Really, I Can Explain

Why, you may wonder, was I taking this picture when I should have been reaching post-haste for a knife or a pair of scissors?

A: Following our retreat from the Andechs monastery, we shuffled down the lakeside promenade in Herrsching, sinking into the torpor that such attractions induce, and for which enterprising locals offer the usual palliatives: tchotchke shops, miniature golf, wiener schnitzel. Tobias noticed this rusty steel object on the side of the path, and asked me what it was. Two possible answers jumped to mind (1. I don't know. 2. A land mine.) and naturally I picked door #2. "I'll jump on it to see if I can detonate it," he said. I got as close as possible.