In this photowalk meetup we decided to go on the hunt for traces of the worldâs most famous secret agent in todayâs Wattenscheid.
One 007-remnant we noticed quite quickly, and to understand it, there is something you need to know about license plates for cars in Germany. Those are structured in the following way: 1, 2 or 3 letters to indicate the city + 1 or 2 letters of your choice + 1, 2, 3 or 4 digits. And as Wattenscheid is now part of the city of Bochum, a lot of cars there have a license plate that begins with âBOâ (although the prefix âWATâ is also available for the Wattenscheid citizens that prefer this). A lot of people choose the letters & digits based on personal info, like initials and birthday - so a Bochum citizen called Michael Hertz born on the 12th of April might go for the license plate âBOMH1204â.
But of course a number of people use their option to select the letters to make words that begin with âBOâ, and unavoidably this leads to quite a few âBONDâ license plates driving around in the city (next to BOMB, BORG - tennis fans from the 1980s? - and BONO - U2 fans?). Unfortunately we did not run into the car with BOND007 (an Aston Martin, I assume) during the meetup.
Walking around in the city center we were not only able to shoot some nice pictures of e.g. the former town hall (another item on the âthings of interestâ wall painting),
but also ran into loads of other clues that clearly refer to some of the movie titles. How else to interpret âLa Lunaâ (luna being the Italian word for moon) than a hint to Moonraker? And what else could Infinity Lounge be hinting to than Diamonds are Forever?
Then we decided to bring out our own spying gear⌠in an attempt to reveal whatever was meant to remain uncovered (yes, thatâs me in the picture - many thanks to @Mainzer for making me look like a pro for a minute or 2).
But somehow our cover was blown, as we were detected by a KGB drone flying by all of the sudden (cunningly disguised as flying under Rumanian flag).
So we had to run for cover, but unfortunately the escape route turned out to be blocked!
Just in time, we were âsaved by the bellâ as the clock struck 5 PM - the end of the meetup.
Yes, local guides can really have loads of fun and get carried away during these meetups; so, if youâve never taken part in one, you should definitely try it as soon as possible! Who knows which fabulous adventures are awaiting you?
