'Passing train' is the right answer. Not only in German we stick words together, in Dutch we do it too.
Hottentottensoldatententententoonstellingsterreinen.
Today was my busiest day at work, which was actually kind of nice because it blew by so quickly. Before I knew it, I was packing up my stuff and heading back "home" across the Rhine River. Tomorrow promises to be a fairly light day, so I'm hoping to be able to wander around the city a bit before it gets dark. I've been here many times, but never seem to get tired of exploring Cologne.
In what I can only describe as a life-defining moment, I got to meet OREO COOKIE MAN this morning!! Unlike so many celebrities you encounter, he is very cool in person, and was passing out various OREO products, which made him even more delicious. I wanted very much to give him a hug, but I was afraid he would break in half and spill his delicious cream filling everywhere...
Speaking of delicious, my daily pilgrimage to the Merzenich bakery was rewarded with the biggest Spritzringe donut I've ever seen. It was almost twice as tall as usual, which led me to dub it ÜBER-SPRITZRINGE!!! Just look at my precious...
I didn't know if I should eat it or tag it and release it back into the wild.
Screw Lord of The Rings, THIS is the one ring to rule them all...
In even more exciting news, I picked up another photo for my Fahrt Collection. This one is a word I don't remember seeing before...
In German, they run all their words together to make really long words. But my vocabulary is mostly forgotten, so it's kind of hard for me to break it down and translate it to mean anything. I know Zug is Train and Fahrt is Journey. I'm pretty sure that Durch is Through... as in "durch die nacht" meaning "through the night." That would make this "Train Journey Through!" which doesn't make much sense. I'm guessing it's more likely meaning "next train doesn't stop" (this train passes through). Or perhaps it's like a catch-phrase meaning "You should travel by train!" (journey through trains).
Good thing my life doesn't depend on knowing what that sign means.
OR DOES IT?
Good thing my ride was on the opposite track.
I'd go with: next train doesn't stop (this train passes through). We used to laugh at "Gute Fahrt!" signs all over, that was a catch-phrase. The mighty Über-Spritzring really is a sight to behold! And I had to laugh at the thought of Oreo-man squirting his cream all around the showroom from the first bear hug of the day... what a mess!
Posted by Sinjin on February 04, 2009 | Reply
Your approximate translation is pretty close, even though it doesn't seem to make much sense.
It actually means that you should take caution on the platform because a train is going to pass through the station at its regular cruise speed.
This in turn means that your life may very well depend on knowing what it means as you can get sucked towards the rails depending on size and speed of the passing train...
Wow, a person could become very, very fat over there... ;-)
Posted by Whitenoise on February 04, 2009 | Reply
What are you tryin to do here, KILL me with your pictures of french fries and spritzringe? I read your blog when I get home from work, my hungriest time of day. You keep this up and I will have to move you to another time of day. I mean it, buddy!
DAMMIT I want that SPRITZRINGE!
I don't even like donuts and even I'm sitting here going "damn, that looks good".
Posted by Kevin Spencer on February 04, 2009 | Reply
It means that this train will be playing Journey through the entire trip, which just goes to show how advanced the European train system is over the American ones. Seriously, do you think people would mind our horribly outdated infrastructure and constantly late trains if they were listening to Journey the whole time?
Hmmm ... Spritzringe. I remember the Merzenich shop close to the 4711 house, they have the biggest sweet pretzel during christmas season. Just fair that we have a Krispy Kreme in 5 minute reach whose neon sign proclaims the availability of hot classic donuts. Still ... Spritzringe.
Gee, now I'm hungry.
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