Berlin to Passau and some Mittens

Hello:

I've been getting up at 5 am every morning since I got back from Europe, heading out to the gym to walk and ride the stationary bike, then back home again at about 6:30 am.  This was the sunrise I saw when I got home yesterday.  As we approach the equinox, the sun is rising later and later.  Once we pass that day (September 23 this year), it will be really obvious.  Even the return to standard time can't save us.  I usually love the late rising sun of winter.  BW  (Before Work), I loved watching and photographing the sunrises without having to wake up early.  Now, I will already be at work when the sun is rising... and as I am working most days until 4:30 pm (I am supervising the "Work Zone" which is where students who did not finish their homework end up after school), I won't be able to photograph the sunsets, either.  Be prepared for lots of photos of my cats instead.  Actually, I'm a bit worried about photographing my FOs.  Everything looks so much better when photographed in natural light.  I thought that I might bring stuff to work, and try to get some photos done during my lunch break.  I will see how bad it gets.

I have been bringing my knitting to work, but I really have only had a bit of time when I first arrive, and a very little more at lunch.  The Work Zone should turn out to be a good place to knit.  I think it's good for kids to see adults doing something more than playing on their phones.  And while I will need to check that they totally finish their homework, there will be a lot of time spent just sitting.

I've been working on another pair of double knit mittens for the Detroit Achievement Academy.  I'm trying to make these smaller than the last pair, and they are, but they will possibly be too long.  Oh well, they will be good for more than one year that way.

I'm using the same checkered pattern that I put on one of the hats I knit while in London.

I have no idea if the hat and mitts will fit the same person, but I like making "sets."

Bike Trip

More about the Bike Trip.

Moogie and I landed in Berlin in the morning, around 9ish.  We figured out how to get to the train station from the airport, and headed there. Thank goodness people were helpful.  In the train station we hit our second snag.  The automatic machines would not accept either my American Express or my Visa Card.  We were able to get money from an ATM, and we had to go to the Ticket Seller line to get out tickets.  The American Express worked there, thankfully.  We stopped at a little sandwich shop in the station and bought sandwiches and Coke Lite (ha ha no "Diet Coke"). The sandwiches were amazing.  They were in baguettes, and the cheese was wonderful.  They had mayonnaise, but it was flavored differently.  Anyway, we both loved them.

Moogie slept and I knit and looked out the window at the beautiful countryside.  We switched trains at Nuremburg, and sitting behind us was another knitter!

She was knitting a cotton sweater.  I showed her the mittens I was trying to finish up and she said, "Warm."  It is always fun to meet other knitters.

view of the train station from our hotel room

It started raining pretty hard by the time we arrived in Passau, but as our hotel was right across the street from the train station, we weren't worried.  As we checked in, they handed us a packet from the bike tour company, Rad and Reisen, that included the vouchers for all of the hotels for the trip, as well as information on how to pick up the bikes, bus passes to go get the bikes, and so on.

We spent the evening walking around the town of Passau.  It was fairly empty, but then it was a Monday night.  Look!  a yarn shop in their little downtown.

We walked up a steep cobblestone hill

 through a narrow corridor,

 between some buildings in an even more narrow space, to find

 a beautiful church and the square in front of it.  I admit that we were chasing the Onion Dome of the church.

We didn't expect onion domes for some reason, thinking that they were more Eastern than German.

The buildings were painted such pretty pastel colors.

We ate dinner at a little cafe that did not accept credit cards.  This was a huge mistake on my part.  I just assumed that my Visa Card or American Express would work all over, but they were only good in Vienna and London.  Even there some of the smaller shops would not accept plastic. We went to bed and got ready for the first day of biking.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with doubleknit mittens.

Sunset