in between the years

Shortly after Christmas and all the celebrations I left Bavaria for a trip to the far North of Germany and the beautiful Baltic Sea.

I traveled from Hamburg all the way to the seaside and back again. And while it was unusually warm weather in Munich the Northeast of Germany was caught in ice and some snow.

The charming coastal city of Kuehlungsborn hosted us for one night before we went on in a super fast car to Waren (Mueritz) to visit some friends.

The next day, the numerous little towers of the castle in Schwerin were hidden in fog, and all the trees were wearing white frost and ice covers.

Back in Hamburg, it started snowing again and the city showed us its winterly face.

Luckily, our hosts had a wonderful and warm home and so we watched the snowfall and the wind from a cozy place in the kitchen.

homecoming

I’m back in Europe and very happy to be home!

After stops in Copenhagen and Brussels I finally made it to Munich and enjoyed some pre-X-mas atmosphere, met with friends and family, and got busy with other winter pleasures.

I also got lucky and went for a short skiing trip with good friends in a nice little holiday chalet in Austria!

And then it was time for Christmas!

snowy Brussels

When I arrived in Europe I could feel the winter. And it seemed like the snow and ice was following me around: Bavaria was covered in white layers when my plane landed, and I also saw snowflakes dancing in Copenhagen.

But the real winter wonderland only happened while I was in Brussels:

In the almost 3 years that I spent in Brussels I never saw that much snow!

It was rather extraordinary.

(even though in the end it also meant that my flight was cancelled…)

Tropical X-Mas Party

The other night, we had a little party at our place.
It was the perfect chance for an early X-mas celebration and to say good bye to everyone before I leave.
We put up some Christmas decorations, lights and even a fake X-mas tree!

For a touch of 'real' German Christmas, we also made some "Feuerzangenbowle":



Hot wine with cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, oranges and lemons, and for the little extra, add some sugar and rum and light it up!



I never thought I would like this kind of drink in the tropics, but it went down surprisingly well....



Thanks to everyone who was there and made this evening a special memory!

Four Days in Hong Kong

A busy metropolitan, built on a tiny place in the Pearl River Delta, spread out over some islands. After 24 hours in the metropolitan, we'd already taken a boat more than 5 times to cross the harbour.

When the sun sets, the city's energy is on full force and you can feel the place vibrating with all sorts of activities. We watched the famous Hong Kong lightshow and followed the crowd along the water on the walk of fame.

We stayed on a hill with some view over the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. And while we enjoyed the incredibly busy streets on both sides of the harbour, we also tried to find some more peaceful places.

On the peak, a stroll around the Governor's garden and walk up to the highest point meant some incredible views on this almost clear day.

A trip to Lamma island and a hike between the two villages showed us the more rural and simple life a mere 30 minute boat-ride away from the centre with its sky-high buildings.

Back to the city centre, we walked around the central area and SoHo, had some amazing Japanese food and discovered a new favorite drink – Umeshu – before we took another ride on the star ferry to get back to Tsim Sha Tsui.

After 4 days we left Hong Kong, feeling excited by the energy, but also a little bit tired from so many impressions, and went back to Singapore for the final days in Asia.