Frankfurt is the biggest city in the German state of Hessen and is Germany's second-largest metropolitan region. Frankfurt is located on both sides of the Main River south-east of the Taunus mountain range. Besides, Frankfurt is also the largest financial centre in continental Europe and ranks among the world's leading financial centres. It is a home for the European Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt Stock Exchange and several large commercial banks. We need to know that the European Central Bank is the central bank of the eurozone, consisting of 18 EU member states that have adopted the euro (€) as their common currency and sole legal tender. And the Deutsche Bundesbank is the central bank of Germany and as such part of the European System of Central Banks. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange is one of the world's largest stock exchanges by market capitalization and accounts for over 90 percent of the turnover in the German market. In 2010, 63 national and 152 international banks had their registered offices in Frankfurt, including the headquarters of the major German banks, notably Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, DZ Bank and KfW, as well as 41 representative offices of international banks.


Frankfurt city is divided into 46 city districts, which are again divided into 118 city boroughs and 448 electoral districts . The 46 city districts are combined for political reasons into 16 area districts , which each district has a district committee and chairperson.

So, we know that Frankfurt is a rich city. The architecture of the city is very organized sistematically. You can see the view of Frankfurt city in the right side..
You can see the different between "day in Frankfurt" and "night in Frankfurt".In the morning or afternnon, Frankfurt city seems like a work city..or maybe a bussiness city..
But at night, it doesn't look like a bussiness city. It seems like it is a very glamour city with lots of skyscrapers, there's no busyness..All the citizens walks leisurely in city centre.


Here you can see frankfurt city's views

Food and Drinks

It feels incomplete when you go to Frankfurt without tasting the typical dishes of this city. Love it or hate it, it's not vain to try it. First, Frankfurt has Apfelwein that is made of fermented apples. Apfelwein contains about 5 % alcohol. It is best downed at one of the many Apfelwein taverns dotted across town.

Apfelwein is not just a good thirst-guencher, but apparently also is good for the colesterol and oxidant levels in the blood. Apfelwein is said to help the body resist a variety of complaints including thrombosis, viruses, cancer, and heart diseases. If you survive drinking the stuff in the first time, you can make it more palatable by mixing it with sparkling water (sauergespritzt) or lemonade (suessgespritzt).

Apfelwein / Ebbelwoi

Thank you guys for visiting this blog..And please leave a critic or a comment..Wait for my another new articles about Deutschland..See you

Schweinshaxe is popular food in Germany, especially in Bavaria. In German cuisine, Schweinshaxe is a roasted ham hock. The Austrian version of this dish  is usually marinated or pre-boiled in a caraway seed and garlic brine, roasted until the skin is crisp, and served with mustard, horseradish, and pickled chili peppers. The Bavarian version is often served with potato dumplings and red cabbage, or with sauerkraut and potatoes. And I have a recipe of Bavarian Schweinshaxe bellow

Ingredients:

• 1 large or 2 small, fresh ham hocks, 3-4 lbs.
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. dried sage, chopped fine or rubbed
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary, chopped fine
• 1 T. shortening
• 1 1/2 c. chicken or beef broth
• 1 onion, peeled and cut into quarters
• 1 carrot, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/4 of a celeriac root, or 3 pieces of celery, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 parsley root, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces (or parsnip)
• 10 whole peppercorns
• 3/4 c. sour cream
• 2 T. flour
• White wine to taste

Preparation:

First, preheat oven to 350°F.

Loosen the meat from the bone with a sharp knife slightly. Rub the salt, pepper, sage and rosemary all over the outside of the hock. In an oven proof pan or roaster, brown the hock well on all sides. Pour some of the broth over the ham hock and add the vegetables and peppercorns.

Then, place the pan or roaster in the oven and roast it for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, basting with broth every 15 minutes or so. Add more broth if necessary, so the pan doesn’t dry out.

After that, remove the ham hock and cover with foil to keep it warm. Place the roasting pan over medium heat and scrape all the roasted bits from the bottom. Strain the broth and add extra to make 2 cups. Stir the flour into the sour cream and then add the sour cream to the hot broth in the pan. Season it with salt, pepper and white wine.

Remove the meat from the bones and serve it with the sauce.

And then, you can enjoy it with potato dumplings and sauerkraut.

Variation: Remove the peppercorns. Blend the vegetables into the broth using a hand blender or potato masher. Add sour cream, flour, salt, pepper and white wine to taste.-

 

Hi, guys this is my fourth post. In this post, I'll tell you more informations about Bratwurst, the typical food in Germany. Do you  guys know Bratwurst?

Bratwurst is a kind of sausage, but a little bit different with another sausage in other country. The word "die Bratwurst" is in German. In English, we just call it as "Brat". Bratwurst is usually composed of veal, pork, or beef. Bratwurst is usually grilled or pan fried, and sometimes cooked in broth or beer. Actually
Germany has over 40 different varieties of Bratwurst for example Rote Wurst, Nordhessische Bratwurst, Thüringer Rostbratwurst,Fränkische Bratwurst, Würzburger Bratwurst, and many more.

. Every city in Germany has their own way how to serve the Bratwurst. Okay, I've set a bratwurst recipe for you ,so you can make it by yourself. Here we go.

These are all the ingredients you need:

• 4 pounds pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes and stored in the freezer for 30 minutes
• 1 pound Pork back fat, chopped and stored in the freezer for 30 minutes
• 3 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon celery seed
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground marjoram
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried ginger

The rest:

• 1 onion
• 1 cheap American beer
• sausage buns (bigger than hot dog buns)
• good mustard
• sauerkraut

• First, soak the casings, especially if they are packed in salt, for at least 30 minutes, changing the water occasionally.  Rinse the insides out under the faucet. 
  

• Then, you must set a bowl on top of another bowl filled with ice water.  Collect the ground meat in here. 
  

• Third, grind the cooled meat and fat through the large die of the meat grinder.   Once done, return the meat and fat to the freezer for 30 minutes or so. 

  

• And don't forget to mix the salt, sugar, nutmeg, coriander, celery seed, black pepper, marjoram, and ginger.

  

• Also mix the meat and spices together. 
•                                                  

• After that, stuff the sausages. Section them off into about 5 inch sections by twisting them. 

  

• Chop one onion and toss in a large pot.  Add one can of American beer that you don't mind wasting.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. 

  

• Add a few of the sausages (save half for later), and gently poach for 20 minutes.  Do not let it boil!  

  

• Meanwhile, get the grill going. Use a charcoal grill, and it takes about 20 minutes for the coals to ignite and ash over.  Mound the charcoal onto one side. 

  

• Then, cook the bratwurst over the hot side until nicely browned on all sides.

  

• At last, stuff into buns, top with warmed sauerkraut and mustard. 

  

A Bratwurst is ready to served. 

Ususally, the German eats Bratwurst accompanied by a glass of cold bier, hot tea, or coffee. Those are nice combinations. Maybe you can try it, too, pretending you're a German. Actually, you can find Bratwurst in United states. But in there, you'll find it mostly as "Hot Dog".

Okay guys thanks you for reading my post. Check out another posts in my blog. I'll write more informations about germany, like the food, sightseeing, attraction, festival, and many more. Please leave a comment.

Chimpanzee language revealed through translated gestures

“There’s another species out there that is meaningful in its communication”. Dr Catherine Hobaiter, University of St Andrews.

Researchers say they have translated the meaning of gestures that wild chimpanzees use to communicate. They say wild chimps communicate 19 specific messages to one another with a “lexicon” of 66 gestures. The scientists discovered this by following and filming communities of chimps in Uganda, and examining more than 5,000 incidents of these meaningful exchanges. The research is published in the journal Current Biology.

Dr Catherine Hobaiter, who led the research, said that this was the only form of intentional communication to be recorded in the animal kingdom. Only humans and chimps, she said, had a system of communication where they deliberately sent a message to another individual.

“That’s what’s so amazing about chimp gestures,” she told BBC News. ”They’re the only thing that looks like human language in that respect.” Focusing on non-verbal gestures, researchers spent 18 months in Kenya analysing thousands of cases and were able to identify 15 exact meanings for 36 different gestures.

Examples of such signals include the stomping of both feet, which is used to initiate play, and a request for contact, which is conveyed by a chimpanzee reaching out its arms. Leaning on one foot and thrusting it out means ‘climb on’.

The chimpanzees used these physical gestures to make requests and participate in important social negotiations.

According to research leader Dr Catherine Hobaiter, this is the only form of intentional, goal-oriented communication recorded in animals. Primatologist and co-author of the chimpanzee study Richard Byrne told Wired, “What we’ve shown is a very rich system of many different meanings,” “We have the closest thing to human language that you can see in nature”, he said. “Chimps are more closely related to us than they are to the rest of the great apes, so it makes sense that we are incredibly similar to them in many ways”, Dr Hobaiter told the BBC.

One of the limitations of the study is that it could only analyse gestures which prompted an action, as researchers were unable to interpret gestures which may convey more subtle messages. Some gestures also seemed to have many different meanings. Grabbing can, for example, be used to convey “stop that,” “climb on me,” and “move away.” ·

 Silly questions that are useful to know

1. what are our brains made of?

our brain

 Brain is a part of our bodies that is absolutely important. Brain is different with the other parts of our bodies , it does not contain muscles and bones. Brain is made of specific cells that are called nerve cell or neuron. Our brain is a bundle of nerve cells with mixing colors between gray, white, and pink. It also has soft texture like tofu, that’s the reason why brain is protected by skull. Normally, the shape of a cell is round or oval, but brain’s cell has different shape. Its shape is like a bulb and attached with nerve fibers. These nerve fibers carry low electric signal that is consist of information about what we feel, what we see, what we’re thinking about, what we touch, and many more…The signal also tells us how  to make a movement and how to do an activity.There’s another kind of cell inside the brain. It’s called “glial cell”. These cells don’t carry electric signal like nerve cell, but its functions are protecting the nerve cells, keeping the nerve cells from moving, removing the malfunctioning cells, and giving nutrition to the other cells.To get further infromations about brain, you can visit this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain

 2.Why do we have a pair of thumbs?

thumb

The facts are   :

·        The thumb, index finger, and little finger are the only ones which can be straightened easily when the other fingers are bent.
·        Most people cannot bend the upper phalange of their finger, except the thumb.
·        Almost all the people in the world type a message with thumb.
·        Thumbs help us to tighten our grip.

YOu can visit this website, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thumb to know lots of thumb
 

3.  Why is cursor controller called ‘mouse’ ?

first mouse model made by Douglas Angelbart

modern mouse

In 1968, a man, who was called Douglas Angelbart , discovered a special tool to help people controlling their computer. The tool was made of a small wooden beam with a wheel in the bottom of  it.After years later, the shape of the mouse became curvier than before and it had a long cable like a tail. One of the scientists named this tool ‘mouse’.In the next development, the shape became more like a mouse than the first model made by Angelbart. For further informations, please visit this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_(computing)

4.   Where is alphabet come from?

alphabet

Alphabet is a batch of letters that are used to arrange a word even a sentence. Thousands years ago, people didn’t know alphabet. To express a feeling or a thought, people used to draw pictures. The Chinese, Babylonians, and Egyptians made complicated symbols.The first alphabet was created by Phoenicians. They made symbols for each sound in their language. Then, these symbols were used by Greeks. They named the first letter in alphabet “alpha”, and for the second letter in alpabhet “beta”. So, “Alphabet” is come from the word “alpha” and “beta”. Years later, Romans used the alphabet and made some small changes inside. And that’s the Alphabet that we use now. To know more about alphabet you can visit this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphabet  

5.Why can we feel hungry?

We all need to eat to give energies for our bodies. All the energies we’ve gotten will be used for moving, studying, thinking, or doing another activities.After the energies are all used, we will feel hungry.  Why can we feel hungry? It is because a substance from our digestion system sends a signal to our brain telling that we need more foods. After that, the nerve fibers in the brain will accept the signal. It is the situation when we call it “hungry”.  The brain will command our body to find food. To get more informations, you can visit this website http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunger_(motivational_state)