Egyptian President police cars racing everywhere regardless of any other humans in the way. Not impressed.

[CPT Trips]

7 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Okay what’s that going to cost me just to try, not forgetting the travel expenses!

Pie? Large with one topping, about $17 plus tax (it’s the US). Easy drive from PHL. 
ETA: Maybe not so easy for someone used to driving on the other side of the road. But it’s only an hour. 😉😎

Edited February 27, 2023 by CPT Trips

[notamermaid]

1 hour ago, Canal archive said:

Notamermaid Luxembourg has the money to invest we went there on an excursion with Scenic you can smell the money!

A big YES. Luxembourg city is spectacular in its setting, but has its drawbacks for the average holiday traveller without the stacks of cash. The riverside towns along the Moselle are great to explore and this is what the dear person I spoke to meant. The Moselle in France is also nice in many parts and she recommends a cycle trip along the Moselle. So bike-friendly along the Upper Moselle.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

CPT I’ve lost count of the many miles I’ve navigated around the USA using that little map you get from the car hire company. Way before GPS of course and enjoyed every minute well almost.

[Wings55]

On 2/26/2023 at 8:04 PM, UDChE89 said:

I usually go to the Delorenzo’s in Mercerville on Sloan Ave

 

On 2/27/2023 at 12:19 AM, CPT Trips said:

That’s my choice too. 

I guess I missed out. I lived in Plainsboro for three years, but I never heard about Delorenzo's. 😞

[CPT Trips]

They were legendary in “The ‘Burg” up until ten or so years ago. The next generation kept the tradition alive in the nearby burbs including across the river in PA. 

[notamermaid]

It is the 1st of March, where has the time gone? Will gather the data to sum up February on the Danube, Elbe and Rhine and post the graphs today or tomorrow. In an unusual twist, the Rhine is doing worst (by a margin to the Danube) of the three rivers today and will be quite possibly for the next four days. I always say that the rivers are not low at this time of year, I hope the levels go back up before this gets embarrassing for me...

 

Sun is coming out, cold but fresh air, lots to do at home and a short hop to the team leader's office. Mood upbeat, tourism fairs are busy from what I hear and it seems Germans are ready to do what they are supposed to be world masters of - travelling!

 

Here is an unusual one about tourism: I heard in the news yesterday that in Trier when summing up the success and positive impact of the great exhibition "Fall of the Roman Empire" they were able to calculate that every visitor to the museum(s) spent 92 euros on average in the town, i.e. on all sorts of things combined, and what really surprised the organizers was the fact that they had a large increase in British tourists interested in the topic and Trier. Well, Trier obviously also gets the thumbs up from me. If you want to see Roman stuff, Cologne has a fantastic museum, but Trier has got far more old stones still standing around.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[UDChE89]

On 2/28/2023 at 8:54 AM, Wings55 said:

 

I guess I missed out. I lived in Plainsboro for three years, but I never heard about Delorenzo's. 😞

Papa’s then?  They’ve all moved out of Chambersburg.  I’m right in Mill Hill in Trenton.  It’s not uncommon for us to actually go to Morrisville for a Trenton pie.

[Wings55]

1 hour ago, UDChE89 said:

Papa’s then?  They’ve all moved out of Chambersburg.  I’m right in Mill Hill in Trenton.  It’s not uncommon for us to actually go to Morrisville for a Trenton pie.

After commuting to and from north Jersey every day we didn't stray too far from our apartments. The only place I remember was in a little strip center nearby called Aljon's. I can't say I remember it being anything other than acceptable. 🤷‍♂️

Paul

[notamermaid]

Normally we are not supposed to talk about politics but this story is connected with travelling as there is a Jakob Mierscheid Steg in Berlin, a walkway between two parliament buildlings. You may see this "very important structure" when you are in Berlin. Should you happen to be in Morbach in the Hunsrück region of Rhineland-Palatinate some time you may want to go and see the home town of the longest serving Member of Parliament in Berlin. He is called Jakob Maria Mierscheid and today is his birthday, he is 90 years old! He has been representing his constituency for 44 years and is revered not just by his party, the SPD. Members of many parties have paid tribute to him today and sent congratulations to Morbach, where the townspeople held a party and panel talks in his honour. One talk was of a philosophical nature about fake news. Unfortunately, Mierscheid had to decline the invitation to attend at short notice (again). Apparently, he had been sent to Brussels. In Berlin he is known for being a quiet but hard-working back bencher. But he is also notorious for not attending SPD meetings and has been given fines in the past. He has done important work on predicting election outcomes for his party and once suggested an "anti-waffling protection law" as  waffling talk breath in parliament contains harmful substances, some of them causing drowsiness, leading to sleep.

 

For his 80th birthday a hiking trail was opened in Morbach in his honour and for his 100th birthday he has been promised a statue in his home town.

 

And if you think this sounds improbable, I will leave you with the words of Mierstein: "I am neither an invention, nor a patent, I am the solution".

For those wishing to translate an article about him, have a look here: https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/trier/fiktiver-spd-abgeordneter-jakob-mierscheid-aus-morbach-wird-90-100.html

 

Yes, the man is complete fictitious and was invented in 1979. Could this be the longest running joke in Europe? And coming from German politics?!! Who would have thought...

 

notamermaid

 

[CPT Trips]

Here in the good of US of A we too have officials who are long running political jokes. Sadly those are not fictitious and more wannabes appear every election cycle. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thankfully some ciphers are not political at all:  viz. Warren G. Wonka, pre-eminent if non-existent Stanford U. student [possibly alum? – if you never existed, how can they prove you never graduated?  maybe he's just waiting to complete his credits (of which there apparently are some, from stand-ins who registered and took exams on his behalf...)]

[Canal archive]

We’ve got you all beat as ours actually exist, you must have seen or heard of them.
The best one who sad to say never actually got elected was ‘Screaming Lord Such’ but he did head up an actual political party. Some would say Boris but I have a sneaking regard for him as at least no one could beat his enthusiasm.

[notamermaid]

Screaming Lord Such - a legend.

 

Which brings me back to something I had forgotten to mention when talking about Carnival - medals. An official and important one is the "Orden wider den tierischen Ernst". It is given to people who show wit and humanity in a let us say serious job. You may hate the politics and dislike the choices but it is not the point, the merit is for what wikipedia has translated here, "humor and humanity in office": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orden_wider_den_tierischen_Ernst

 

"Tierischer Ernst" in German refers to animals lacking the human ability to experience/create humour and fun, i.e. are therefore serious.

 

notamermaid