No more words needed… it’s so beautiful:

Just a couple of weeks ago we both wished to have more time. More time at home. More time for each other. More time in our beautiful house.

Time for cooking.

Time for reading.

Time to spend in our beautiful garden.

Time to spend just hanging around. Time to become creative again. Time to rest our minds. Time to listen to my favorite radio channel. Time to do nothing. Time to listen to favorite records (dancing included). Time to relax. Now the time is here! A bit unexpected.

Let’s make the best out of current situation. Besides we know that we are privileged: we can stay home. Warm. Reading. Working (thanks to our jobs which make home office possible). Getting educated. Creating. Talking to our loved ones. And our fridge is stocked with food. All of that during a worldwide pandemic. How lucky we are.

We are also worried about the virus and the future but also grateful for the shared times. Thanks for the additional time which we chose to spend wisely and are truly enjoying it. Together.

Corona. Home Office. Week 1 (out of 4 for now) done. Trying to get used to our new isolated life.

How do we experience it?

I’m back from Iceland. We are having beautiful spring days. Flowers started blooming. And on the other side we have a spreading Corona virus. It feels weird and quite unrealistic.

It’s times of home office. For our own safety. For others safety. Isolated but busy. My work day starts usually at 7amish… and finishes at 6pmish… with a wonderful shared lunch break with hubby cooking & eating followed by a walk with Charlie, our dog, in the beautiful spring sun.

Shops are sold out on toilet paper, milk, cans and meat… We were only able to get a last frozen chicken and duck breasts and lots of fresh veggies and fruits (that’s not bad, right?). It’s kind of funny that there was a last pack of toilet paper and a young man grabbed it before me… (well, we still have 5 roles left, not too worried at this moment). Some people complain that there child’s music lesson was canceled but they had already paid for it (first worlds problems). Colleagues carried their monitors from the office home: they were convinced that under no circumstances they could work from home with a normal laptop screen (we worked in countries with no monitors for the past 8 years). And young influencers are dum, licking toilet seats and proudly posting it in the World Wide Web.

I keep wondering: have we all understood yet, how serious the current situation is? And why do a lot of grown up people behave like children? Can we really not sit at home, isolated for our own benefit & our future?

The list continues and is long: lots of fake news (limiting myself of reading too much). Lots of panicking people. Lots of cancellations or postponed evens like a wedding party, my nieces communion, my granddads 87th birthday party, Easter vacation in Ireland, I also cannot continue with my motorbike driver license… yes, it’s not cool. It sucks. But what can you do?!

Some positive thoughts. Now or never: time to accept the situation as it is and use the time to relax, trying to get energized (1,5hrs more sleep every morning thanks to no driving), more time at home (for growing veggies). Time to cook healthy lunches & enjoying them with hubby! Trusting our government for making right decisions. Following anti-socializing rules. Re-thinking our independence (from other countries). Reflecting our own personal behavior and doings (in the past years). Time to read a book again. Yeah! Time to sit in the sun in the garden with a cup of coffee. Amazing! Time to enjoy spring and the beautiful flowers. Love it! Time to make family phone calls (Mela, I will return your call tonight!). Time to help out making English translations for new hospital rules to avoid spreading Corona. Time to be thankful for being healthy! Time to show heart: I signed up to do shopping for elderly people in our town. Time for flowers to cheer up our minds. Time for hopes.

And more positive aspects: China’s air was never fresher than these days… Venice canals are so clean that you can see fish and even the swans decided to return.

And yes, we did celebrate St. Patricks Day. Isolated but traditionally with Kilkenny beer, cabbage and corned beef. Yam!

All out there: please stay healthy! We can do this!

Fazit Isolation week1: it’s possible. It’s surprisingly nice!

When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade! It’s also good for the immun system 🙂

Iceland. Ice & Land.

Our girls trip. Reunion from Chicago, Karlsruhe & Hemmingen.

We arrived a week ago. First impressions: Wow, those shades of blue in the sky! Driving into the blue and the sky seems so close and endlessly wide… Icelanders are very nice people. And Aurora put a spell on me (on all three of us) even she decided to not dance for us… (that just means I have to come back).

Lagoons everywhere… A dip in a pool becomes a soak in a geothermal lagoon – just following the locals, it’s their secret to survive those ice-cold winter months and it feels soooo good!

We slathered rich silica over our face (that must be the secret of all Icelandic women).

Iceland, a symphony of elements, the power of nature, the Nordic nirvana. This country is a real treat: crisp clean air, an eyeful of cinematic landscapes and we are all transfixed.

A casual stroll transforms into a trek across a glittering glacier. We hiked on top of it! Wow!

Icelandic pony horses: strong & beautiful.

Untouched white wonderland.

All you need in Iceland’s winter: a down jacket, a 4WD (incl. seat heat), a jacuzzi and a lagoon and a fired wood oven – amazing!

Wherever you are on the island there is always delicious local fish.

Europes most northern city: Reykjavík. Famous for its colorful roof tops.

The ash of the volcanoes.

3 hours at -6C outdoor temperature – no problem with a jacuzzi. And after watching stars with a glass of Prosecco while getting soaked a good nights sleep follows – soooo good!

Majestic mountains.

Beautiful fjords.

Gullfoss (or the Golden Falls).

Adventurous car rides: unexpected snow waves… and fairy dust on the roads.

Trying to find the most beautiful words for this amazing piece of land:

It’s been magnificent.

Unique.

Peaceful.

The nature. Breathtaking.

There’s just us.

Those scenes. Oh wow!

That hot tub. Oh yes!

Elfes. Surrounding us. With us. Everywhere.

One of many favorite spots: I wish I could sit here forever.

The language is mysterious for us: try pronouncing Hverir, Klofalækjarkjaftur – all beautiful places in Iceland.

Dramatic, and extremely varied landscapes, massive glaciers, volcanic craters and lava fields, hot springs and geysers, and stunning waterfalls – Iceland’s sharp contrasts are something you need to experience to believe!

The weather starts getting warmer (by Icelandic standards of course!). We had average temperatures of around -4° C. Everything was covered in white.

Diamonds are girls best friends… there’s many at the diamond beach.

There seems no end to the talents of this breathtaking northern destination.

So many wows. How divine. What a beautiful trip we had!

The lead actor of this holiday: the amazing Icelandic nature & my beautiful girls.

Iceland, you are magical. I wish I could stay longer (no panicking here for CoV and it felt super safe and isolated…). I’ll be back sometime. Maybe in summer. Bye for now!

In Iceland almost all the natural forces carry a story: the trolls in the mountains, the monsters in the ocean, elves and hidden people in the cliffs, the gods of thunder, love and war.

And then there is Aurora, the goddess of dawn and the forgotten god of the Northern Lights. She’s there. You have to be patient to meet her. She’s the one dancing the lights in the night sky.

People come to Iceland, dreaming to see her dancing in the sky. She’s been dancing in Iceland long before people settled in Reykjavik. More than a thousand years ago.

If you are here for her, let me tell you, it is not easy predicting her appearance. It is definitely not an easy task! You need to explore the ice-cold Icelandic nights with patience and courage. Then, maybe, if she feels like being seen, she’ll take you on a journey. A journey to understand the mysterious northern lights.

You might think Aurora is alone. But she’s not. She has sisters all over the solar system, just recently discovered.

How does the magical northern light occur?

The bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth’s atmosphere. The solar wind moves so quickly that it can reach speed over 80 million kilometers per hour. After 6 hours it passes Mercury. After 12 hours the planet Venus. And after 18 hours it reaches Earth.

In Earths outer core the flow of liquid iron generates electric contents that produces the magnetic field. An invisible suit that protects us. When the pressure of the solar shield breaks through the wind it liquids some of the particles trapped inside and slam into the atmosphere to create Auroras.

Auroral displays appear in many colours although pale green and pink are the most common. Shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet have been reported. The lights appear in many forms from patches or scattered clouds of light to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky with an eerie glow.

People travel thousands of kilometers all over the world to witness Auroras iridescent. As you look for her, pay close attention to the shapes and patterns in the sky. She often brights suddenly and then fades within minutes. Since it’s origin, mankind have always been fascinated by her lights. And even though we know the scientific reason for the aurora, the dazzling natural light show can still fire our imaginations to visualize fire bridges, gods or dancing ghosts.

A quiet night in our jacuzzi may mean front-row seats to the aurora borealis curtains of fire… Well, that was one of our dreams and reasons traveling to Iceland in winter. But we were not so lucky. Aurora didn’t feel like dancing for us. We had many clouds and full moon. Instead we watched the phenomena in the Reykjavík planetarium… and what can I say?

Aurora, you fascinated me!

You captivated me forever.

You casted a spell over me.

Iceland is mysterious. Magical. Wonderful. Incredible!

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My absolute favorite thing to do. And his. Our most common hobby: cooking (and eating).

Last Sunday: Beef Wellington.

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The fun starts already with thinking of what to cook. Followed by grocery shopping (preferred at the market).

And then the cooking. We both love to cook. We usually abstract the recipes. Spicing it up. Making it different. Making it more fun. Making each meal an individual tasting piece. A “Turley taste”.

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I love decorating the table and picking the most beautiful napkins. And candles. And of course a glass of something…

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Oh, it tasted wonderful. So delicious.

Soo good!

And dessert: healthy & exotic!

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I am touched.
Since the CoV virus reached Europe and unfortunately keeps spreading in Germany (and especially in Swabia) I am receiving lots of messages from China.

My current colleagues from Suzhou wishing us all the best to stay alert and healthy. The same from former Shanghai colleagues, making sure we are doing ok. Even our driver Mr Xu sends blessings via WeChat. And also the customer from Beijing is wishing us all the best.

Today I was asked for my home address: a Shanghai colleague wants to mail face masks since he and his family don’t need them anymore in China. Isn’t that wonderful?

In all the bad I am seeing the good: we are humans. We take care of each other. We are friends.

I always believed in the good of people. The world is good!
I love my colleagues.

All the best to all of us! May the virus be taken care of very soon!

Let’s continue focusing on a strong immune system with vitamins, fresh air, plenty of sleep and healthy food. We can do it! All of us.

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One year ago we were still living 11 flight hours away… Now it’s a 3 hour train ride to or from my parents home. And we are having a visitor for the week: my mum is in town.

A week filled with talks, laughter, music, food & wine. A week for the soul. Wonderful.

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Ladies night with Frank Sinatra: musical in Stuttgart „that’s life“. His songs… wow! But did you know that he’s been married 4 (!!!) times?!

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It was snowing. It was raining. The sun was out. Any weather is good to make dogs (& mums) happy.

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Ladies day: we (or our faces, feet & mind) got spoilt at Weleda.

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We spoilt mummy with food. Beef Wellington:

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Coffee break in Ludwigsburg.

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Pancake makers. Sometimes our guests have to cook for us.

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It was great having you with us. Come back anytime. And soon.

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We have been patiently waiting… but it seems we won’t get snow in or around Stuttgart… so we have to find it somewhere else…

What we packed: Gloves. Winter boots. Hats. Sunglasses. Winter coats… layers! Getting ready for a white weekend on top of Germany: the Zugspitze.

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Here we are, on top of Germany with 305cm of snow and a special night ahead: in an igloo.

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It takes about 6 weeks to build up the igloo village. Artists were decorating each igloo individually, the theme: Ferry Tales. Wow! Amazing!

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It’s white.
It’s windy.
It’s cold. No, it’s freezing. It’s freezing cold.
It’s on 2962 meters altitude.
It’s freezing (have I mentioned that?).
It’s special.

We had an amazing sunset.

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We moved into our igloo.

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The igloo bar.

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Moving in, getting comfortable (the lamb fell helps) followed by Prosecco, a fantastic starter and cheese fondue after a windy snowy winter walk in the dark. Optional: an outdoor jacuzzi and a sauna (nice idea but…. brrrrrr!).

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Our first night in an igloo. And it was so cool – indeed. We slept surprisingly well.

Good morning, Zugspitze! We are the first ones on top of the amazing mountain! As the forecast said: it’s stormy, super windy and snowing again. The gondolas are out of order for today… we’ll take the train, the only one for today.

But first enjoying a Bavarian breakfast on 2600m in a (warm) glacier restaurant.

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I am still feeling cold, even just sitting inside watching the snow storm. Looking forward to the seat heat in the car now 🙂 on the way back to Hemmingen.

It was a very cool white night!

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10:00am.
Good morning, Ludwigsburg!
Blue sky. Sunshine. A perfect morning for the market to do weekend shopping.

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I’m not the only one. Bikers. Kids. Older people. Families. Friends. Dogs. Sellers & buyers. So nice. So colorful. I love markets (preferred in Italy, but Ludwigsburg will do for today..).

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Hmmmm…. so many goodies. So many awesome smells. Fresh flowers. Eggs (of course, bio). Black Forest ham. Swabian dumplings. Truffle oil from Italy. Air dried salami. Fresh veggies. Cheeses. Olives (with thick garlic). Fish. Looking forward to my dinner now. And tomorrow’s lunch. And dinner.

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Happy Saturday. Happy weekend.