Catching Up: The Coles Notes Version

It’s been a long time since I've updated my blog. Too long in fact. I apologize to those of my readers who are not also friends with me on Facebook. In the past two months since my last entry I've been using Facebook to post updates and pictures of our current whereabouts and adventures.

It’s not like I forgot to blog or didn't have anything to blog about … heck I even made some notes on possible entry subjects while on one of our numerous train rides  But once we got to a new destination, explorations and experiences awaited. That may be one of the reasons I’m having trouble sleeping at night. I’m downloading so much information during the days that I spend my nights awake in bed trying to process it. And then with spring/summer finally arriving just being outdoors was excuse enough not to be at a keyboard.

Today my body is telling me ... "rest already, and get a blog post up." So here goes, condensed posts that should have been written much earlier.

After my last blog on Venice, I had intentions of doing one comparing and contrasting Florence & Milan. We spent two consecutive weekends there with the MUN in Italy group of students. My summation of that experience …

while the Duomo di Milano is stunning, breath-taking, magnificent, etc., etc.

…that’s about it for Milan.

For me anyway. I much prefer Florence, the city that is known as the cradle of the Renaissance. With its wealth of art and architecture it veritably oozes culture.

Milan on the other hand is business minded. Designer shops abound. If I had to choose I’d rather visit a museum/gallery in Florence than a designer store in Milan. But that’s just me.

Shopping Gallery in Milan - Prada & Louis Vuitton shops

Florence - Ponte Vecchio over the Arno river

Another post idea was “Hiking the Post Card.” After Italy we went back for another visit to Berne, Switzerland. Our time there in October had been too short (and the weather horrible), Besides Erwin needed time to finish editing his book away from distractions, and we basically just wanted to spend time with our daughter and son-in-law. Oh, and I wanted to experience the post-card that they live in first-hand.

Well I did that…

and much more, such as my birthday present from them; a truffle making course at a chocolate factory.

Tania blogged (much better than I could) about that very fun experience. To read that blog click here.

While in Berne we took the train to Paris for a few days. That was a bucket list item for me. Paris in the springtime. The intoxicating fragrance of the Linden trees along the Seine, the flowering horse-chestnut trees along the Champs-Élysées, the parks & gardens … beautiful. 

Place de Vosges - Oldest planned square in Paris

A ride on the carousel near the Eiffel tower.

The city of love..

After Berne, came Africa. Yes, Africa. We went on, what for me was the highlight of our whole year, an African safari. That unforgettable experience deserves a blog post all its own. I still dream of it, still processing it. Hopefully blogging it soon. For now, my fav picture of us there.

As of July 1 we've been back in Berlin. Why Berlin again? Just because. It feels like home, (and it would probably be home if there wasn't such a thing as a job back at MUN.) We've seen and done soooo much this year, we decided that we need to start decompressing and mentally preparing ourselves for our return to The Rock and our life there. And what better place to do it than where we started this whole epic adventure, in Berlin.

So we've been trying to take it easier now, slow the pace. Hard to do in Berlin though. The weather has been fantastic so that draws me outside for bike rides through the Tiergarten, or strolls through the neighborhood or just sitting on a park bench and reading. We've attended a couple of art history lectures at the Gemäldegallerie, we delight in lingering over Kaffee und Kuchen at a local café or savor a Currywurst mit Pommes, and processing, processing, processing….