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...