Good news (cw24)

Can there be any good news on a Monday after a very sad & terrifying result of the European elections yesterday???

The answer is yes. Yes, and we need more Irmelas!

Thank you!
☮️
✌🏻
💪🏻
Kein Aufkleber mit Nazi-Parolen oder Hakenkreuz-Graffiti ist vor ihr sicher:
Irmela Mensah-Schramm kratzt sie ab, übersprüht sie oder verändert ihren ursprünglichen Sinn – und das seit über 40 Jahren.
Für ihre Zivilcourage wurde sie ausgezeichnet – etwa mit dem Göttinger Friedenspreis. Doch zugleich geriet sie mit Polizei und Justiz in Konflikt: So wurde sie etwa wegen Sachbeschädigung verurteilt.
Mittlerweile gibt sie auch Workshops an Schulen und arbeitet mit Schülern.
Germany opened it’s first overhead electric line highway on May 7th 2019. This electrification is available on #Autobahn_A5 from
#Frankfurt_airport_global_freight_hub to an #industrial_park near #Darmstadt for a distance of #10_kilometers. This allows trucks to draw electric power from overhead cables thus making it a #green_corrider.
Die Ringe, die sinnbildlich für fünf Kontinente stehen sollen, wurden vollständig aus recyceltem französischem Stahl gefertigt. Die Spiele finden vom 26. Juli bis zum 11. August statt.
Volkswagen bus walkers!
Adele to an audience member who yelled “Pride S*cks!”
“Did you come to my f**cking show and just say that Pride sucks? Are you f**cking stupid? Don’t be so f**cking ridiculous. If you have nothing nice to say, shut up, alright?”
Halla Tómasdottir will be the seventh President of Iceland! Iceland has been ranked the best country in the world for gender equality for the last 14 years straight. The country has also seen two women serve as prime minister in recent years.
☮️✌🏻☮️✌🏻☮️✌🏻☮️✌🏻☮️

Bill May is a towering figure in the sport of artistic swimming, a breaker of barriers for more than three decades and a leader in the decades-long effort to open Olympic competition to men.

But his fate this summer will rest not on his individual achievements or stature as an advocate, but on his ability to perform as one-eighth of a team of women half his age.

A rule change in 2022 cleared the way for men to compete in the sport at this summer’s Paris Games.

That means that this is May’s first and, realistically, last chance ever to fulfill his lifelong dream of competing in the Olympics. He is 45 years old, and on Saturday, the team will announce who made the tinal cut.

“I didn’t think you had to look a certain way,” he said.

“I just knew that I loved the sport.” Once, when he was 14, the family of a girl he had defeated in an individual competition booed him, but mostly his gender wasn’t an issue. “They treated me like any other athlete,” he said.

Diversity 🫶

⭐️ Europe ⭐️

Today is maybe one of the most important days for the EU.

I enjoyed political discussions with family, friends and work colleagues in the past weeks and days.

At least in my close circle, we all have the same opinion: voting is important. Always. But these days it is even more important.

#noafd schadet der deutschen #Wirtschaft
Keine Migration, weg mit dem Euro und raus aus der EU! Das sind die Forderungen der noafd!
Immer mehr Unternehmen in Deutschland warnen kurz vor der #Europawahl vor den möglichen Folgen.
„2024 würde bei uns kein einziges Auto vom Band laufen ohne Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund”, sagt Mercedes-Benz AG Chef Ola Källenius.
„Wir müssen jetzt aufstehen und einschreiten”, sagt Siemens Chef Roland Busch.
Deutsche Unternehmen wissen, wer der deutschen Wirtschaft schadet: die noatd!
#niewiederistjetzt #demokratie #rassismus
#faschismus

So happy to finally see some supporting voices from Germanys big companies.

Thanks!
✌🏻
Thanks!
Doors are are open until 6pm in Germany today, go voting! 🗳️
💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻

Soccer UEFA EURO 2024

The biggest dream: to repeat the Summer fairytale 2006 in Stuttgart in 2024 💫

Are you ready?

Ready for the UEFA Euro 2024? The countdown is on – UEFA EURO 2024 is just around the corner.

The start: June 14th and lasting for 4 weeks.

Our bread rolls are looking like soccer balls ⚽️
The German team on coke cans.
⚽️
In EM Fever
Sound advice: warning the fans of a delayed Deutsche Bahn 😂

A total of five matches – four group matches and one quarter-final – will be played in Stuttgart. Yeah!

Stuttgart – The whole city will be turned into a stadium.

⚽️
🫶
🏆
🥇

On June 16, 2024 at 6 pm, Denmark will face Slovenia in the Stuttgart Arena ⚽️

Ready, steady, go!

… is ready ⚽️

…and don’t forget:

Ein schottischer Fanverband warnt seine Mitglieder zur Fußball-EM vor Reisen auf den letzten Drücker mit der Deutschen Bahn: „Verlasst die Kneipe ein bisschen schneller, gebt euch sellost ein wenig mehr Zeit. Das Letzte, was ihr wollt, ist, erst zur Halbzeit anzukommen.”

Good news (cw23)

Weather wise this week can only be fantastic ☀️ here’s to the good news!

Die Engagement-Karte ist ein Stück Anerkennung für die über eine halbe Million Menschen, die sich in Hamburg ehrenamtlich engagieren.
Mit der
Karte sollen sie zum Beispiel günstiger Museen besuchen und Rabatte bei Sportangeboten oder in Cafés bekommen.
Wer mindestens 16 Jahre
alt und mindestens seit 100 Stunden im Jahr ehrenamtlich aktiv ist, kann die Karte bei der Sozialbehörde beantragen!
Royale Ehre für Abba: Das schwedische Konigshaus hat am Freitag den Mitgliedern der schwedischen Kultband konigliche Orden verliehen.
We need that in Germany!
💃
Ein Fischkutter hat ein in der Nordsee gelandetes Kleinflugzeug aus dem Wasser gezogen und an Land gebracht.
Over a week ago, Taquería El Califa de León was simply one of Mexico City’s nearly 11,000 registered taco shops. Then, on May 14, life changed completely for the cash-only taqueria that has barely enough room to stand, sells four kinds of tacos – three beef, one pork — and whose grill radiates intense heat. That day, it became the first Mexican taco stand to win a Michelin star.
Um die Umwelt zu schützen, haben India auf einer 16 km langen Strecke Autobahnpfeiler errichtet, damit sich Wildtiere frei in ihrem natürlichen Lebensraum bewegen können.
🫶
Donald Trump was found guilty on Thursday of all 34 felony counts in his hush-money criminal trial, making him the first American president to be declared a felon.
„Die momentane Situation in unserer Welt kann bei all den Krisen Angst machen und die Zukunft ist sicher fur viele gerade sehr ungewiss.
Aber bei allem was passiert, müssen wir nicht tatenlos zusehen, wir haben eine Stimme, um mit zu entscheiden! Für uns und für unsere Kinder! Nutzt sie, es ist wichtiger den je!“
Europawahl! June 9th! 🗳️

Luckily, we are living in a country in which we are allowed to vote! Use your vote! Go voting June 9th!

Garden Party!

Ready for an outdoor party 🥳

Aperitif from France 🍾

Sunshine all day… The party motto: asparagus, strawberries, peonies & friends. All set up in the garden and just when we were about to kick off the party… we got surprised by rain. Quite a bit of rain. Hello May!

We started my 40th birthday party in the garden…

Not a problem if you have adventurous and very flexible guests: all helping and running with tables, chairs, plates & food in their hands… under the roof and inside the house. Different than planned and still wonderful! Probably a party to not forget so quickly.

Pretty peonies in pink
Preparation is all…
Cheers to 40 years! 🥂

We had a super delicious dinner, all home cooked and BBQed – huge thank you to my little helpers 🫶

Serving Tomato Gazpacho
Hiding from the rain & waiting for food

Moving the buffet inside into the kitchen – improvisation is all!
More peonies
Caprese
Saltimbocca with asparagus & strawberries 🍓

Smoking all day, thanks hubby, it was super delicious!
BBQed for many many hours
Voila – Pulled pork 🥰

Mhhhhhhh 🫶

Little mousse au chocolat tartlets 🫶

Charcuterie in a glass

Thank you all for coming from far & near! I had a fabulous evening with all of you!

Sante!

La Champagne 🇫🇷

Champagne, Baby! 🇫🇷

This weekend was all about champagne: growing, harvesting, producing, champagne houses, champagne tasting, champagne cellars, driving through the champagne… ✨

The village of Hautvillers is considered the cradle of champagne, because it was here that the Benedictine monk Dom Perignon invented the method wine becomes champagne 🥂
Champagne sparkles ✨

The beautiful Verzenay Lighthouse that overlooks the vineyards.

From the 13th to 19th century all French kings were crowned in La cathedrale Notre-Dame de Reims.
The champagne is beautiful, loved the scenery outside the window and couldn’t get over the stunning landscapes of vineyards that go on for as far as you can see.
Champagne goes well with apricot tart 🥰
4pm 🥂

Apricot tart
Sunrise

That view 🍇
Magnums 🍾

Best food ever. Another reason to just be in love with France 🇫🇷

Bon Appetit 🍴

Pour L‘Aperitif: mushrooms 🍄‍🟫
Pour Commencer: foie gras
Pour Continuer: shrimps & lobster
Nos Douceurs: Macaron

wine routes open up to the wine lover the taste of this extraordinary growing region.
First climbing up the stairs… rewarded by another glass of champagne ☺️
Macarons
Cheers 🥂

❤️

The champagne also has magical trees
The impressive cellar vaults underneath add up to a length of several kilometers.
Reims

Day 5: too much champagne. Need a break 😎 (till Saturday). Time to go home!
Supporting small family business producing amazing champagne 🍾
Dressing the bottle 💃
Last purchase 🥳 ready to go home…

A bus load full of champagne. We are on the way back home after a fabulous long weekend 🍾 a weekend full of champagne, great food, laughter and wonderful company! Happy birthday!

au revoir ✨

Good news (cw22)

Ukrainians expressing their gratitude in New York City to Americans for supporting Ukraine during this difficult historic time.
For those who dont know this is Andrea Cisternino… he lives in Ukraine. He is staying with his 400 rescue dogs and has stated he would rather die with them than leave them and is continuing to help those dogs that have been left behind.
1956 reiste Milli Bau mit ihrem VW-Bus alleine durch die Seidenstraße. Sie fuhr über Syrien, Nepal und Indien nach China und Japan. In dieser Zeit schlief und lebte sie im Bus. Sie dokumentierte diese und auch spatere Reisen mit ihrer Kamera.
Sie schoss über 6.000 Fotos und Dias.
Am 9. Juni wird gewählt. 30 deutsche Firmen haben nun ihre Beschäftigten aufgefordert, ihre Stimme bei der Europawahl für Vielfalt und Toleranz abzugeben. Auch Mercedes-Chef Ola Källenius hat sich in diesem Zusammenhang geäußert und wurde sehr deutlich.

Have a great week!

40 & fabulous

This is what 40 looks like!

Cheers to 40 years!

I don’t really remember my 10th or 20th birthday… but I do remember turning 30: with friends in NYC and gifted with a helicopter flight over the city! Wow!!! Definitely a day to remember.

It’s nice to remember certain personal milestones. That’s why I decided to celebrate my 40th birthday with friends in and with Champagne in France 🥂

Of course we stopped at a Champagne house and learnt about the 18th century old tradition of hand-picking the crops and hand-spinning the Champagne bottles which remains a requirement in this Region today. The tasting afterwards is the best part…

The champagne cellar stocked with millions of bottles waiting to be ready for toasting!

🥂🥂🥂
Sante!

Champagne house
🍇
Different size champagne bottles
Capitale du Epernay
Stunning landscapes of vineyards that go on for as far as you can see.
Viva la France 🇫🇷

La cathedrale Notre-Dame de Reims
🎠

That was the first party. Stay tuned for more parties to come up. And guess what the aperitif will be… 🥂

P.S.: Was I / am I afraid of being 40 now? No! Not at all! Being surrounded by so many fabulous ladies >40! Also, especially not after my mums words after sharing something about work with her the other day (feeling happy to be able to share my experience with much younger colleagues), her response: „that will be from now on always like that. You get older but smarter and more experienced“. Awwww! So, why being afraid?! Let’s go, 40! 💃

🥂🍾 💋
Cheers 🥂

Thanks for all the birthday wishes 💋

Happy birthday, BRD!

The BRD was born on May 23 1949!

Celebrating 75 year of Bundesrepublik Deutschland! Happy birthday 🎈

What is typical German?

Birkenstock sandals!

Who doesn’t have a pair?!

Gendern!

Bravo magazine.

Everyone back in the 80s, 90s was reading the „bravo“ – best magazine for teenagers back then!

Eatable paper.

You can write on paper. In Germany, we also have eatable paper!

Steiff & Knopf im Ohr

Various colors of Mülltonnen

In Swabia: yellow (plastic), green (paper), brown (compost), black (everything else), and a basket for bottles and glass. We are recycling fanatics!

Spezi!

Spezi, a mix out of coke and Fanta orange – there’s no better drink!

Bread!

Needless to say, that you get the best bread in Germany!

Kännchen

2 cups of coffee got into a „Kännchen“ – only in Germany.

Freibad Pommes

The best part of a summer day, if you could afford fries in the public swimming pool kiosk.

Haribo Gummibärchen

Haribo, simply the best!

Stolpersteine

Stolpersteine für den Umgang der Bundesrepublik Deutschland mit unserer jüngsten Vergangenheit und dafür, wie allgegenwärtig Deportationen, Vertreibungen und Ermordungen in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus waren. Jetzt, wo eine rechtsextreme Partei wieder droht, stärkste Macht in Deutschland zu werden, die Remigrationen plant, sind sie als Mahnmal notwendiger denn je!

Spaghetti Eis

The sweet variant of spaghetti bolognese is spaghetti ice cream – founded by an Italian in Mannheim.

Personalausweis

Handy and mandatory for German adults to carry around. If you don’t and get stopped by the police, you usually pay a fine. We call that „Ausweispflicht“.

White socks in sandals

Bestimmt gibt es weltweit die eine oder andere Geschmacksverirrung. Aber für die weiße Socke in der luftigen Sandale dürften die überwiegend deutschen Männer weit über ihre Landesgrenzen hinaus bekannt sein. Leider sieht die aber, egal welches Label auch auf dem Riemchen stehen mag, mit der Tennissocke einfach nur sehr besch… bescheiden aus.

Schwarzbrot

Hard typical German bread. Like it or leave it!

Erster vw

First VWs in Germany, affordable for most of the Germany. Those were good times. I wonder what happened since…

Das deutsche „Sie“

The formal „Sie“

Weinrömer

The style of the glass, very famous for drinking wine in Germany.

Tatort

Oh yes! Every Sunday 20:15pm 🕵️‍♂️

Fußball

Funktionskleidung

Without right gear in Germany, you cannot go on a hike, motorbike, cycling trip!!!

Badetuch

›Nothing’s faster than a German towel!‹ Niemand reserviert so schnell und organisiert die besten Sonnenliegen am Pool wie wir Deutschen. Schon kurz nach Sonnenaufgang ist die erste Reihe belegt. Die bunten Badehandtücher in extra large kommen dafür mit auf jede Reise.

Mett Igel

Like it or hate it (I am hating it): it’s raw pork minced meat… a classic for a farewell party in the office.

Ahoi Brause

Good for kids or with vodka.

Milchschnitte

My absolute favorite ❤️

Claudia Schiffer

Claudia Schiffer – das ›original‹ Supermodel made in Germany. Ihre Ausnahmekarriere gründet auf deutschen Tugenden, die nie aus der Mode kommen: Leistung, Fleiß, Disziplin und Zuverlässigkeit. ›La Schiffer‹ ist der femininste und kultivierteste Exportschlager der Republik.

Brezel

& Weißwurst. Mmmmhhhh 😋

Rotbäckchen Saft

When we were kids and sick… a bottle of red healthy juice with that label on would cure us!

Übergangsjacke…Bier…Weinschorle…Biergarten…Sonntag = Ruhetag und alle Geschäfte haben geschlossen…Mittagspause: Shops are closed…Restaurant Nordsee! 🐟

What is typical German for you?

Happy birthday, BRD!

Good news (cw21)

Japan will always be way ahead of the rest of the world in terms of education.
* This neighbor decided to paint their house and the painters put up some mesh to protect the other houses from splashes and not uncomfortable during the job.
In addition, neighbors who were not going to remove their cars while the company was working, they were covered with a tarpaulin so they wouldn’t damage them at all…
Empathy, education and respect are values I admire in this country
Die Beatsteaks gehen im Juni auf Tour und treten dabei ausschließlich in autonomen Jugendzentren im Osten auf, um “diejenigen (zu) unterstützen, die durch die (aktuellen politischen) Entwicklung starken Gegenwind erfahren, Angriffen ausgesetzt sind und Widerstand leisten”.
Tokyo, Japan ..
The Japanese have started puting floating gardens on the roof of public parking lots. Not only creates beautiful spaces but also helps bees and other polinators to survive …
Tulip chairs in The Netherlands
Drinking on the tube might have been banned, but soon you could have an actual party in an Underground station. TfL is offering the chance to hire out tube stations for shindigs.
O la la
Linda Benson started surfing at age 11 and was the first woman to surf the great big waves of Waimea Bay on the North Shore of O’ahu.
That was at age 15. And she’s still going!

Happy Pfingsten! 🌸