Wi-Fi installed on board ✅ Solar cells are fixed on the roof ✅ The van is packed ✅ Temperatures are above zero… means our bathroom is ready to be used. Wohooo!

Crossing the border to France, traveling via the Champagne to Bretagne. 

After around 1200km we arrived at the port in Brittany 🇫🇷

We made it.

Arriving “home” in Northern Ireland.

The Irish weather in April: very windy, hail, a bit of sun, and mostly rain. Did I mention how cold it was? 😅

Ever wondered how fish & chips take away for 5 persons looks like?

A trip to the coast: windy Newcastle.

The famous Irish Aga:

I had some wonderful days in Ireland. Sleeping in. Reading books. Painting by numbers. Gardening (or being amazed by mother-in-laws skills to use the chain saw cutting wood). Enjoying the sunshine & the windy sea. Catching up with family & friends. Enjoying fantastic food. Pancakes & ham for breakfast. Lamb for Easter Sunday roast. Homemade pizza. Fish & Chips. Sticky Toffee Pie… also glad to have spent the crazy week of politics in Ireland, love their humor, the only way to be able to cope with that shxx.

It was very relaxing & simply wonderful – nothing to do, and the only truly important decision we had to make was when and what to eat with who. Thank you all for catching up with us and spoiling us rotten 💚☘️🇮🇪

A week off was not enough. Lol. Lucky me, my vacation continuous. I’m moving on to a sunny(er) place and more of that island time… leaving hubby behind for a bit longer with his family…

…speaking of which. Diesel prices along our way, because it’s the topic these days and we have a big 70 liter tank to fill…

Germany (our home town): 2.40€/liter

France (Champagne): 2.30€/liter —> hot tip: “Total” selling diesel for 2.09€/liter !!!! Unfortunately most gas stations were sold out 😳

Ireland: 2.14€/liter

Northern Ireland: 1.81pound/liter

Wow! Wow! Wow! 

Ireland, you are beautiful!

Today is my third time at the Giant’s Causeway. And always at Easter. 2010 when I was introduced to hubby’s family. 2014 when we got engaged and introduced our parents. And Easter 2026 💚

What is the Giant’s Causeway besides being stunning?

It’s an area of interlocking basalt columns. More than 40.000 to be exact. It’s the result of an ancient volcanic fissure eruption, and on the north coast of Northern Ireland. 

Spring in Ireland.

No words needed…

Cruising along the scenic route…

Stunning…

The nature – outstanding! 

Ireland, you are stunning!

What a fantastic experience! After >17 years working for this company, I finally walked through the doors of the “Villa Bosch”. 

I got to spend 2 amazing days of training here last week: excellent trainer, beautiful location, best peer group to work with.

The garden, I mean the park, is just absolutely adorable. The weather was perfect, too.

The house was built in the early 20th century. Following World War II, it was used as a guesthouse by the Americans and later as a consulate by the French, before Robert Bosch moved back in. 

Since 1986, the villa has been the home of the Robert Bosch Stiftung. 

We got a house tour and refreshed our knowledge of the founder of Bosch (no public photo sharing allowed but feel free to check out the virtual tour). 

About the man himself: Robert Bosch (1861–1942) was the eleventh of twelve (!!!) children, born in Albeck, near Ulm.

While he is globally famous as the industrialist who founded Robert Bosch GmbH, he was much more than just a “boss.” He was a social pioneer who viewed his employees as partners rather than just labor. By introducing the eight-hour workday in 1906 – long before it was standard – and focusing on “quality over quick profit,” he built his own company culture.

He famously said, “I would rather lose money than trust,” a philosophy that led him to establish the Robert Bosch Stiftung (the Foundation) to ensure his wealth would continue to support social, health, and educational causes long after he was gone.

He was everything we need more than ever today: a liberal democrat, promoted educational opportunities for the general public, against anti-Semitism, focusing on  improving the working and living conditions of his workforce, knew the needs, wishes, and concerns of his employees and stood up for them, Robert Bosch enabled and paved the way for exceptional career paths for many of his employees… great! That’s probably the reason most employees are loyally working here today. 

Things are changing, though. Let’s hope that today’s leaders and employees will never forget his values and life them up! Hope we are capable to meet his expectations ☘️ 

It’s Sunday. We have stable 20C degrees in our dining room, collected plenty of cracked ceramics. And most importantly, we have time. Time for Kintsugi. 

Kintsugi (gold repair): The Japanese art of mending broken ceramics with gold. It symbolizes that breaks and scars do not weaken a person (or bowl, cup, etc.), but rather make them more valuable and unique.

Isn’t it beautiful, instead of disguising a crack, Kintsugi highlights it with gold, silver, or platinum. It treats the breakage and repair as an essential part of the object’s history, rather than something to disguise.

The process doesn’t just fix the item; it transforms it into something stronger and more valuable than the original “perfect” piece 💪🏻

It is rooted in Wabi-Sabi, the Japanese worldview that finds beauty in the flawed and the aged 🥰

It’s not the first time we have been doing this. Things crack all the time being used often. Instead of buying new, we love to fix it by putting gold on it 💛

Morgen um 5:30 rausgehen. Kein Handy, keine Kopfhörer. Hinsetzen. Zehn Minuten einfach nur zuhören.

Was du hörst ist kein Hintergrundgeräusch – es ist ein Konzert mit einer festen Reihenfolge. Jede Art beginnt bei einem anderen Lichtniveau zu singen. Und die Abfolge ist jeden Morgen dieselbe 🐦

Das Morgenkonzert ist der akustisch komplexeste Moment des Jahres in deinem Garten – und die meisten Menschen haben es nie gehört, weil sie schlafen.

Die Amsel eröffnet. Sie beginnt zu singen wenn der Himmel noch fast schwarz ist – dreißig bis vierzig Minuten vor Sonnenaufgang. Ihr Gesang ist der erkennbarste: lange melodische Strophen mit Pausen dazwischen, von einem erhöhten Punkt – Antennenspitze, Dachfirst, höchster Baum. Wenn du im Dunkeln einen flötenden, reichen Gesang hörst, erklärt sie gerade ihr Revier vor allen anderen.

Das Rotkehlchen steigt gleich danach ein – noch in der Dämmerung. Sein Gesang ist feiner, hoch, mit schnellen leicht metallischen Phrasen. Singt oft von einem niedrigen Punkt – Hecke, Busch, Mäuerchen – und macht weit über den Sonnenaufgang hinaus weiter. Eines der wenigen Vögel die auch in der Abenddämmerung singen und manchmal nachts unter Straßenlaternen, verwirrt vom künstlichen Licht.

Die Mönchsgrasmücke steigt ein wenn das Licht zunimmt. Der Gesang beginnt als wirres Geplapper und beschleunigt in eine klare, flötende, kraftvolle Schlussphrase – ein Crescendo das in drei bis vier reinen Tönen explodiert. Viele halten sie für den besten Sänger unter den europäischen Vögeln. Wenn du ein Gemurmel hörst das in einem Blitz kristallklarer Melodie endet, ist sie es.

Der Buchfink setzt ein wenn der Himmel schon hell ist. Eine kurze, abfallende Strophe, jedes Mal identisch wiederholt – immer dieselbe Struktur mit einem Schnörkel am Ende. Er wiederholt sie dutzende Male hintereinander vom selben Ast. Wenn du eine kurze identische Phrase hörst die sich wie ein Metronom vom Baumwipfel wiederholt, ist es ein Buchfink.

Zwischen diesen vier Hauptarten schalten sich die anderen ein – die Kohlmeise mit ihrem zweisilbigen “zi-zi-bä”, der Grünfink mit dem nasalen surrenden Triller, der Hausrotschwanz mit der kurzen Strophe die immer mit einem gepressten Ton beginnt. Jede Art hat ihr Lichtfenster. Das Konzert ist kein Durcheinander – es ist ein Programm in dem sich niemand überlappt.

Der Grund für die Reihenfolge ist biologisch. Jede Art hat eine Lichtschwelle ab der sie zu singen beginnt – bestimmt durch Augengröße, Netzhautempfindlichkeit und bevorzugten Lebensraum. Arten mit größeren Augen – Amsel, Rotkehlchen – sehen in der Dämmerung genug um das Risiko einzugehen, vor allen anderen zu singen. Arten mit kleineren Augen warten auf mehr Licht. Das Morgenkonzert ist eine biologische Uhr die du lesen kannst ohne zum Himmel zu schauen.

Das Experiment dauert zehn Minuten. Erste Art: Dunkelheit. Zweite: Dämmerung. Dritte: diffuses Licht. Vierte: Sonne am Horizont. In zehn Minuten hat sich dein Garten vorgestellt – und du weißt wer darin lebt, ohne einen einzigen Vogel gesehen zu haben.

Die Tierwelt ist nicht im Naturschutzgebiet. Sie ist in deinem Baum. 🌿

Happy spring! 🐦 🎵 

Dear pretty ladies, wishing you a Happy International Women’s Day!

The first National Woman’s Day was observed in the U.S. in 1909 and then it took Europe a couple of years to make it international.

International Women’s Day was first marked in 1911ish in Austria, Denmark, Germany, and Switzerland including the women’s right to vote 🗳️

Dear ladies, let’s celebrate our strength & impact we have.

Let’s celebrate the uniqueness of other women in our life! 👩🏼‍🦰 👩‍🦱 👱🏿‍♀️👩🏽‍🦲🧑🏻‍🦳 👧 🧕👵

To all mums for your inspiration and endless love!

To all sisters & daughters for your strength and brilliance!

Let’s appreciate our female colleagues at work for their beautiful brain, dedication, impact and teamwork! Special thanks to my amazing women which make my day very day! Couldn’t survive without you 😘😘😘

To all of us! Happy International Women’s Day 🌺

Second trip with our camper van. This time going North. It’s all about cabbage & kale this week in and around Bremen. 

Our drive up was interesting: snow, rain, twice interrupted by loud signals… smoke alarm (luckily without fire) and one caused by me, accidentally driving the step out instead of switching the light off. Well, well, well, it’s still a new car and we are figuring it out. 

7 hours later, we arrived with snow and temperatures below zero. 3 days later we left with +11C degrees and rain. 

Meeting sister & her hubby, nieces, a new and first boyfriend and cousins, aunt & uncle… an interesting combination of mixed family and all here and ready for the special and first time event, the “Kohltour” (kale tour) 🥬

Most of us were first timers participating in a cabbage tour. Good that we had our Kale King & Queen (my sis and her husband) guiding us 👑

Wondering what a Kohltour is? Us, too 😅That’s how our tour started/finished after taking the tram to Bremen downtown: 

The Walk: A scenic afternoon walk lasting several hours to build up an appetite (not sure how this should have happened with Brezel, cheese, salami, chocolate… along the way 🙂). To keep us motivated (that wouldn’t have been necessary 😅) the walk was nicely “interrupted” by games. Games like tea bag long throw. Or beer mat throw. Or match spitting through a straw into an egg shell box. Or popping a Pringle’s box.

The Drinks: We were all wearing small schnapps glasses on strings around our necks, consuming drinks along the way. Of course the classic local beer Becks was also in the backpacks. Now imagine the combination of games with using that Schnaps glass around our necks very frequently… Yeah! 😅😎🤭

4 hours later… arriving in Bremen downtown at the blue hour 🩵 sightseeing included.

The Meal (Grünkohlessen): The tour concluded at a restaurant with a massive feast of kale, smoked sausage, Kassler (cured pork), Pinkel, and potatoes. 

After dinner you have to (keep) drinking and dance those calories off. All night long…

Wow! What a day! What a night! Northern Germans know how to party all day! 

It was a “tough” weekend. Lacking sleep. Definitely too many drinks.

Caffein along the way home was very necessary. 

Great weekend! That was fun!

Thanks for having us all 😎

PS: Nobody got lost. Almost though 😅

This sportive week has been everything: Political. Sexy. Nerv racking. Amore. Praying. Pure art. Competitive. Emotional. Drama. Fashion.

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show. A political statement. Like the music or not, he delivered a statement. A message. And that was beautiful. 

The first week of the Olympic Winter Games held in Milano Cortina, Italy is complete. The meaning of Olympia hasn’t changed: promoting world peace, international unity, and human cultivation through sports. 

Thousands of athletes from over 200 nations compete in various disciplines, like alpine skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, freestyle skiing, ice hockey, Nordic combined, short track, skeleton, ski jumping, snowboarding, speed skating, and ski mountaineering. 

My all time favorite: ice figure skating. Wow! Very impressive. Could watch it for hours. And so I did. 

Rules have been flipped on the ice: 

Same guy: have you seen this amazingly emotive performance that honoured those lost in the tragedy of Flight 5342 about a year ago? Skating in front of a Boston crowd at the World Championships just after Boston Skating Club had been devastated by the loss, Malinin brought the crowd to its feet with this heartfelt tribute.

Maxim Naomov, an USA ice skater, who lost his parents in that flight crash a year ago. 

The artistry. The precision. The emotion. This is what Olympic figure skating is all about. Moments like this remind us why we love the sport. 💙

Gold for that phenomenal performance from the French couple: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18Dmb81imx/?mibextid=wwXIfr

By the way, Guillaume Cizeron is the first-ever two-time Olympic champion with two different partners 🇫🇷

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier skated this routine in memory of Piper’s mum, who passed away shortly after the 2018 Winter Olympics.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17u1dBVWhx/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Look at those female rock stars: 

What a day for Breezy Johnson: first a crash, and later engaged 💍 

Sofia Goggia broke her hand mid-run and still finished second. Wow!!! Professional skiers must be built different 💪🏻

Not so lucky was Lindsey Vonn. She had a heavy crash during the Olympic Games and broke her leg and had already 3 surgeries this week. Much respect and wishing you a speedy recovery! All the best 🤞🏻 

And more wow! Speedskater Jordan Stolz broke an Olympic record in the 1,000-meter, winning gold for the U.S.

He had been saving the exact blades he broke the record in to wear again at the Winter Olympics. Wow! 

A lot can happen on the ski slope: 

Some tragic moments, too: Ukrainian skeleton pilot Vladyslav Heraskevych has been banned from competing at the Winter Olympics for continuing to wear a helmet which features images of athletes killed during Russia’s invasion of his home country.

For those who cannot be in Milano these days: how about a bit of curling with pots and pans?

Standing ovations for him: reaching goal 64th and receiving standing ovations.

What would be the sports you win gold for?

The Universal Language that unites us all is LOVE. 

Happy Valentine’s 💘 Day! 

February. A girls weekend in Paris. 

Ever wondered, what’s so romantic about Paris?

Is it the way the light hits the Seine when the sun rises in the morning? Or the way the streets glisten when it rains? Or when the sky turns candy pink just before dusk? Or the way the buildings illuminate in the glow of the Eiffel Tower at night…?

It’s almost impossible to not get sucked into the charm of the elegant buildings with large stone façades accented with ornate wrought iron balconies, je t’aime!

Terraces are packed with chairs and tables inches apart as a common sight throughout the streets of Paris at any time of year. It’s February and we were sitting outside, je t’aime! (Is that the reason I’m sick now?)

Moments spent at a café are meant to be savored, absorbing the deliciousness of the meal and the beauty of the day, je t’aime!

Louvre. Seine. Champs – Elysées. Tour Eiffel. Rivoli. Notre-Dame. Arc de Triomphe… Paris is always a good idea, said already Audrey Hepburn! And she’s right! 

Notre-Dame de Paris: I still remember waking up in April 2019 in Shanghai seeing videos of the Notre Dame in flames… The fire caused serious damage, closing the cathedral for extensive and costly repairs; it reopened in December 2024 – and we made it inside 💪🏻 It’s repaired and beautiful as always, je t’aime!

Bonjour, Paris!

Escargots – only a photo highlight for me 🐌

“Whatever you do – whether for work or pleasure – do it with passion! Live with passion…” Christian Dior 🧡

We had a blast! Unfortunately I caught the flu… Even the French cough sirup tastes nice like a caramel dessert. 

Au revoir! 👋

Paris, a place that truly ignites all the senses – from the sound of the musicians and the smells of the boulangerie to the mesmerizing views and divine cuisine. It’s easy to fall in love with Paris!

Paris, je t’aime!