It was time again for our annual run around the Lake Eder which is a water reservoir. The plan was as always to run around the lake with 2 food stops. We were 6 people this time and slighty varied our track to include some new trails we haven't run before.

The weather was perfect, a lot of sun, and hot enough to include two swim sessions during halftime and at the end.

I was feeling well until the end, my new running shoes did a perfect job. And thanks to Urs who kept some cold bootles of beer in the car to celebrate the finish. :)

All-in all we accumulated 54 km this year with an approx. running time of 6:20 h plus 2 longer food stops in Herzhausen and Rehbach.

Looking eagerly forward to next year's edition!

Summer feeling

Sometimes project work has a bright side. For example if you can take a swim in the Mediterranean Sea after work and have dinner on the beach. :)

Sunny April

Nothing to complain on April weather from my side this year. It was the sunniest month ever if you ask our solar panels, at least since they were installed in 2013.

The perfect autumn weekend

That was a wonderful weekend. Three free days due to the public holiday (German reunion) and perfect autumn weather. Time to redeem some gift certificates that I received from my wife and son.

First station: Quad driving, OK, that was the weekend before :)

Quad riding on the men playground

A flight lesson around Kassel from the new airport in Kassel Calden

An Alpaka hiking trip - one of our favorite animals

I will not forget these adventures. Love you, Astrid and Matti!

Time goes by...Merry Christmas

As every year time goes past too fast. And before you realize, the calendar runs out of days.

I wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Our year has been especially rewarding seeing Little Matti grow and learn things every day.

Dinner by the river

It has been a long time since I have been to Budapest the last time, far befor the wall came down. It is a very nice city along the river Danube and you can feel the grandess of the former Austrian-Hungarian empire.

Wednesday we were dining on the river with a spectacular view on the castle on the Buda side.

Hiking in the Appalachian Mountains

Finally the Summer has arrived, at least for me. We have 26 degree celsius here in South Carolina. Sunday I had a bit of time to hike in the Appalachians, climbing up the table rock mountain. The picture is taken on the way down, there are lots of scenic waterfalls and the path is partly leading through dense shrubs of rhododendron looking a bit like in the jungle. Must be even nicer during blossom. The week will be full of work, but we are looking forward for a great bbq on the farm of a colleague on Wednesday.

Miss my two beloved ones, cannot wait to see them again.

Why is everybody bigger than me?

Unfair! But at least I am the loudest in the house. :)

Winter wonderland

Finally the winter has come back, so I went downhill skiing in Kassel (Hohes Gras) last Friday and cross-country skiing in Willingen on Saturday.

Now this week we also got enough snow at home, around 25 cm this week, so I did a small ski tour around Zennern today.

Our garden covered in snow

On the downside it is much harder to push the stroller through and around the village, but with the help of our 2 little sled dogs we can manage. :)

Matti immediately falls asleep when the stroller moves, like me in the train, car, plane...

Matti in peaceful sleep, covered in 6+ layers while being pushed around Zennern.

 But once coming back, he is in urgent need for food and attention. We are wery lucky that he has a good rhythm of feeding and sleeping, especially for letting us sleep long intervals during night.

Matti is born

On second January Matti made it almost in time. Since then drinking, sleeping and grimacing are his favorite activities. Since Sunday we are all at home. So far he is very uncomplicated, sleeping a lot between feedings. It's a lot fun and we are improving pit stop times every day.

Happy New Year

He did not want to be a 2012 edition, we are still waiting for the little boy.

So Happy New Year from Astrid and me, Lea and Benni, Ray, Amurat and Dublin. May all your wishes for 2013 come true.

First snow this season

We've got the first snow this season. The horses love it. Ray is a bit cautious, but Amurat does not take care and loves to gallop over the fields. Hope we'll get more snow when I am on vacation in Jan.

Christmas in Vienna

My last week far from home comes to an end, before a new era starts in our life.

Therefore Vienna is a nice place with all its Christmas markets around the town.

Dublin - the most beautiful foal in the world

Ray got a foal this year. Here we see 2 months old Dublin with his mother. What a beautiful couple.

Ray of Light and her foal Dublin

Summer toys

Mountain biking, carriage riding, cayaking the Eder lake and river, that's what a summer at home can offer. Truly wonderful!

Holiday in Taiwan and South Korea

Astrid and me had a wonderful trip to Taiwan and South Korea. It was short but impressive. Plus I met some friends from university in Seoul which I had not seen in a decade.

Traditional pagoda in the central mountains of Taiwan

Delicious food at the Sun Moon lake

Impressive newly build temple in the central Taiwan mountains, a nice mixture between traditional gold...

...and colorful architecture...

...with a massive buddha overlooking the valley.

The central mountain range with its steep and narrow roads.

Sometimes you could not even see the roads in the middle of the jungle.

A bit of trekking along the way.

Back to South Korea. We had a 2 day stop-over only, but it was enough time to visit again some places like the Shinchon area, the Sogang university and some temples in the city center.

Traditional Korean architecture

Asians do not build houses, they build cities. Coming soon...

Dawn of the day

I haven't seen such a wonderful sunrise very often, beginning a new day passing the Himalaja on a flight towards Thailand.

Winter holiday

As the winter had a tight grip on Germany til last week we decided to stay in Hesse at Astrids family for our winter holiday.

It was the week of karneval whis more a tractor show here. ;-)

We went skiing in Willingen and had fun with our horses, the dogs and the new 4-wheel drive Volvo.









On our way home to Mannheim Astrid started this year's dressage tournament season with a good placement.



Next week I will be in Bangkok for 3 days.

Ko Samui

The last Weekend in Singapore we Tool a flight to Ko Samui, a nice island on the west coast of Thailand.

Perfect summer weather, beaches, Jet Ski, elephant ride, waterfalls, there was more than enough to See for a weekend.




The big Buddha of Samui



Elephant Ride





The Long pool in our resort



Our Beach Villa

Asia

Leaving bitterly cold Germany I left to Singapore on the 8th January to work for a Dutch client for almost 3 weeks rolling out and training a planning software.

The City itself is magnificent and as every Asian capital an impressing contrast to any German city.











The first weekend I enjoyed the 30° temperature and sun on Sentosa island beach in Singapore.



This weekend my collegue and me went to Bukit Lawang near Medan on Sumatra island (Indonesia) for some Jungle trekking. It was amazing to experience this scenery and see wild monkeys, gibbons and orang-utans in their natural environment.