Solingen – Rock City No. 1

This post is part of the April 2015 A to Z Challenge. Find the challengers via the Blog Sign-Up or on Twitter using #AtoZChallenge.

Today’s post didn’t take me to far-off places. Quite the opposite, in fact. Because today I’m playing tourist in my hometown Solingen in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany.

Solingen is not a tourist spot. Never has been, never will be. We’re an industrial place, nicknamed Klingenstadt” which translates as “City of Blades” due to a long (try 700-odd years) and proud tradition of manufacturing swords, knives and cutlery. Knife-manufacturers like J.A. Henckels, Wüsthof and even the German HQ of Wilkinson Gilette are based here.

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ROW80 – Of Sunshine and Certificates

Hello, my dear ROWers!

How is your week going? I’m having a really good week, the weather is beautiful and I can feel my health improving by the hour!

Since Wednesday last week, we’ve had temperatures between 20°C and 25°C, clear blue skies (seriously, not a single cloud in sight) and my garden gets direct sunlight between 10am and 4pm (after that the sun disappears behind the protruding building next door).

Someone in my neighbourhood (I’ve grown up here and I still don’t know who it is!) has a jazz band and they practice around lunchtime/early afternoon. More than once I found myself lounging on the deck chair, soaking up the sun (and getting burnt in the process), catching up on my reading, listening to muffled jazz tunes. I felt like I was attending an old-fashioned lawn party. I sat there wishing for a glass of fruity red wine. Or a sophisticated, 1920s cocktail. Either would do, really.

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