Istanbul with friends. Rain & snow. Delicious food. Mosques. Bazars. Belly dancing. Holly cats & seagulls. We had a blast and very adventures days! 

Istanbul is the only city in the world that sits on two continents: Europe & Asia. It makes it a true melting pot of cultures traditions & architecture. 

Istanbul is also the only place that’s been the capital of three empires, it is this bridge between east-west, it’s spectacularly beautiful. Nobody knows so exactly how many people live here, something between 16-30 millions… 

The majority of the population is Muslim. Members of Islam, Christianity, Judaism and other religions live peacefully in Istanbul. Istanbul has >3000 mosques – we visited 2 of them. 

The Blue Mosque 🕌

We stayed for hours in the Egyptian Market, the Spice Market: spices, tea, Turkish delights, dried fruits, nuts… you name it. The colors. The smell. Wonderful. Delicious.

Turkish cuisine: kebabs, baklava, Turkish tea & coffee, and delights – we had it all and loved the rice the most. Sooo good. 

So before you enter the Grand Bazaar, make sure you’ve polished your bargaining skills and you’re ready to haggle – perfect for people like me, working in sales. 

Our America friend learnt it the hard way:  being bold enough to say NO when you don’t want something, like carpets… or apple tea… 🤣

We kept wondering why the trip was so low prices… a bargain? It’s Ramadan! 

During Ramadan, Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, and smoking from sunrise to sunset. However, non-Muslims and those exempt from fasting can still find many places to eat. Lucky us 🍀

Due to latest incident earlier this week, Social Media and protests were banned for 4 days: very limited What’s Up, Insta, FB, etc. and nights of protest broke out despite ban. It’s good to hear & see you locals protesting for democratic rights! We saw you, we heard you. Keep fighting! ☮️ 

Istanbul, straddling the boundary between Europe and Asia, you are a city where diverse cultures, rich history, and modernity intertwine. Your unique position as a bridge between continents makes it one of the most fascinating cities in the world. We had a fantastic time! 🇹🇷

Did you know this?

Saint Patrick was in Ireland in the 400s! Long time ago right? St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was originally named Maewyn Succat at birth. It wasn’t until he became a priest that he adopted the name Patricius, derived from Latin, signifying his new identity and mission.

This renaming was a common practice among early Christian missionaries and members of the clergy, symbolizing a spiritual rebirth and dedication to their divine calling.

The transition to the name Patrick, as he is now universally known, marked the beginning of his pivotal mission in the 5th century to convert the Irish populace to Christianity. His transformation from Maewyn Succat to St. Patrick encapsulates the journey of a young boy taken into slavery who rose to become one of the most venerated figures in Christian history, illustrating a profound evolution of character and purpose driven by faith and commitment to spreading Christian teachings across Ireland!

St Patrick’s day is a religious holiday, it was originally a dry holiday! Yes! No drinking! The pubs were actually closed on that day and this only changed in 1970! 🍻 

So, if this was a religious holiday, then where do the parades come in? AMERICA!  🗽🇺🇸 The very first St. Patrick’s Day parade was in NYC in 1762. 

… and Hemmingen:

An Irish toast to life, laughter, and a pint (or two)! Sláinte! ☘️

What are your plans for Monday?

Frauen haben Krankheiten geheilt, Sterne entdeckt und bahnbrechende Erfindungen gemacht. Hier sind einige der Spitzenforscherinnen:

And more extraordinary women whose courage, strength and determination have defined the past year 💃 💃 💃

Well, there’s female role models out there, there is films out there… a lot is happening and it still feels far away from equality. Let’s keep fighting, ladies!

And then there’s my male colleague:

“Dear All,

Tomorrow marks International Women’s Day, and it’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate not only for one day but every day of the year! Each of you plays a pivotal role as leaders—big and small—driving business decisions and making a difference in our workplace.

We rely on your engagement and perspective to foster a more balanced and inclusive work environment, one that leads to better results in the long term and comfortable /inclusive work atmosphere for all.

I encourage you to speak up, challenge the status quo, and be bold in questioning anything that doesn’t feel right. Work alongside your leadership teams to drive change where needed. Your voices and your leadership are crucial in shaping our better tomorrow.

This world is a better place because of YOU! You are STRONG, CAPABLE, and COURAGEOUS—each and every one of YOU!

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend with some inspiring song from Katy Perry Song (YouTube)  Song (Spotify)” – we need more of those colleagues! Wow! Thank you 🙏

And here is to all women: the mums, the writers, the leaders, … to all of us. Every single one of us is beautiful inside out 🌹 

Happy International Women’s Day!

And don’t forget —> This world is a better place because of us! We are STRONG, CAPABLE, and COURAGEOUS—each and every one of YOU!

Hach, endlich wieder zurück in der “Stadt mit K”. Drei Kölsche Mädche am Start, Mamas Weihnachtsgeschenk.

Vorfreude ist die schönste Freude: Lieder hören rauf und runter, laut mitsingen, tanzen, Aussprache üben, Kostüme organisieren, und dann ist es soweit. Köln Alaaf! Kumm loss me fiere 💃💃💃

Karneval, so und keinesfalls Fasching oder Fastnacht, heißt die fünfte Jahreszeit in Köln und im Rheinland. In kölscher Mundart nennt man den Karneval auch Fastelovend. 

„Alaaf“ ist der in Köln und Umgebung gebräuchliche Karnevalsgruß. Woher das Wort kommt, weiß allerdings keiner so genau. Vermutlich geht der Begriff auf „al aaf“ zurück, was soviel bedeutet wie „alles weg“. Der Ausruf „Kölle alaaf“ bedeutet demnach „Außer Köln alles weg“. Das Wort „Helau“ ist dagegen im Kölner Karneval ausgeprochen unerwünscht – schließlich wird der Gruß in der ungeliebten Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf verwendet.

Kamelle, Strüßjer und Bützje – Bonbons 🍬 Blumen 🌺 & Küsse 😘

Viele Lieblingslieder, eins davon von den Brings: Superjeilezick

Original:

Nä, wat wor dat dann fröher
En superjeile Zick.
Mit Träne in d’r Auge
Loor ich manchmol zurück
Bin ich hück op d’r Roll
Nur noch half su doll
Doch hück Naach weiß ich nit
Wo dat enden soll.

Hochdeutsch:

Nein, was war das doch früher
Für eine supergeile Zeit.
Mit Tränen in den Augen
blicke ich manchmal zurück.
Bin ich heute mal unterwegs
Dann nur noch halb so verrückt
Doch heute Nacht weiß ich nicht,
Wo das enden soll.

Wir, auf Kölns größter Kostümsitzung, der Lachenden Kölnarena. Über 500 Mitwirkende und zwei große Orchester heizen uns Jecken ein – über sechs Stunden lang mit allen Top-Bands des Karnevals, die beliebtesten Redner, Tanzgarden und natürlich das Dreigestirn. Es war super!

Vorbereitung ist alles, denn hier werden das Vesper und die Getränke selbst mitgebracht… Butterbrezel, Kartoffelsalat, belegte Brote… alles ist erlaubt und wird mit dem Nachbarn geteilt 🍻

Am Straßenkarneval sind Kölns Jecke außer Rand und Band. Kumm, loss mer fiere en der Wetschaff op der Eck!

Day#2: Straßenkarneval

En jede jeck is Koelle zu Hus. 

Versteht ihr nur Bahnhof? Wir auch 😇 Macht nix!

Mer losse d’r Dom en Kölle, denn da gehört er hin!

Schee war’s! Uns hat es sehr gefallen, und wenns am schönsten ist, soll man gehen…

Ohrwürmer inklusive 😂 👑 🐸, klar!

In the weather forecast and still surprised of the amount of snow for this area. It’s still white. Living in a white village wonderland ⛄️

…and while we are waiting for spring 🌷

We walked the wine 🍷

Weather forecast for next weekend: +15C degrees ☀️ 👙😍

“Dear Milena,

I wish the world were ending tomorrow. Then I could take the next train, arrive at your doorstep in Vienna, and say: “Come with me, Milena. We are going to love each other without scruples or fear or restraint. Because the world is ending tomorrow.” Perhaps we don’t love unreasonably because we think we have time, or have to reckon with time. But what if we don’t have time? Or what if time, as we know it, is irrelevant? Ah, if only the world were ending tomorrow. We could help each other very much.”

Franz Kafka – Letters to Milena 💌

Tell your loved ones how much you love them! Nobody knows how much time we have!

Happy Valentine’s Day 💘

PS: if you are fed up with Valentine’s Day —> IKEA is hosting in-store dates for single Londoners this Valentine’s Day. Just saying.

Are you more an early bird 🐦 or a night owl?

Die einen machen Frühsport, um vor der Arbeit auf Touren zu kommen. Die anderen machen Party – so auch zum Beispiel die Anwältin Lauren Blodgett. „An den Daybreaker-Tagen bin ich schon beim Aufwachen bereit zu tanzen”, so die Harvard-Juristin für Einwanderungsrecht. Ab 5:30 geht’s los mit Clubbing, danach geht’s mit Elan zum Gerichtshof.

Ins Leben gerufen hat die Daybreaker Radha Agrawal, Chefin einer Unterwäschefirma, Erfinderin und DJ. Sie wollte gerne ausgehen um zu feiern, war aber nicht bereit, sich ins herkömmliche Nachtleben zu stürzen.

Would you go partying in the morning? Since I’m an early bird… count me in 💃 🕕

From the world 🌍 to Stuttgart: we went to the pre-work party at 6 (!!!) am this morning.

So proud we made it. Got up at 5am, walked the dog, drove to Stuttgart…

It was so much fun.

Re-freshed. Awake. Energized. That was fun.

When is the next pre-work party? 🎉

It’s the week of Valentine’s Day 💘

Despite the fact that the French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery published his first copy 75 years ago, The Little Prince is still giving us priceless lessons about love & life. The book is written for children but is also meant for adults. 

It was written during World War II when, as a pilot, de St. Exupéry experienced a crash landing in the North African desert. He struggles to repair his airplane and water is running low. He then meets a little prince  🤴 and the experiences begin.  

My favourite chapter of the book is the one about the little Prince and the fox 🦊:

“One only understands the things that one tames,” said the fox. “Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things already made at the shops. But there’s no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me…”

“What must I do, to tame you?” asked the little prince.

“You must be very patient,” replied the fox. “First you’ll sit down at a little distance from me – like that – in the grass. I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings. But you’ll sit a little closer to me, every day…”

The next day the little prince came back.

“It would have been better to come back at the same hour,” said the fox. “If for example, you came at four o’clock in the afternoon, then at three o’clock I shall begin to be happy. I shall feel happier and happier as the hour advances. At four o’clock, I shall be worrying and jumping about. I shall show you how happy I am! But if you come at just any time, I shall never know at what hour my heart is ready to greet you…”

The fox teaches the little Prince what it means growing to love a person. After the process of taming, they will come to mean something to each other and will need each other: “Here is my secret. It’s quite simple: One sees clearly only with the heart.  Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.”

“Anything essential is invisible to the eyes,” the little prince repeated, in order to remember.”

However, the real lesson about true love comes from the relationship between the little prince and the rose 🥀 

He leaves his planet because of her but then she is the reason why he comes back.

The rose 🥀 is delicate, needs protection from being eaten by a sheep, needs watering, and a barrier to block the wind.   She is all that is vulnerable. She has her pride when she states that she was born with the sun and states that she is the only living rose to be found. She has only four thorns to protect herself and she tells the little prince she would use them. She insists on having a globe put over her at night to protect her. The Little Prince dutifully cares for her and then he must move on.  

The little fox says “it’s the time you spent on your rose that makes your rose so important.” 

“It’s the time I spent on my rose …,” the little prince repeated, in order to remember.  

“People have forgotten this truth,” the fox said.  “But you mustn’t forget it.  You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose …” 

“I’m responsible for my rose …,” the little prince repeated, in order to remember.

So this is what it means. We are responsible for the ones we care about.  That is love ❤️ 

…the month of love continues…

“And in the end, I believe that we don’t need to do anything to be loved. We spend our lives trying to seem prettier, smarter. But I realized two things. Those who love us see us with their hearts and attribute qualities to us beyond those we really have. And those who don’t want to love us will never be satisfied with all our efforts. Yes, I really believe that it is important to leave our imperfections alone. They are precious to understand those who see us with the heart.”

~Frida Kahlo

Just be you. Don’t try and be someone else. We are all unique in our own special way own it embrace it 💚

Don’t leave anything for later.

Later, the coffee gets cold. ☕️

Later, you lose interest.

Later, the day turns into night.

Later, people grow up.

Later, people grow old.

Later, life goes by.

Later, you regret not doing something…

When you had the chance.

Life is a fleeting dance, a delicate balance of moments that unfold before us, never to return in quite the same way again.

Regret is a bitter pill to swallow, a weight that bears down upon the soul with the burden of missed chances and unspoken words.

So, let us not leave anything for later. Let us seize the moments as they come, with hearts open and arms outstretched to embrace the possibilities that lie before us. For in the end, it is not the things we did that we regret, but the things we left undone, the words left unspoken, the dreams left unfulfilled.

– Toshikazu Kawaguchi,

Before the Coffee Gets Cold

(2015)

* Before the Coffee Gets Cold is a 2015 novel by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. It tells the story of a café in Tokyo that allows its customers to travel back in time, as long as they return before their coffee gets cold. The story originally began as a play in 2010, before being adapted into a novel in 2015.

In that sense, have a great weekend!