Im from the USA, very interesting place, I think its important to keep monuments like this for the historical sake, its a land mark with a story, weather it be a dark story a victorious happy one, its still history with a story to tell. I have always been interested in German WW2 remans thanks for the tour!
I often find the most uncomfortable of monuments are the most profound.... Helps us to remember for better or for worse. those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it.
His videos arent monetized, and it's obvious he didn't want to do this video but he still did for us, excuse my language but i really fucking appreciate this person's existance.
Brilliant review Mark - And Golden Retrievers are a perfect analogy for many products these days - like the dogs, many consumers are pretty brain dead too and require nothing more than a bland normality - keep complaining it shows a true and questioning thought process! I wish more people would discuss German history with your insightful hindsight. Thank you it's so refreshing.
Yes a golden retriever is lovely but for me the dobermann is outstanding, such character ! I've discovered King Frederick IX's english mixture, I'm sure you know it. It's my 1st tobacco that I will always have. Another lovely video Mark as always. Thank you brother. God Bless You, Kieran
Kieran, my friend! Thanks for taking the time! And ... yeah...a good friend just sent me that...a tobacco with "character" for sure! I like it... Enjoy, my friend! And take care! Mark
Once again Mark, thank you for taking the time to do these, I really enjoy it. I remember seeing a documentary about the Valentin bunker. Not only thousands of slave workers were killed during its construction, thousands of survivors were killed while being evacuated one day before Germany's reddition when the RAF sunk the German ship SS Cap Arcona. The pilots were ordered to use their cannons to fire at the men in the water and only 350 of the 5,000 former concentration camp inmates aboard the Arcona survived.
Thanks a lot for that, my friend! And ...yeah...there is hardly any limit, to what people can do to each other...especially in times of war.. It's important, to remember that... Take care, my friend! Hope, you are well! Mark
Hi Mark. A great video regarding the tobacco AND the history! I was never that much interested in history, but your videos are fascinating and very interesting! Great work and thank you for all the interesting hours with tobacco AND history! Cheers from Zurich, Armin
Kent, my friend! Yeah...I gonna order that just in time...and (if you like) we gonna smoke a bowl down at the bunker... We'll talk soon! Take care! Mark
Fantastic Review, Both On The Tobacco, Also The History. I Wish To Thank You For This Video, For Your Insight. Your Choice On How To End This Particular Video Was Extremely Powerful, Great Cinematic Eye. I Wish You Well Sir, Please Bring Along More Review Videos!
Thank you for this review. I got my Solani Silver Flake back in 2017, shortly after you made this video. Three 100g tins and jarred all away. It's truly fantastic now. I also got the Aged Burley Flake (which I also enjoy). I lived in a small town (near Mülheim) in Baden. There were quite a few concrete bunkers along the Rhein. Visiting old buildings I heard bitter recollections from some older people remembering the allied (British mostly) bombs that wrought such destruction, poignant to me as I grew up in a heavily bombed area of the UK with stories from the 'other side'. Valuable memories.
your intros are somewhat gruesome, mark. especially this one. it feels like the beginning of a pov suspense horror movie. Its quite fitting considering that that bunker is a historical symbol of horror. Love it.
Another interesting video Mark. I'm very glad to have found your channel for not only the pipe reviews but the history of the country. I thin need to give this baccy a try. Keep up the good work.
hello my friend Mark what a wonderful history lesson about Breanens remains I hope they stay there for ever be cause it's a part of history and people should know about the remains I don't know about the tobacco I've never tried Solani silver flake I'm not sure if I'd like it thanks so much for sharing this buddy it was very interesting happy smokes my friend ☺☺☺☺👍👍👍👍👍👍 best regards Peter.
Peter, my friend! Hope, you had a great trip! Thank you so much for your message! ...sorry ... was quite busy...and nearly forgot... but you have to take care of these tins...these are the same as this Solani....jar it up, to be safe! Take care, Peter! Let me know, if there is something, you need! Mark
Another fantastic video. First let me say I love that pipe. I have seen you smoke it in other videos and it catches my eye every time. Second I would like to add my thoughts on history and things built during those times. We should not be so quick to remove those things that remind us of our cruelty and mistreatment of each other. My hope is by having these things around it will remind us to be more kind and tolerant of each other. I am all to aware that for some they enjoy the mistreatment that these things represent but they are the worst of mankind and we should be aware that they still exist. Turning our heads and blotting out history doesn't change what has happened nor does it change what we are capable of doing in the future.
Thank you so much...for taking the time and for very thoughtful words! As always so much appreciated! It's just this kind of comments, making the video "complete"... Take care! And be well! Mark
That place is amazing. The actual place, the fact that it was desserted when you were there, the fact that it hasn't become commercialized, is all precious. We have nothing to compare in Houston. Everything is too new.
Hello thank you for the review. I enjoy Solani Virginia Flake with Perique. I do believe that when we opine about tobacco we forget that the individual might he the difference. The tobacco is what it is and it is our prejudices and personal subjectivity that often color the good or bad. It reminds me of a college history professor of mine that said that history is like an old west caravan of wagons passing by and the critics are like dogs barking at the caravan. They make noise, but do not change the passing. The barking cannot alter the caravan. The whiskey example is an excellent one. I am allergic to the tannins so I get headaches if I drink barrel aged spirits. Sad for me, but it does not means that the whiskey is bad. Thank you again for the great reviews. Keep up the good work.
Hello Joel, ...many wise words, my friend! I can completely agree on that! And an even philosophical thought.."the tobacco is what it is.." the taste is up to us...and no one can ever say, what the taste is for someone else... same as, we can't say if the color, we see as "blue" is the same "blue" to someone else... Thanks for that! Take care...and be well! Mark
Thank you, Mark. Excellent post. In the US we have a political faction believing that if historical remains are removed, history will be changed/forgotten and their opinions will guide the future to their opinions without democratic debate. Thankfully we still have books reminding us of successes and failures by human beings.Again, thanks
Yeah...good thoughts, Sir! And...yes...I followed the US discussion on that...very difficult controversy... We have some similar issues...for eg. some 500 year old antisemitic representations at major cathedrals...in the end, the conclusion was, to "comment" that with an extra brass plate, to put that in the historical context... but as I said...it's always difficult... Take care! Be well! And thanks for taking the time! Mark
Mark, this video is so good I don't even know what to think about the silver flake or the bunker. Perhaps it will take some days for me to sort it out. As always it was great to see you. Thank you.
Excellent video and very true thoughts on many of the worlds historical sites. Much of what's left behind reflect darker periods of humanity. We all benefit from visiting and learning about the history and times of the people and events that created them. Great job, as always!
I happened across your video today and thoroughly enjoyed both the pipe tobacco information and the historical information. I find it interesting you use the word "remains". Such sites are commonly referred to, in English, as "ruins"; but I think "remains" is more appropriate. It suggests an organic decay rather than simply a pile of rubble. What is left is more than rubble; in some ways what is left bears the mark of how putrid the actions of humans can be. Thank you for your thoughtful refelctions.
Hello Todd! Thanks a lot for that! And...yes, wasn't so sure about the word...but I thought, it's just "more" than "ruins"... it's more like history...very slowly drifting away in it's physical presence.. Take care! Be well! Mark
Just when I thought you had reached the pinnacle of your always excellent videos, you give us this masterpiece. Difficult to watch as I am sure it was difficult to produce, but profoundly important and thought provoking. Thank you.
I never had Solani of any kind , nice big flakes looks good and sounds good I will have to try it , some of our history represents the evil that men do and we need to be reminded so we do not repeat history . another great video my friend keep on choochin
Berg, my friend! Thanks a lot for taking the time...and wise words! Hope, you're well, my friend! Let me know, if you need anything from here...and let's talk soon, brother! Take care! Mark
Thanks Mark for another great video. I always look forward to the notification that you have a new one out. I really appreciate the thought and time that you put into these videos. I have been really educated and sometimes moved by your stories. I came to your channel for the tobacco reviews, but stay for the great content. Also, thanks for the review, I have been wanting to try this one...and I may give it a try now. Hope you're doing well... SAL.
Good Morning Mark and thank you for this facinating video, first off ,let me say that this your pipe is very pleasing to my eye, Stanwell has similar model in their line 141, if I remember the model number correctly,perhaps it only comes with a tad smaller size bowl.otherwise its similar but briar,yet you gave us a very good suggestion and review on this Solani Silver,agreed thers only one down side to this,and it is how the package itself is performed, in these like tins tobacco might be even more prone to drying out than if it was sold in quality puches a la Mac Baren. Finally let me say few words concerning on these war time monuments,(I just have watched national Geograf channel UK document film on this Deutsch-U Boat bunkers,quite a facinating it was)I have to say we here in Finland have similar war time monuments or fortified lines in some places all across the country ,and yes some people are arguing if these are appropriate, so to say opinion are controversial about them,mainly because to some folks these monuments seem inapropriate and they'd prefer these war time monuments being demolished because by they are seeing these monuments are still reminding and gloryfying the war-time liations and close partnership with War period Hitler regime,nonetheless one main thing these folks are forgetting,and is, if our country were not having support both in material and troops/luftwaffe-our country would have been facing the similar destiny to those of the Baltic countries and Polad.Thanks to German and our Fighting Army this did not ever happen. So Much for the History,,to which I'm quite a amateur)Good Bless You, and have a Great weekend, Beste Grüsse, Paul
Hello Paul, my friend! Yeah...as always most thoughtful words! First: Yes, I absolutely agree on the tin issue...MacBaren really has the best quality, when it comes to the tins...especially the 100g tins even hold their humidity, when already opened once. I remember a tin of Arcadian Perique, I opened at Ronny's ...and we put it back on the sample shelf...and forgot about for three years... When I opened that again...it had the same humidity, it had three years ago... Second: Yeah...your examples show, that history is really complicated...and many things have to be considered... Take care! And be well! Mark
Thanks for the tour even years later! Very fascinating to what scale so many German army structures were! Thanks for the review of the Solani Silver Flake too, see you out smokin'.
Hi Mark. Another fascinating video. Thank you for sharing. It is important to keep these historical places to educate everyone on our past and hope for the best going forward. Take care and be well my friend.
Mark.. How are you brother great to see you today my friend.. Well as I history person I really appreciate this video... Fantastic job Mark you never disappoint.. I should be getting that meerschaum pipe any day now I will do a video with it... I'm just still struggling bad with my back problems that is why no kayaks for a while can't sit long... Take care my friend be well see you soon great video thank you brother
Brad, brother! Yeah...can't wait, to see that! Take good care of yourself my friend! And be careful with your back! Let me know, if there is anything, you need! Hope, you gonna be better very soon! Mark
Bremen Pipe Smoker Mark thank you for your kind words brother.. I'm getting a little better but while my back is absolutely out it's killing me but on the good news front I have the Bremen pipe smoker billiard coming and the bulldog I can't wait to get them.. I owe it all to you my friend I can't say thank you enough you're a good friend Mark I really appreciate all you've done for me take care and we will talk soon I will send you an e-mail
Nice nuanced review of the Solani Silver Flake - it will be on my list to try. Interesting reflection on historical "landmarks" and the deeper meaning behind them. The scenes of past battles etc. - will make me think a bit more about them. Keep up the reviews!
ANOTHER very interesting video!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Mark on Bremen's past. I enjoy Solani Silver Flake as well, and totally agree that it ages quite well. Take care, Be Well, my friend!!
Thanks Mark, thanks for talking about these difficult things. Thanks for answering my request. And I must tell you, it has something quite personal on it. Since my grand grand father worked on the building of those unterseeboots for Kriegsmarine. Paul was his name. Than finally after war he moved to Brazil, the country were I was born. So all those stories have haunted my family somehow. I myself have dived in a few wrecks of U-boats trying to have a feel of these machines and all that has been done. But I've never had the chance or maybe the courage to visit the bunker. Thanks again.
Thank you so much for that, my friend! Glad, you liked it! And ...yeah...family history can be complicated...and interesting the same time. It may show us, that we are for sure not the only ones in history, living in difficult times... Take care! Hope, you are well! Mark
Powerful thoughts. Many "ghosts" of the past here. Regarding your thoughts about good vs. great tobaccos, it took me a moment to process that idea, but it makes sense. It is the difference between mediocrity vs. greatness; tepid lukewarmness vs. hot or cold;. Something just "good" is "safe" and thus adequate, but its potential is naturally limited by its own lukewarmness.
I agree with Demon Blood's comments below. I absolutely love your videos and your commentary. Thank you very much for sharing your travels and knowledge with us. God Bless.
Hi again Mark I tuned into this vid after hearing good things about Silver Flake which is not so easy to get here (have some on order) and did not quite expect your historical/philosophical musings which I found refreshingly different. As an Irishman I know all about English slavery and genocide in Ireland and of course American genocide of the native people and slavery upon which their southern economy was based. It seems to me - and many other people - that Hitler's regime has been treated to an inordinate degree of negative publicity for going on for three quaters of a century and that Allied atrocities over the same period of time have been downplayed . Today, facts are coming to light that shed a somewhat different view of this period. I don't really want to get into this subject here apart from saying the British Empire was built on exploitation of conquered countries and that their flag - the Union Jack - was known as the Butcher's Apron. 'Nuff said.
15:56 "..but is that enough!?" haha I love how philosophical you became over 'some tobacco' .. But it's a really interesting thought.. to have certain characteristics which can be either hated or loved - this truly makes something special
Hi Mark - thank you so much for your candid and thought provoking talk about Bunker Valentin. It is so important for us and future generations to remember how such barbarism can occur even within the most sophisticated of societies........ Not tried the Silver Flake but I can testify to the sublime quality of Solani 633 Virginia Flake which I smoked whilst watching your excellent video. By the way, I love the Peterson's 2017 Special Reserve ! Best wishes, as ever, Paul
Hello Mark, I am slowly Coming back from a 1 year (or so) fall back in watching videos. I will put the Solani Silver Flake on my "To Try List". Loves Solani Aged Burley Flake. Solani seems to make good quality tobacco. Really appreciated how you put into relation the affect (I have difficulty explaining in English what I want to say) that gives us castles and the types of remains such as the Valentine Bunker (a site I did not know about !!). We too often forget what a place really is or what was meant for at the time it was built. From now on, I will try to read more and try to understand what a bulding/site/remains really meant at the time of its origin. Take care my friend... and Be well! Gilles
Well Mark, another great video! You're right on with this review of SSF, very good insight into how we judge baccys, we must be careful not to ignore their uniqueness...to not miss the experience...and you're quite correct that... ... this carelessness can be carried over into human interaction. Very interesting bunker, can't even imagine it's enormity, and it leaves quite an impression. One of the dangers of history, is not that it will just be lost to time, but that it will be ignored as it is right in front of us...history itself can be twisted into a weapon used against us in the present...that's why, as you've said so well, that we must make sure that the meaning of our remains....remain. Hope you're well my friend, thanks for sharing this place and it's meaning to us, Take care, and we'll talk soon, Corey
Corey, my friend! Thank you so much for that! Sorry for being so late...just that busy... :-) I gonna hit you soon on voxer! Hope, everything is alright...and take care, my friend! Mark
You touched on a central theme in life, well, two now that I remember correctly. First, you mentioned that history is seldom as simple as we sometimes recall and record it. So true, history is as nuanced as we are. Second, you said that things are rarely as they first appear, also so incredibly true. I come here for both the tabacco stuff and for the depth of your understanding of the human condition. Cheers.
This is a fantastic video. To start off with, your comments about 'golden retriever' whisky is something I have been noticing for some time now. So many ,previously great, whiskies are now rebranded in the UK in an attempt to make them appear more up to date but which is in effect a way of selling younger less distinctive whisky under a well known name. So many have lost the age statement - Glenlivet, Glenmorangie, Tamdhu, Macallan, Talisker, Dalwhinnie to name just a few are now producing a product that is not bad, but is no different from any of their competitors and really lacks any character of it's own. And to make matters worse they retain the price tag of the older age-statement whisky which actually tasted of something! So yes, I couldn't agree more that for something to be truly great it has to have something about it which is distinctive, and as open to being hated as loved.And you are right that history is often a romantic view from the present. The further away an event is, or the older the building, the easier it is to have that view. We can all troop along to the Coliseum and be in awe because there is no newsreel footage of the slaves who built it or the countless people killed inside it. We divorce ourselves from much of the reality of a building/event and see only the remaining wonderful façade. My worry is that time will pass and we will look at the Valentin Bunker and be similarly impressed by such a huge undertaking as memory fades of the horror behind it. We are very guilty in the UK of airbrushing our history and it is only recently that we have started to really confront our imperial past and the legacy of the slave trade. Near where I grew up is the most wonderful country mansion with beautiful grounds and outbuildings, all designed by Robert Adam of Edinburgh New Town fame. Only recently did I discover that the family who built it became rich off the sweat of slaves in their Jamaican sugar plantations and from their slave market island off the coast of Sierra Leone. The open study and discussion of history is so important and I love that you intertwine your knowledge of history with your love of tobacco! Really can't get enough of your understated laconic style.All the best,Andy
Hello Andy! Well...thank you so much for watching...but even more for taking the time for such good and most thoughtful comment! And...yeah...couldn't agree more...on the Whiskey .. and on the judgement about historical remains... So true! Thanks for that! And take care! Hope, you are well! Mark
Hi mark great video and I have the silver flake Jared in the cellar not had it before but I'm definitely looking forward to it in let's say 2yrs same as you sir.my name is Also mark! Also just want to say I gave you a shout out on my channel it was to thank you for recommending Hu TOBACCO witch I'm really enjoying shopping there for sure! Also I've just bought my very first block meerschaum pipe because of one of your video's I'm looking forward to it very much thankyou again mark!! 💥🍂💨🇬🇧👌
Mark - you have the most fascinating videos - really ! I very much look forward to watching - a great big "Thank You". I had a tin of Silver Flake, a couple years past, and did enjoy the tobacco albeit I have a real problem with flake tobacco's. Can never load them in a way they smoke properly and have come to avoid them. After your video I will probably purchase another tin of Silver Flake and try to be more objective and careful. Keep the video's coming. Take care and God bless Jim
Hello Jim, my friend! Thanks a lot for taking the time! Well...perhaps, you give the "rub in circles" method a shot... how I suggested...should work! Take care! Hope, you are well! Mark
Hi Mark, Thanks for another interesting video from my favorite history channel. When I think of my time at school, I believe that I had better grades if it were allowed to have a smoke. I am looking forward for another history lesson. Have a good time, Greetings. Andreas
Hello Andreas! Thanks for that! And...yeah...guess, you're not the only one...LOL... I remember, when I went to University, the times where just gone, when smoking during the lessons was allowed...and even expected... :-) Take care! Be well! Mark
Mark, one of the best videos I've seen from you. I think the location had you waxing a bit philosophical about the tobacco and I loved it. A tobacco needs character, it needs to be memorable to be great. Getting good marks all around isn't enough. The real story isn't the one we think of first. Take care friend
Oh, that's impressive! Have you been to the one in Hamburg, in the middle of the city? I was playing in Hamburg last June and I asked what was that cool huge building and said that I liked it a lot... Of course everyone stared at me with a funny face... Oopsie. I really really like Solani Silver Flake too! I was surprised about the tin not being vacuumed. Cheers - Héctor
Thank you for the strong opinion! And for the great term "Golden Retriever" this is really on the point. And you're completely right (from my point of view), as a famous connoisseur once said: live's too short for bad vine. Let's turn it into ... too short for an average tobacco (or whisky)!
Did you borrow my Golden Retriever reference?? Haha, j/k I do recall comparing some tobacco to a golden retriever though. Great video. I’m just catching up.
Hey Mark: Very impressive historical commentary. You know every western country has a past which is sprinkled with good and bad times, good and bad deeds and a whole lot of just surviving from one century to the next. That is certainly the case where I live, we like to think that the U.S. is a special place with a unique experiment in process but as you know we have certainly had our issues in the past not the least of which is the terrible war over slavery in the 1860's. As I have mentioned to you before 90 percent of the various studies, books, movies and even TV shows here tend to dwell on Germany in the 1930's and 40's ignoring an amazingly rich history of your special place. Yes we are doomed to repeat the past if we are not aware of past sins but to obsess on a 20 or 30 year period at the expense of forgetting or ignoring the entire kaleidoscopic mosaic of a culture's history is not healthy either. That is why I enjoy your stories of the earlier times such as the Ascanian Castle video. Keep up the good work and keep puffin.
15:50 - 17:00 I've been wondering this about women. I think I'd rather have a golden retriever LOL. Seriously, though, I applaud you for making this video. I can see that it was difficult for you, which makes it all the more powerful. Thank you.
I can't imagine that much concrete. It would be interesting to know whether places like this will hold up as well as some of the medieval ruins, or will turn into a long pile of concrete and twisted rusting rebar, decayed by water and frost. Amazing to see in aerial view. As an aside - I read a lot (or try to) historical fiction (talk about a romanticized past) - do you read historical fiction, or have favorite authors? I got started to get interested in this after reading Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. While an interesting novel - it got me looking into and learning more about the history of the time, the history of cathedral construction, and so on. It's become a stepping stone to get me interested in times and places I knew little about - currently reading things about the Dark Ages in Anglo-Saxon England, and the "Viking" sagas across northern Europe. I was wondering if you had any favorites. Sorry for the long comment, and thanks for the video - thoughtful, as always.
Thanks for that, my friend! No apology required...quite the opposite! Yeah...well... I didn't show in the video...but there are also remains of a whole concrete production facility near by... I don't think, the bunker will resist time and nature as long as the old graves did...in the end, it's just sand and iron... you can already see, how small trees find their ways into that and will break the structure from inside ...slowly but relentless... but it surely will be there another 500 yrs... And ...yeah...from time to time, I find some interest in historical fiction...but...to be honest...mainly, to dream myself away for a moment...to a better time...that never existed..hahahah... I found the Cadfael novels of Ellis Peters quite amusing...and even quite good, when it comes to the historical settings... Take care! Hope, you are well, my friend! Mark
It is so refreshing to see a gentleman of the highest caliber giving reviews on Pipes & tobacco's right now in the United States we are going through a degenerative process most CZcamsrs are doing the reviews from their man cave I don't think I have seen any of them do a review from a home Library thank you for enlightening us keep up the good work
Thank you so much for that! Well...I just like, to go outside ...and share some (hopefully) interesting sites...and some good baccy... :-) Take care! Hope, you are well! Mark
Absolutely, I hadn't watched any of your videos in a while and came back to your channel for this one. Thank you for sharing your ideas regarding your "difficult remains". We have several sides to some difficult remains in the States right now and it is refreshing to see a more contemplative view of a nearly parallel subject. Take care.
Agreed! We see 'reviewers' who wouldn't know the difference in taste between a Cyprian and Syrian Lat' posting reviews which aren't so much a tobacco review as a video of their 'get away time' from their wife! If I want to watch a shot of a dumbass running from their wife I'll watch Coronation Street on TV, not a pipe channel!
Thanks for taking the time! And sorry for being so late.. :-) Yeah...guess, you alreday got it...but just to be sure..."Valentin bunker" it is... Take care! Hope, you are well! Mark
Thanks for watching, my friend! Much appreciated! No...I don't use any other social media...my job keeps me just too busy...and YT too... :-) Take care! Be well! Mark
Nice video, my friend. Very poignant, I would say haha. So what is your view of Confederate monuments in the U.S. ? I have mixed feelings, because as a lover of history I always hate to see something old be removed, however in those monuments case maybe they should have never been erected in the first place.
Hello Matthew, my friend! Thanks a lot for taking the time! And...yeah...I followed that discussion...and it's very hard to decide about that. I agree with you...perhaps they shouldn't be removed, because they show a certain part of history...but the same time, these monuments often don't tell the obvious story...because they were sometimes built decades after the war... so...the story, they tell is about the specific political and mentally situation in these areas decades after the war. And that's far more interesting than these statues themselves... I think... So, sometimes, it can be a good way, to ad an extra explanation about that at the monument, without removing that... They did it in Europe at many places with medieval monuments of antisemitic contents.... Take care! Be well! Mark
Mark fierst i like to say I LOVE YOUR VIDEOD!😁 and secont i am not a colig man and i barliy got though hi school and i lernd to nowtis people and ther moovemintd and exspreshins and haw they riyakt to things and ther fillings and i wont to tell you we i you cant help what some dum ignerint people don in the past exspeshaliy dering ww2 buy its the ginerashin of naw thats making a positive difference by doing what you ar doing naw so walk with pride my friend and also my last name is a Garmin name if you wont to know drop me your emal and ill tell you .you doing videos like this i fill is vitall for understand ing knolig and i thank you frome the bottome of my heart and keep it up even if its a small talk.say im more of a armatiks smowker but whats a good non arematik to triy?that you would recumind for her in the states
Thanks for that, my friend! ...and sorry, for being late! First of all...thank you so much for taking the time, to watch and for your very kind words! Truly appreciated by heart, my friend! Yeah...if you like the aromatics, you perhaps wanna start with something smooth, when it comes to the naturals... how about some Golden slices...or some Scottish cake by Robert McConnel...perhaps the Regents Flake could also be a good start... You can hit me any time with a private mail, my friend...would be a pleasure! Just use the PM function on the channel... Take care! Hope, you are well! Mark
What a great line, "dream yourself away to a better time that did not exist".
Thanks for that, my friend! And for taking the time!
Hope, you are well!
Mark
The Welsh have a word for it: Hiraeth.
You, Mutton Chop, & SAT are my favorite reviewers, but the journey you give us geography wise stands out.
Im from the USA, very interesting place, I think its important to keep monuments like this for the historical sake, its a land mark with a story, weather it be a dark story a victorious happy one, its still history with a story to tell.
I have always been interested in German WW2 remans thanks for the tour!
Thanks for that, my friend!
Much appreciated...and...yeah...I agree...
Take care!
Mark
Hi Mark
You contributions to tobacco, history and general chat are appreciated.
Very enjoyable.
Thank You!
Outstanding video. Whatever you discuss, you do so with intelligence and candor. Honesty and reason. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
Thank you so much for that, my friend! Really appreciated by heart!
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
I often find the most uncomfortable of monuments are the most profound.... Helps us to remember for better or for worse. those who do not know their history are doomed to repeat it.
Thanks for that! Couldn't agree more!
Take care! Be well!
Mark
His videos arent monetized, and it's obvious he didn't want to do this video but he still did for us, excuse my language but i really fucking appreciate this person's existance.
Thank you so much for this, my friend! Really so much appreciated by heart! Take care! And all the best!
Mark
Brilliant review Mark - And Golden Retrievers are a perfect analogy for many products these days - like the dogs, many consumers are pretty brain dead too and require nothing more than a bland normality - keep complaining it shows a true and questioning thought process! I wish more people would discuss German history with your insightful hindsight. Thank you it's so refreshing.
Thanks for that, my friend! Always so good, to have you here!
Take care! And be well!
Mark
Yes a golden retriever is lovely but for me the dobermann is outstanding, such character ! I've discovered King Frederick IX's english mixture, I'm sure you know it. It's my 1st tobacco that I will always have. Another lovely video Mark as always. Thank you brother. God Bless You, Kieran
Kieran, my friend!
Thanks for taking the time!
And ... yeah...a good friend just sent me that...a tobacco with "character" for sure! I like it... Enjoy, my friend! And take care!
Mark
Once again Mark, thank you for taking the time to do these, I really enjoy it. I remember seeing a documentary about the Valentin bunker. Not only thousands of slave workers were killed during its construction, thousands of survivors were killed while being evacuated one day before Germany's reddition when the RAF sunk the German ship SS Cap Arcona. The pilots were ordered to use their cannons to fire at the men in the water and only 350 of the 5,000 former concentration camp inmates aboard the Arcona survived.
Thanks a lot for that, my friend!
And ...yeah...there is hardly any limit, to what people can do to each other...especially in times of war.. It's important, to remember that...
Take care, my friend! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Hi Mark. A great video regarding the tobacco AND the history! I was never that much interested in history, but your videos are fascinating and very interesting! Great work and thank you for all the interesting hours with tobacco AND history! Cheers from Zurich, Armin
That bunker is hugggggeeeee Mark. I'll wait to try the silver flame next time I come visit. Hope you're well and talk soon! Kent
Kent, my friend!
Yeah...I gonna order that just in time...and (if you like) we gonna smoke a bowl down at the bunker...
We'll talk soon!
Take care!
Mark
Fantastic Review, Both On The Tobacco, Also The History. I Wish To Thank You For This Video, For Your Insight. Your Choice On How To End This Particular Video Was Extremely Powerful, Great Cinematic Eye. I Wish You Well Sir, Please Bring Along More Review Videos!
Thank you so much for taking the time...and most kind words! Really so much appreciated by heart!
Take care! Be well!
Mark
Thank you for this review. I got my Solani Silver Flake back in 2017, shortly after you made this video. Three 100g tins and jarred all away. It's truly fantastic now. I also got the Aged Burley Flake (which I also enjoy). I lived in a small town (near Mülheim) in Baden. There were quite a few concrete bunkers along the Rhein. Visiting old buildings I heard bitter recollections from some older people remembering the allied (British mostly) bombs that wrought such destruction, poignant to me as I grew up in a heavily bombed area of the UK with stories from the 'other side'. Valuable memories.
your intros are somewhat gruesome, mark. especially this one. it feels like the beginning of a pov suspense horror movie. Its quite fitting considering that that bunker is a historical symbol of horror. Love it.
Thank you so much for that, my friend! Really so much appreciated!
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Another interesting video Mark. I'm very glad to have found your channel for not only the pipe reviews but the history of the country. I thin need to give this baccy a try. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for taking the time...and good words! Much appreciated!
Take care! Be well!
Mark
hello my friend Mark what a wonderful history lesson about Breanens remains I hope they stay there for ever be cause it's a part of history and people should know about the remains I don't know about the tobacco I've never tried Solani silver flake I'm not sure if I'd like it thanks so much for sharing this buddy it was very interesting happy smokes my friend ☺☺☺☺👍👍👍👍👍👍 best regards Peter.
Peter, my friend!
Hope, you had a great trip! Thank you so much for your message! ...sorry ... was quite busy...and nearly forgot... but you have to take care of these tins...these are the same as this Solani....jar it up, to be safe!
Take care, Peter! Let me know, if there is something, you need!
Mark
Great to see you again Mark!
Great to have you here! And thanks for taking the time!
Take care!
Mark
Another fantastic video.
First let me say I love that pipe. I have seen you smoke it in other videos and it catches my eye every time.
Second I would like to add my thoughts on history and things built during those times. We should not be so quick to remove those things that remind us of our cruelty and mistreatment of each other. My hope is by having these things around it will remind us to be more kind and tolerant of each other. I am all to aware that for some they enjoy the mistreatment that these things represent but they are the worst of mankind and we should be aware that they still exist. Turning our heads and blotting out history doesn't change what has happened nor does it change what we are capable of doing in the future.
Thank you so much...for taking the time and for very thoughtful words! As always so much appreciated! It's just this kind of comments, making the video "complete"...
Take care! And be well!
Mark
That place is amazing. The actual place, the fact that it was desserted when you were there, the fact that it hasn't become commercialized, is all precious.
We have nothing to compare in Houston. Everything is too new.
A short 3 hour drive to San Antonio might be worth it...
Wow! Fantastic video, Mark. Poignant description... one of my favourites of your vids so far!! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much for that! Truly appreciated!
Take care, hope, you are well, my friend!
Mark
Another great video. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for taking the time, my friend!
Take care!
Mark
Hello thank you for the review. I enjoy Solani Virginia Flake with Perique. I do believe that when we opine about tobacco we forget that the individual might he the difference. The tobacco is what it is and it is our prejudices and personal subjectivity that often color the good or bad. It reminds me of a college history professor of mine that said that history is like an old west caravan of wagons passing by and the critics are like dogs barking at the caravan. They make noise, but do not change the passing. The barking cannot alter the caravan. The whiskey example is an excellent one. I am allergic to the tannins so I get headaches if I drink barrel aged spirits. Sad for me, but it does not means that the whiskey is bad. Thank you again for the great reviews. Keep up the good work.
Hello Joel,
...many wise words, my friend! I can completely agree on that! And an even philosophical thought.."the tobacco is what it is.." the taste is up to us...and no one can ever say, what the taste is for someone else... same as, we can't say if the color, we see as "blue" is the same "blue" to someone else...
Thanks for that! Take care...and be well!
Mark
Thank you, Mark. Excellent post. In the US we have a political faction believing that if historical remains are removed, history will be changed/forgotten and their opinions will guide the future to their opinions without democratic debate. Thankfully we still have books reminding us of successes and failures by human beings.Again, thanks
Yeah...good thoughts, Sir! And...yes...I followed the US discussion on that...very difficult controversy... We have some similar issues...for eg. some 500 year old antisemitic representations at major cathedrals...in the end, the conclusion was, to "comment" that with an extra brass plate, to put that in the historical context... but as I said...it's always difficult...
Take care! Be well! And thanks for taking the time!
Mark
Great video with an wonderful and thoughtful review as always . Like the walk away ending by the way! Very very cool!!!
Thanks Mark
Thank you so much for that! Wasn't so sure about the long passing... :-)
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Wonderful video Bremen Pipe Smoker. You've gained a new fan.
Thanks a lot for taking the time and kind words! Much appreciated!
Hope, you're well! And take care!
Mark
Many thanks Mark, reviews on tobacco and a bit of history are a great mix.
Your stories are told with exemplary skill, bravo:)
Mark, this video is so good I don't even know what to think about the silver flake or the bunker. Perhaps it will take some days for me to sort it out. As always it was great to see you. Thank you.
Thank you so much for that! Much appreciated!
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Hello Mark!
I have watched all of your videos, some of them more than once and this is your most thought provoking video to date!
Be well.
Thank you so much for that! Well...wasn't really planed... just the thoughts, that crossed my mind...
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Excellent video and very true thoughts on many of the worlds historical sites. Much of what's left behind reflect darker periods of humanity. We all benefit from visiting and learning about the history and times of the people and events that created them. Great job, as always!
Thank you so much for that, my friend! And for taking the time!
Hope, you are well!
Take care!
Mark
I happened across your video today and thoroughly enjoyed both the pipe tobacco information and the historical information. I find it interesting you use the word "remains". Such sites are commonly referred to, in English, as "ruins"; but I think "remains" is more appropriate. It suggests an organic decay rather than simply a pile of rubble. What is left is more than rubble; in some ways what is left bears the mark of how putrid the actions of humans can be. Thank you for your thoughtful refelctions.
Hello Todd!
Thanks a lot for that! And...yes, wasn't so sure about the word...but I thought, it's just "more" than "ruins"... it's more like history...very slowly drifting away in it's physical presence..
Take care! Be well!
Mark
Just when I thought you had reached the pinnacle of your always excellent videos, you give us this masterpiece. Difficult to watch as I am sure it was difficult to produce, but profoundly important and thought provoking. Thank you.
Thank you so much ...for taking the time...and most kind words, my friend!
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
I never had Solani of any kind , nice big flakes looks good and sounds good I will have to try it , some of our history represents the evil that men do and we need to be reminded so we do not repeat history . another great video my friend keep on choochin
Berg, my friend!
Thanks a lot for taking the time...and wise words! Hope, you're well, my friend! Let me know, if you need anything from here...and let's talk soon, brother!
Take care!
Mark
Another splendid video Mark! Bravo 👏 ciao from Milano. S
Mark great.....great vid. thank you. Ron
Thanks for that!
Take care!
Mark
You have a real talent for these videos, thank you for them.
Thanks for that! So much appreciated!
Take care!
Mark
Thanks Mark for another great video. I always look forward to the notification that you have a new one out.
I really appreciate the thought and time that you put into these videos. I have been really educated and sometimes moved by your
stories. I came to your channel for the tobacco reviews, but stay for the great content.
Also, thanks for the review, I have been wanting to try this one...and I may give it a try now. Hope you're doing well... SAL.
Thank you so much for taking the time...and your most kind and heartwarming words! So much appreciated!
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Good Morning Mark and thank you for this facinating video, first off ,let me say that this your pipe is very pleasing to my eye, Stanwell has similar model in their line 141, if I remember the model number correctly,perhaps it only comes with a tad smaller size bowl.otherwise its similar but briar,yet you gave us a very good suggestion and review on this Solani Silver,agreed thers only one down side to this,and it is how the package itself is performed, in these like tins tobacco might be even more prone to drying out than if it was sold in quality puches a la Mac Baren. Finally let me say few words concerning on these war time monuments,(I just have watched national Geograf channel UK document film on this Deutsch-U Boat bunkers,quite a facinating it was)I have to say we here in Finland have similar war time monuments or fortified lines in some places all across the country ,and yes some people are arguing if these are appropriate, so to say opinion are controversial about them,mainly because to some folks these monuments seem inapropriate and they'd prefer these war time monuments being demolished because by they are seeing these monuments are still reminding and gloryfying the war-time liations and close partnership with War period Hitler regime,nonetheless one main thing these folks are forgetting,and is, if our country were not having support both in material and troops/luftwaffe-our country would have been facing the similar destiny to those of the Baltic countries and Polad.Thanks to German and our Fighting Army this did not ever happen. So Much for the History,,to which I'm quite a amateur)Good Bless You, and have a Great weekend, Beste Grüsse, Paul
Hello Paul, my friend!
Yeah...as always most thoughtful words! First: Yes, I absolutely agree on the tin issue...MacBaren really has the best quality, when it comes to the tins...especially the 100g tins even hold their humidity, when already opened once. I remember a tin of Arcadian Perique, I opened at Ronny's ...and we put it back on the sample shelf...and forgot about for three years... When I opened that again...it had the same humidity, it had three years ago...
Second: Yeah...your examples show, that history is really complicated...and many things have to be considered...
Take care! And be well!
Mark
thank you for another fascinating video!
Thanks for that!
Take care!
Mark
Great video, Mark! I love history and you've provided some thought provoking questions. See you again. Cheers, Mark, HP
Thank you so much for that, my friend! As always so much appreciated!
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Thanks for the tour even years later! Very fascinating to what scale so many German army structures were! Thanks for the review of the Solani Silver Flake too, see you out smokin'.
Thanks for watching and kind words! So much appreciated!
Take care and be well!
Mark
Another great video from you mark thank you so much for sharing that with us
Thanks for that! Really so much appreciated!
Take care! Be well!
Mark
Keep up the great historical videos mixed in with good pipe conversation.
Thanks again.
Thanks for that, my friend! I'll try my best.. :-)
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Hi Mark. Another fascinating video. Thank you for sharing. It is important to keep these historical places to educate everyone on our past and hope for the best going forward. Take care and be well my friend.
Thanks a lot for taking the time...and most kind words! Truly appreciated!
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Mark.. How are you brother great to see you today my friend.. Well as I history person I really appreciate this video... Fantastic job Mark you never disappoint.. I should be getting that meerschaum pipe any day now I will do a video with it... I'm just still struggling bad with my back problems that is why no kayaks for a while can't sit long... Take care my friend be well see you soon great video thank you brother
Brad, brother!
Yeah...can't wait, to see that!
Take good care of yourself my friend! And be careful with your back!
Let me know, if there is anything, you need!
Hope, you gonna be better very soon!
Mark
Bremen Pipe Smoker Mark thank you for your kind words brother.. I'm getting a little better but while my back is absolutely out it's killing me but on the good news front I have the Bremen pipe smoker billiard coming and the bulldog I can't wait to get them.. I owe it all to you my friend I can't say thank you enough you're a good friend Mark I really appreciate all you've done for me take care and we will talk soon I will send you an e-mail
A romentic Weltanschauung from a scholar beneath a tobacco review and a bunker talk: wow! :)
Nice nuanced review of the Solani Silver Flake - it will be on my list to try. Interesting reflection on historical "landmarks" and the deeper meaning behind them. The scenes of past battles etc. - will make me think a bit more about them. Keep up the reviews!
Thank you so much for that, my friend! Much appreciated!
Take care and be well!
Mark
ANOTHER very interesting video!! Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Mark on Bremen's past. I enjoy Solani Silver Flake as well, and totally agree that it ages quite well. Take care, Be Well, my friend!!
Tim, my friend!
Thanks a lot for taking the time! And for good words! As always so much appreciated!
Take care! And be well!
Mark
Important history and lessons to be learned from the world... Great video.
Thanks Mark, thanks for talking about these difficult things. Thanks for answering my request.
And I must tell you, it has something quite personal on it. Since my grand grand father worked on the building of those unterseeboots for Kriegsmarine. Paul was his name. Than finally after war he moved to Brazil, the country were I was born.
So all those stories have haunted my family somehow.
I myself have dived in a few wrecks of U-boats trying to have a feel of these machines and all that has been done. But I've never had the chance or maybe the courage to visit the bunker.
Thanks again.
Thank you so much for that, my friend!
Glad, you liked it! And ...yeah...family history can be complicated...and interesting the same time. It may show us, that we are for sure not the only ones in history, living in difficult times...
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Outstanding video! Enjoyed it!
Thanks for that! Much appreciated!
Take care!
Mark
Thank you Mark.
Thanks for taking the time!
Take care!
Mark
Thanks for this video and the fascinating history. It is important..Cheers.
Thanks for that, my friend! Hope, you are well!
Take care!
Mark
Powerful thoughts. Many "ghosts" of the past here. Regarding your thoughts about good vs. great tobaccos, it took me a moment to process that idea, but it makes sense. It is the difference between mediocrity vs. greatness; tepid lukewarmness vs. hot or cold;. Something just "good" is "safe" and thus adequate, but its potential is naturally limited by its own lukewarmness.
Yeah...that's it!
Thanks a lot for taking the time...as always much appreciated!
Hope, you are well, my friend! And take care!
Mark
Superb quality video. You sir, are my favorite CZcams pipe presenter, not sure if I ever mentioned that. Do keep up the good work!
Thank you so much! Really means a lot!
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
I agree with Demon Blood's comments below. I absolutely love your videos and your commentary. Thank you very much for sharing your travels and knowledge with us. God Bless.
Thank you so much for that! Means a lot!
Take care! Be well!
Mark
Hi again Mark
I tuned into this vid after hearing good things about Silver Flake which is not so easy to get here (have some on order) and did not quite expect your historical/philosophical musings which I found refreshingly different. As an Irishman I know all about English slavery and genocide in Ireland and of course American genocide of the native people and slavery upon which their southern economy was based.
It seems to me - and many other people - that Hitler's regime has been treated to an inordinate degree of negative publicity for going on for three quaters of a century and that Allied atrocities over the same period of time have been downplayed . Today, facts are coming to light that shed a somewhat different view of this period. I don't really want to get into this subject here apart from saying the British Empire was built on exploitation of conquered countries and that their flag - the Union Jack - was known as the Butcher's Apron. 'Nuff said.
Hello, Willie!
Thank you so much for taking the time...and very interesting comment! So much appreciated
Take care! Hope, you're well!
Mark
15:56 "..but is that enough!?" haha I love how philosophical you became over 'some tobacco' .. But it's a really interesting thought.. to have certain characteristics which can be either hated or loved - this truly makes something special
Hi Mark - thank you so much for your candid and thought provoking talk about Bunker Valentin. It is so important for us and future generations to remember how such barbarism can occur even within the most sophisticated of societies........
Not tried the Silver Flake but I can testify to the sublime quality of Solani 633 Virginia Flake which I smoked whilst watching your excellent video. By the way, I love the Peterson's 2017 Special Reserve !
Best wishes, as ever,
Paul
Hello Paul!
Hope, things are going well!
And...yeah...can't agree more...on both...history and Solani 633...
Take care! And all the best!
Mark
Hello Mark,
I am slowly Coming back from a 1 year (or so) fall back in watching videos.
I will put the Solani Silver Flake on my "To Try List". Loves Solani Aged Burley Flake. Solani seems to make good quality tobacco.
Really appreciated how you put into relation the affect (I have difficulty explaining in English what I want to say) that gives us castles and the types of remains such as the Valentine Bunker (a site I did not know about !!).
We too often forget what a place really is or what was meant for at the time it was built. From now on, I will try to read more and try to understand what a bulding/site/remains really meant at the time of its origin.
Take care my friend... and Be well!
Gilles
Well Mark, another great video! You're right on with this review of SSF, very good insight into how we judge baccys,
we must be careful not to ignore their uniqueness...to not miss the experience...and you're quite correct that...
... this carelessness can be carried over into human interaction.
Very interesting bunker, can't even imagine it's enormity, and it leaves quite an impression. One of the dangers of history,
is not that it will just be lost to time, but that it will be ignored as it is right in front of us...history itself can be twisted into a
weapon used against us in the present...that's why, as you've said so well, that we must make sure that the meaning of our remains....remain.
Hope you're well my friend, thanks for sharing this place and it's meaning to us,
Take care, and we'll talk soon,
Corey
Corey, my friend!
Thank you so much for that! Sorry for being so late...just that busy... :-)
I gonna hit you soon on voxer!
Hope, everything is alright...and take care, my friend!
Mark
You touched on a central theme in life, well, two now that I remember correctly. First, you mentioned that history is seldom as simple as we sometimes recall and record it. So true, history is as nuanced as we are. Second, you said that things are rarely as they first appear, also so incredibly true. I come here for both the tabacco stuff and for the depth of your understanding of the human condition. Cheers.
Thank you so much for taking the time...and most kind words! So much appreciated!
Take care! Be well!
Mark
This is a fantastic video. To start off with, your comments about 'golden retriever' whisky is something I have been noticing for some time now. So many ,previously great, whiskies are now rebranded in the UK in an attempt to make them appear more up to date but which is in effect a way of selling younger less distinctive whisky under a well known name. So many have lost the age statement - Glenlivet, Glenmorangie, Tamdhu, Macallan, Talisker, Dalwhinnie to name just a few are now producing a product that is not bad, but is no different from any of their competitors and really lacks any character of it's own. And to make matters worse they retain the price tag of the older age-statement whisky which actually tasted of something! So yes, I couldn't agree more that for something to be truly great it has to have something about it which is distinctive, and as open to being hated as loved.And you are right that history is often a romantic view from the present. The further away an event is, or the older the building, the easier it is to have that view. We can all troop along to the Coliseum and be in awe because there is no newsreel footage of the slaves who built it or the countless people killed inside it. We divorce ourselves from much of the reality of a building/event and see only the remaining wonderful façade. My worry is that time will pass and we will look at the Valentin Bunker and be similarly impressed by such a huge undertaking as memory fades of the horror behind it. We are very guilty in the UK of airbrushing our history and it is only recently that we have started to really confront our imperial past and the legacy of the slave trade. Near where I grew up is the most wonderful country mansion with beautiful grounds and outbuildings, all designed by Robert Adam of Edinburgh New Town fame. Only recently did I discover that the family who built it became rich off the sweat of slaves in their Jamaican sugar plantations and from their slave market island off the coast of Sierra Leone. The open study and discussion of history is so important and I love that you intertwine your knowledge of history with your love of tobacco! Really can't get enough of your understated laconic style.All the best,Andy
Hello Andy!
Well...thank you so much for watching...but even more for taking the time for such good and most thoughtful comment! And...yeah...couldn't agree more...on the Whiskey .. and on the judgement about historical remains... So true!
Thanks for that! And take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Hi mark great video and I have the silver flake Jared in the cellar not had it before but I'm definitely looking forward to it in let's say 2yrs same as you sir.my name is Also mark! Also just want to say I gave you a shout out on my channel it was to thank you for recommending Hu TOBACCO witch I'm really enjoying shopping there for sure! Also I've just bought my very first block meerschaum pipe because of one of your video's I'm looking forward to it very much thankyou again mark!! 💥🍂💨🇬🇧👌
Hello Mark!
Thanks for that! Yeah...just checked your channel...and subbed...great videos...keep em coming!
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Mark - you have the most fascinating videos - really ! I very much look forward to watching - a great big "Thank You".
I had a tin of Silver Flake, a couple years past, and did enjoy the tobacco albeit I have a real problem with flake tobacco's. Can never load them in a way they smoke properly and have come to avoid them. After your video I will probably purchase another tin of Silver Flake and try to be more objective and careful. Keep the video's coming.
Take care and God bless
Jim
Hello Jim, my friend!
Thanks a lot for taking the time!
Well...perhaps, you give the "rub in circles" method a shot... how I suggested...should work!
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Wow awesome that you've subscribed to my channel thankyou mark I really appreciate it take care my friend
My pleasure, my friend! Keep em coming!
And take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Hi Mark,
Thanks for another interesting video from my favorite history channel. When I think of my time at school, I believe that I had better grades if it were allowed to have a smoke.
I am looking forward for another history lesson.
Have a good time, Greetings.
Andreas
Hello Andreas!
Thanks for that! And...yeah...guess, you're not the only one...LOL... I remember, when I went to University, the times where just gone, when smoking during the lessons was allowed...and even expected... :-)
Take care! Be well!
Mark
Mark, one of the best videos I've seen from you. I think the location had you waxing a bit philosophical about the tobacco and I loved it. A tobacco needs character, it needs to be memorable to be great. Getting good marks all around isn't enough. The real story isn't the one we think of first. Take care friend
Thanks for that, my friend!
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
History is always good to be remembered, sad or happy, still good.
Exactly correct Sir.
I’m smoking this now actually. What a great flake.
Oh, that's impressive! Have you been to the one in Hamburg, in the middle of the city? I was playing in Hamburg last June and I asked what was that cool huge building and said that I liked it a lot... Of course everyone stared at me with a funny face... Oopsie. I really really like Solani Silver Flake too! I was surprised about the tin not being vacuumed. Cheers - Héctor
Hello Hector!
Thanks a lot for taking the time...and interesting story! Yeah...I can imagine... :-)
Take care! Be well!
Mark
Thank you for the strong opinion! And for the great term "Golden Retriever" this is really on the point. And you're completely right (from my point of view), as a famous connoisseur once said: live's too short for bad vine. Let's turn it into ... too short for an average tobacco (or whisky)!
Hello Michael!
Thank you so much for that! Yeah...couldn't agree more!
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Did you borrow my Golden Retriever reference?? Haha, j/k I do recall comparing some tobacco to a golden retriever though. Great video. I’m just catching up.
Hey Mark: Very impressive historical commentary. You know every western country has a past which is sprinkled with good and bad times, good and bad deeds and a whole lot of just surviving from one century to the next. That is certainly the case where I live, we like to think that the U.S. is a special place with a unique experiment in process but as you know we have certainly had our issues in the past not the least of which is the terrible war over slavery in the 1860's. As I have mentioned to you before 90 percent of the various studies, books, movies and even TV shows here tend to dwell on Germany in the 1930's and 40's ignoring an amazingly rich history of your special place. Yes we are doomed to repeat the past if we are not aware of past sins but to obsess on a 20 or 30 year period at the expense of forgetting or ignoring the entire kaleidoscopic mosaic of a culture's history is not healthy either. That is why I enjoy your stories of the earlier times such as the Ascanian Castle video. Keep up the good work and keep puffin.
Very difficult to watch.... we humans never learn. you touch with your videos, thank you, we need more voices and thought like yours.
I enjoy this tobacco too. I think it is one of the best uses of Dark Fired!
Thanks for taking the time! Enjoy the baccy!
Take care! Be well!
Mark
15:50 - 17:00 I've been wondering this about women. I think I'd rather have a golden retriever LOL. Seriously, though, I applaud you for making this video. I can see that it was difficult for you, which makes it all the more powerful. Thank you.
I can't imagine that much concrete. It would be interesting to know whether places like this will hold up as well as some of the medieval ruins, or will turn into a long pile of concrete and twisted rusting rebar, decayed by water and frost. Amazing to see in aerial view. As an aside - I read a lot (or try to) historical fiction (talk about a romanticized past) - do you read historical fiction, or have favorite authors? I got started to get interested in this after reading Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. While an interesting novel - it got me looking into and learning more about the history of the time, the history of cathedral construction, and so on. It's become a stepping stone to get me interested in times and places I knew little about - currently reading things about the Dark Ages in Anglo-Saxon England, and the "Viking" sagas across northern Europe. I was wondering if you had any favorites. Sorry for the long comment, and thanks for the video - thoughtful, as always.
Thanks for that, my friend! No apology required...quite the opposite!
Yeah...well... I didn't show in the video...but there are also remains of a whole concrete production facility near by... I don't think, the bunker will resist time and nature as long as the old graves did...in the end, it's just sand and iron... you can already see, how small trees find their ways into that and will break the structure from inside ...slowly but relentless... but it surely will be there another 500 yrs...
And ...yeah...from time to time, I find some interest in historical fiction...but...to be honest...mainly, to dream myself away for a moment...to a better time...that never existed..hahahah... I found the Cadfael novels of Ellis Peters quite amusing...and even quite good, when it comes to the historical settings...
Take care! Hope, you are well, my friend!
Mark
Wow it looks like maze runner and thank you for your video
It is so refreshing to see a gentleman of the highest caliber giving reviews on Pipes & tobacco's right now in the United States we are going through a degenerative process most CZcamsrs are doing the reviews from their man cave I don't think I have seen any of them do a review from a home Library thank you for enlightening us keep up the good work
Thank you so much for that! Well...I just like, to go outside ...and share some (hopefully) interesting sites...and some good baccy... :-)
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Absolutely, I hadn't watched any of your videos in a while and came back to your channel for this one. Thank you for sharing your ideas regarding your "difficult remains". We have several sides to some difficult remains in the States right now and it is refreshing to see a more contemplative view of a nearly parallel subject. Take care.
So says DEMON BLOOD lmao
Agreed! We see 'reviewers' who wouldn't know the difference in taste between a Cyprian and Syrian Lat' posting reviews which aren't so much a tobacco review as a video of their 'get away time' from their wife! If I want to watch a shot of a dumbass running from their wife I'll watch Coronation Street on TV, not a pipe channel!
Mark..... Your videos are outstanding.
I'm Sorry for for my ignorance but what is the name of ruins that your showing
Thanks for taking the time! And sorry for being so late.. :-)
Yeah...guess, you alreday got it...but just to be sure..."Valentin bunker" it is...
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
pretty good a video!
Its kinda unfortunate, that you only upload so rarely. Can we follow you on other Social Media Channels?
Thanks for watching, my friend! Much appreciated!
No...I don't use any other social media...my job keeps me just too busy...and YT too... :-)
Take care! Be well!
Mark
👍👍👍🆓😍😍✌️
Nice video, my friend. Very poignant, I would say haha. So what is your view of Confederate monuments in the U.S. ? I have mixed feelings, because as a lover of history I always hate to see something old be removed, however in those monuments case maybe they should have never been erected in the first place.
Hello Matthew, my friend!
Thanks a lot for taking the time! And...yeah...I followed that discussion...and it's very hard to decide about that. I agree with you...perhaps they shouldn't be removed, because they show a certain part of history...but the same time, these monuments often don't tell the obvious story...because they were sometimes built decades after the war... so...the story, they tell is about the specific political and mentally situation in these areas decades after the war. And that's far more interesting than these statues themselves... I think... So, sometimes, it can be a good way, to ad an extra explanation about that at the monument, without removing that... They did it in Europe at many places with medieval monuments of antisemitic contents....
Take care! Be well!
Mark
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Mark fierst i like to say I LOVE YOUR VIDEOD!😁 and secont i am not a colig man and i barliy got though hi school and i lernd to nowtis people and ther moovemintd and exspreshins and haw they riyakt to things and ther fillings and i wont to tell you we i you cant help what some dum ignerint people don in the past exspeshaliy dering ww2 buy its the ginerashin of naw thats making a positive difference by doing what you ar doing naw so walk with pride my friend and also my last name is a Garmin name if you wont to know drop me your emal and ill tell you .you doing videos like this i fill is vitall for understand ing knolig and i thank you frome the bottome of my heart and keep it up even if its a small talk.say im more of a armatiks smowker but whats a good non arematik to triy?that you would recumind for her in the states
Thanks for that, my friend!
...and sorry, for being late!
First of all...thank you so much for taking the time, to watch and for your very kind words! Truly appreciated by heart, my friend!
Yeah...if you like the aromatics, you perhaps wanna start with something smooth, when it comes to the naturals... how about some Golden slices...or some Scottish cake by Robert McConnel...perhaps the Regents Flake could also be a good start...
You can hit me any time with a private mail, my friend...would be a pleasure! Just use the PM function on the channel...
Take care! Hope, you are well!
Mark
Hay can you plees sind me another email i made a stoopid mistake and lost your email.im not to cp savay thank you friend
...hang in...I gonna reply on your last mail...soon...
Take care!
Mark
Sorry should have listened to the whole video first