Travel

During the hottest weeks in summer our family spent 10 days in Toscana.

It was an extraorinary experience, first in terms of planning the vacation, to find the right place for five adults who have their own habits and peculiarities. Second, during our stay in Italy what responsibilities does each of us have in terms of preparing lunch and dinner, the restaurants we should select, what kind of trips we undertake etc. I can tell you, everything was fine. We all enjoyed spending the time together, chatting all day long with almost no stress.

One highlight was the "giardino dei tarrocchi" which is a vast sculpture park created by Niki de Saint Phalle. 

Mid february my wife Beatrice and I spent two wonderful weeks in Teneriffa.

We had a very nice appartment in Icod de los Vinos which is located in the north of the island, 20 min by car to the airport.

In contrast to the south, which has a lot of sand dunes which are ideal for swimming, the north is rich of vegetation with steep hills to the ocean. You have to have a car in order to get araound. Particular intersting is El Teide, with 3700 m the highest mountain in Spain. In spring it's pretty cold there and you have to dress with warm cloths. Another highlight was the carneval which you can enjoy in different locations. We saw a wonderfull performance in La Orotava.

In November 2021 my daughter and I spent holidays in Andalucia.

We had been planning this vaccation for a long time. Since my daughter Alice is a professional musician which gives her less flexibilty than me as a retired person it took a while to agree on the right time and place.

We stayed 1week in Sevilla and 2 days in Cordoba enjoying marvallous and warm weather(20C), breathtaking architecture, churches landscape, excavations, tapas and wine. The only drawback was a Flamenco performance at Plaza Espana during which my wallet was stolen.

In November 2019 my whole family spent a week in Fuerteventura.

It was a great experience for us all because we did'nt have any vacations together since more than 10 years. Now our kids live their own life, two of them in Berlin, the oldest one still stays with us.

I can tell you that everthing was gorgeous. We stayed in a very large house, everyone having his own room, a large kitchen an a swimming pool. The landscape is with its sand dunes impressive and the sea warm and beautiful. And what is more importand we had plenty of time for excellent conversations!

In september 2019 I spent three weeks in Cádiz in the far south west of spain.

I took spanish classes at CLIC institute which is located in the centre of Cádiz. The quality of the course was excellent, with small groups of 5 up to 8 students.

I lived with a very nice family with whom I coud talk and improve my knowledge of spanish. The food the houswife provided was superb and the room comfortable.

During my stay I only used my new Canon pocket camera Powershot G5X. I think the quality of the pictures is very could, the camera is light an easy to handle.

My wife and I spent excellent holidays in Greece during 2 weeks in June 2019. 

We started our trip in Athens visiting the famous Akropolis, its very impressive Museum nearby and the opera house. Athens is a huge city of more than 3,5 Mio inhabitants with havy traffic and a "flat sea of buildings".

After our stay in Athens we spent 10 days at Kythira, a small island south of the Pellepones. This island is absolutely not toristic at all, you can enjoy excellent beaches and clear and warm waters. The greek food and wine is delicous and cheap.

In April 2019 I spent 2 weeks in Madrid, the capital of Spain with approximately 3 Mio inhabitants, where I took a spanish class. 

I lived in a private room, very small but clean, which costs 200€ per week, breakfast and dinner included. To get from my accomation to spanish clas (AIL) I had to take the subway which is chaep and the service excellent.

The weather was pretty ugly, for April too cold and rainy. Nevertheless there were some pretty days wher I could walk araund and take pictures. 

During Nov-Dec 2017 I spent four weeks in Kuba together with my wife. We planned this trip carefully and stayed only in so called Casa Particulares (family homes). We started in La Habana, and went down by car to Santiago de Cuba. This country offers you a variety of impressions you will keep in mind forever!

Take a tour through my fotos and you'll get a first glance on life, people, buildings!

During March-April 2017 I took a language course in spansich, this time in Valencia. It is a gorgeos city with a lot of interesting buildings and modern architecture. I lived in a nice and comfortable room with a lady (Mercedes) taking care of everything.

During Semana Santa (thursday and easter sunday) I could take a lot of fotos. At Eeaster Sunday there was procession of mor than 4km with beautiful girls, colours and flowers.