4 Orange Suitcases

Winter is Here

Snow - der Schnee If I look back at my past posts - I will probably find one with snow as the word of the post. I tend to repeat the things I like. And I like snow. It has been a bit earlier this year for snow - I

Fall Colors

Colors Die Farben These are from walks in the neighborhood. The colors of fall are words enough.

24 years

24 - vierundzwanzig 24 years ago a guy bought me a beer. I'm not the biggest fan of beer, however, I am the biggest fan of that guy. That night I accepted the offer, walked the city until sunrise and the rest is history. After a lovely brunch

When Plans Change

to change - wechseln Sometimes plans change.  And sometimes those changes sting. In the big scope of the world, our plan to not travel to the US this coming weekend is not a crisis. We get that. But, it can still sting.  I hadn't mentioned the trip to

New Year, New Day

Verein - association, club, nonprofit Another year to reflect upon. This one seems harder than the last. Perhaps, I am not alone in these thoughts. This morning, I took a walk past the farms near my house. The corn is taller than me now. And the stork babies are now

With the Train

with the train - mit dem Zug All holidays must end. After two weeks in Italy everything is returning to norm. R took the train back to Salzburg last Tuesday. Klara left last Friday morning for Vienna.  Miriam's school started that week as well. Stephan is back to

Musuem Tour - Wien

cheap - billig While in Vienna this summer, there was a special summer deal- 7 museums for 19 Euros. And so, I was able to visit six. It felt like a whirlwind tour but I did it. One Sunday when my friend, Birgit from Zurich joined us for a long

Elba

Island - Die Insel The walk to the beachTaking time to relaxAfter a week of heat and cities- we hopped the ferry to the Island Elba. We parked the car when we arrived and only touched it when it was time to pack up and head to the ferry. We

Florence

Florence - Florenz We ended our city tours in Florence. It was unbelievably hot there. It hit 105F (40.5C). With the heat, we decided not to see as much as we initially planned and slow our pace. However, we did walk to the Piazzale Michelangelo. The stairs were many

Gondola

Gondola - Die Gondel Our last night in Venice we took a Gondola ride. It was spectacular to go through through the canals. As the sun was setting and the city canals were getting quieter by the minute. (Other than the local singing out his window). This was the highlight

Venice by Night

By night - durch Nacht

Venice

Venice - Venedig Venice is beyond words. As a child I remember seeing the gondolas in a book. I remember seeing the striped shirts and the straw hats. To see it in person is even more.   I will share more photos than words for this post.

Trieste

Trieste - Triest Our Italian tour starts in Trieste. We spent 2 nights  there, walking through the the city.  The first day, we got there just as evening was setting in. We walked the city, had an amazing dinner at Casa Pepe Pizze e Cucina [https://www.pepepizza.it/] and

Graz

To begin - anfangen German classes are completed (for this month) and vacation has begun.  We packed the car, said goodbye (for now) to Vienna and headed to Italy.  Our first stop in Italy is Trieste.  About halfway there, we took a break in the city of Graz. We spent

Vienna Central Cemetery

Cemetery - der Friedhof I realize that these are the first photos I am posting of Vienna from this stay.  I promise the cemetery is not the only place we have visited. It is however, one I want to write about - because it is so interesting. The Vienna Central

Storks

Stork - der Storch Of all the neighbors in our new area in Switzerland - the storks are my favorite. (For the record - we have very nice human neighbors). When we moved in - we knew there were storks in the area - but we didn't realize

Sing with Me

Folk Songs - Das Volkslieder As part of the school where I am learning German in Vienna- they offer additional opportunities. They range from walking tours to additional class time. My friend in class that has been a teacher of languages, suggested the singing class. She said it would be

Return to Wien

lernen - to learn the view from the corner of my classroom Summer is here and with borders opened more - we made some plans! On Monday morning, I hopped on the train to Vienna. Klara was waiting for me when I arrived 8 hours later. We had a great

Austrian Anniversary

Wedding Anniversary - Der Hochzeitstag Stephan and I have been married - a few times... First we had a private ceremony with only about 12 people in my parents backyard in front of a judge. Later that evening we were married with family and friends in Florida, where my parents

Storm

Storm - Der Sturm The start of the summer has been filled with rain and thunderstorms.   We have found that waiting for the rain to pass before heading out for a walk - isn't worth it. We are enjoying the lake in all types of weather. Some walks

My Grandmother's Sofa

Sofa - Das Sofa sitting on the porch in CarrboroWhen moving here, we had to decide on what items we really needed/wanted to bring with us. That included what had sentimental value. Stephan insisted on my dad's bookshelf and the game table he got from his mother

Two Years

Two Years - Zwei Jahre the new neighborhoodToday marks two years for three out of four of us in Zürich. Stephan arrived 6 weeks before us. I still can remember that long, emotional day of flights. We were exhausted, anxious and excited all in the same breath. It was an

Natural Surroundings

Nature - Natur The natural beauty of the new neighborhood is beyond my expectations.  Each day and most nights - we walk to the lake - or to the mountain roads near us. Either direction there is some form of nature waiting to share its colors with us. On good

Neuhausen am Rheinfall Part 2

repeat - wiederholen Last week Stephan, Miriam and I took a quick trip to the Rheinfalls. It was a workday and school day for most  (not my two) so we took advantage of the smaller number of visitors. Miriam and I had been there with our castle buddies [https://www.

Uster-Maur-Riedikon

spontaneous - spontan After what feels like weeks of rain and cold - Saturday was perfect. Stephan and I went on a short walk that turned into a half a day of pure enjoyment. We decided we would take our usual walk to the lake and walk to the badi