Are German Train Stations A Drug 'Hang-Out"?

 Couple of years ago....I went to Helsinki and stayed at a fine hotel about 6 blocks from the train-station. I asked the door-guy....any areas I should avoid?  He responded with one corner/end of the train-station....drug-dealer hang-out.  Naturally, about the 3rd day....I was at the station and  observed what I considered a fairly 'nice' and clean train-station....but in three minutes....it hit me....there was this 40 meter by 20 meter area....which had some shady-type characters (obviously dealers).  It wasn't dangerous, but the door-guy was correct...it was just a place to walk-through....don't linger.

About 20 years ago....I would have said this over Frankfurt or Hamburg.  Since then....you need to really plan your entry/exit....giving zero time to linger.

Mainz/Wiesbaden?  Both stations have roaming police, but if you walk out the side-doors....you might bump into the drug-crews.  

I would imagine if you listed the top forty train-stations of Germany.....they all have this problem now.

What pumped up the drug-scene?  I'd say mostly migrants....mostly young males, who got into addictions, and no one really saw the trouble brewing...until it was too late.  The buyers?  Male, and female.....Germans and non-Germans.

How things will go in twenty years?  At some point....a crack-down will occur. 

Crimea: Downward Turn

 I follow the war news/speculation a good bit.  This AM....I noted three things:

1.  Grocery shelves in the Crimea are slow in being filled.....I won't say it's a shortage, but it's obvious food is slow in being delivered to the region.

2.  Electrical outages in the Crimea are increasing.  The Russians can't reliably produce/deliver power.  

3. 9 June.....drone attack on a key bridge for the Crimea....while I agree, it'll be repaired within a few days....if Ukraine develops some massive anti-bridge strategy....logistics becomes a mess.

15 June 2026: Germany: 5 Stories

 1.  I watched the Germany-Curacao game...easily won by the Germans. Seats empty? I'd say less than 3,000 (humble view).

2.  Some kind of weird 'attack' in Frankfurt....argument between guys (they all seem to be 18-24....each guy pulls out a machete.  Police description....it didn't get extremely bloody.

Argument over what?  Unknown.

This happened on Zeil Strasse....main shopping district...near the Konstablerwache subway point.  After dark, its a somewhat questionable area to hang out...druggies.

If you were wondering....machetes are legal in Germany....as long as you are '18' and engaged in agricultural/forest work.  I doubt that this group were engaged in 'work'.

3. Swiss vote on keeping population of 10-million....failed.  Lot of discussion came up around Germany over the idea.

4.  Iran treaty signed....lot of speculation that German fuel prices will  'settle' downward.

5. UK says it'll set up a curfew for social media for 16/17 year old British 'kids'. 

Personally, I'd mandate all 17-and-younger kids to curfew at 7 PM....be in the house...in bed....sleeping.

Wiesbaden Street Fest 'Action'

 Went Friday evening  to the city street fest.

Spent?  Roughly 95 Euro over 2 hours, for 2 people.  Yeah....hefty.  A family of four?  You would have spent easily 160 Euro.

Pork-on-a-stick?   12 Euro each....a tad too salty.

Large crowd?  If I compared against 2019 (before Covid)....probably 20-percent  fewer people.  

Safety-factor?  From 1-to-10.....easily a '10'.   Each avenue had blocks up to prevent attacks.

French cheese/bread?  Probably ten vendors from France.

Creative Space Cost?

It came out this week....the Bremen Job-Center facility....went to  spend around 900k Euro on a 100 square meter room.....to be a "creative space".

I tried to imagine such a project.

First, you'd hire a consultant....probably in the range of 40,000 Euro.  Hopefully, it's not a friend or relative of the Job-Center director.

You'd install fresh new quality carpet....not the cheap stuff...for around 5,000 Euro.

Even though it's only a 100 sq meter area....you probably installed a 30,000 Euro sound system.

The furniture? High quality crap.....figure  in the range of 80,000 Euro.

Special lighting? Figure 100,000 Euro.

Audio-visual stuff....the four TVs....tied into a display-control unit...installed for 100,000 Euro.  Cameras included?  Another 30,000 Euro.

Sound-proofing? 40,000 Euro.

Fancy painting/art-crap?  50,000 Euro.

All of this....to give you a creative space?  

German Heat Wave: 'Desert Days'?

 Some German news service used the hype of 'desert days' to describe what is coming in five days....temperatures of 33 to 36 C (91.4 F to 96.8).  There's the hint that this will last for a week minimum.

I grew up in Alabama (knowing summer heat)....lived three years in Panama (tropical heat), and four years in Tucson (one day....it got up to 47 C (117  F).  So I know heat.

First, if you take precautions....no hard labor after 12-noon....hydrate regularly, and wear loose clothing....you survive.

Second, close your shutters and windows at 11 AM (keeping some cool morning air in).....and reopen only after the sun goes down....the inside temps aren't that bad.

Third, remember......the Romans came when it was even worse heat, and survived.

Fourth, the news media seems intent on making hot-weather into a demon  or 'dragon'.  It's not rocket science....fronts move in....stall for a while....then new fronts come to replace them.  

Fifth, drinking hot coffee for breakfast in a heat wave.....is probably not smart.

Sixth, the true death rate?  Well....more folks die in winter months....than summer  months. Don't bring this up to a German.

So my advice....suck it up for 80 more days....then  we get to fall.

14 June 2026: Germany: 6 Stories

 1.  Switzerland to hold a vote....keeping population at a limit (10-million is the number)....once at it....no more acceptance of asylum folks.  Anyone's guess how this will go.

Making some Germans ask....why can't we have a limit deal.

2.  Watched the Qatar/Switzerland World Cup game (SF stadium, 19 C - 66 F).

So....all the way through the game....it was the Swiss ahead 1-0....then in the final minute or two....Qatar tied....game ended.  Shocker for some Swiss folks.

Temp issue? German 'talking-heads' tried to suggest 'heat'.....I conveyed to my German wife....you can't get heat-stroke at 19 C.  

Stadium empty seats?   Camera angles were careful....but I'd take a guess...minimum of 5,000 seats empty.

3. Survey done on young Germans  (2,000)....ages 14 to 29....presented by N-TV.

"49 percent of respondents report experiencing stress, 36 percent exhaustion, and 29 percent indicate a need for psychological support."

Yeah....overwhelming number....can't handle life..

4.  Berlin police buildings in need of renovation.....they say it's currently in the range of 5.5-billlion Euro needed.

5.  Couple of days ago...evening update on ZDF (Channel 2, public TV)....news-moderator....up and claimed that Elon Musk and Tommy Robinson called for the "hunt for migrants" and for "civil war."

I asked Grok/AI to find the quotes.....after about 3 minutes.....Grok admitted....neither said either quote.

So I'm left with two thoughts....either the news gal is English-less (meaning she can't speak/read/write/understand English....or  she's drugged-up. Well....a 3rd option is that she's just blowing hot-air and manipulating viewers.

6.  My thoughts on 'Freddy' (the German transiting America for World Cup games)....to be honest, I've noted about a hundred Italians, Japanese, Greeks, Brits, French folks, and Swedes.....on the same type of 'adventure'.

Most seem destined for the biggest 14 days of their life....living in some fantasy.

Observations Over World Cup Action

 I watched the Bosnia-Canada game last night...ending around 1130.....1-1.

FIFA claims only 30-to-50 odd seats unfilled.....I'd say nearly 5,000 seats (it was a 43k seat arena) that were empty (mostly in blocks).  Just a guess....some folks bought bulk tickets to resell, and people weren't willing to pay into the thousands for the seats.