Well, the original plan was to sit in an airplane on the way to London with my girls – canceled (or postponed to 2021). Plan B: a thanksgiving dinner invitation with friends – canceled. Plan C: dinner for 2! – not canceled!
Hands up if you miss going out for dinner as much as we do right now. Therefore a little change of plan tonight (a little bit of creativity is all you need).
Tonight on the agenda: going out & supporting a local restaurant. Picking up dinner and returning to our private “van restaurant” for two. Dinner to go. (Dinner on wheels since we had to escape from getting a parking fine). And found a wonderful location: Stuttgart West. Just in time for sunset.
No seating these days… but pick up works as great. On top of Stuttgart.The beautiful West.
Served on the plates tonight: Boeuf Bourguignon & deer for hubby. Both served with Spätzle (of course, we are in Stuttgart) plus red wine. So good!
Van life. Different & delicious!Dinner with a view. Happy thanksgiving!
November. 16C degrees. Saturday. Sunshine. A wonderful golden November and an all-season motorbike license plate… that’s all we need this year.
We grabbed the bikes and drove the Solitude racetrack (twice) on our motorbikes today. It is a former Motorsport race track in Leonberg, west of Stuttgart. It is named after the castle Solitude and has hosted various motorcycle and automobile races.
Control tower at the start-finish line.
Today’s trip continued to the Black Forest. Beautiful curves.
Ein Papa, der sich beim Wandern auskennt. Eine Mama, die fürs Proviant sorgt. Ein Opa, der Turley Bräu probiert (und lecker findet). Ein Cousin, der traditionelle Schlitten baut (nach Uropas Design). Ein erwachsenes Patenkind, die ihr tolles Haus zeigt. Was für ein schönes Wochenende in der Heimat.
Knopf im Ohr.Wow! Wandern am Dreilaendereck, entlang der ehemaligen Grenze BRD/DDR. Herbst.So friedvoll. Pause. Wohlverdient. Opa. Ab jetzt kann es schneien.
Das Auto vollgepackt mit schönen Dingen… 2 Rhöner Lämmer, Hiffenmark, Adventskalender, Rhöner Wurst Spezialitäten, einen Schlitten und viele wunderbare Momente. Genug für die nächsten Wochen bis Weihnachten.
Ein wunderschönes Wochenende geht (leider) viel zu schnell zu Ende. Bis bald!
US election. Lockdown „light“. Travel restrictions. Terror in Austria and France. Early dark nights. Increased number of Covid. November Blues.
Hoping continues…
Difficult times for the head & the heart. And plenty of ides how to spoil our souls.
A little NYC at home.
Stay 10 minutes longer in bed. Not sleeping, but awake. Enjoy the light & the warmth. A new day. Every morning. Amazing feeling! And the best: problems don’t get through the thick dawn duvet. And working from home makes it possible!
Dogs…
Snuggle up with your dog (if you don’t have one check them out in the park). There’s nothing better than a dogs love. They just enjoy to be with you. No more reason needed. Greeting you when you come back home. Or just returning from another room. Giving kisses. Pure happiness. Pure love. (Charlie enjoys the extra 10 minutes in the morning the most!).
Just chilling.
Baking or cooking with cinnamon. For the smell. The mind. And the soul. Mmmmhhhh… the whole house is smelling. Winter smell. Famous smell. Fantastic smell.
Supporting the neighbors. Each other. Sharing cake. And soup. And getting fruits in return. Inviting for a common (dog) walk. Exchange over the hedge (social distancing – check). Taking the bin out for them. It feels good to take care of each other.
Thanks, neighbors! Enjoy, neighbors!
Clean up! Rooms. Cellars. Whatever. Feels good! (If not already done in first look down this year. Lol).
Music. Sing. Play guitar. Listening to records. Helps. Always!
…Whoa! I feel good, I knew that I would, now. I feel good, I knew that I would, now So good, so good, I got you…
Forest hike. Go! Put a coat on. Take an umbrella. Maybe a torch. Maybe your neighbor. And dog. And go! No excuse. Get out, move your body, refresh your mind, breath. Deeply. Come back home. Relax with a cup of tea. So good!
Take a bath! No matter which day in the week or what time. Nothing is better than soaking (in lavender). Followed by a hot chocolate or a cup of tea. Sooooo good! Alternatively a foot bath.
Photo show from past vacations. One year ago or 10 years ago. Doesn’t matter. Soooo good. Especially in times of travel restrictions. Feel free to have popcorn and a drink. Get inspired for the after corona time. Dreams on.
Yes, this is the time to be strong and positive. But sometimes it also feels good to let go. Call someone you love. And trust. And tell them how you really feel.
Bord Game times! Play time.
Books! Cuttle on the Sofa. Follow recommendations. Or anything else. And get lost in the story.
Time for watching series. Snuggle up on the couch. Ready for a good film or series marathon…
Preparing rich & spiced up food. For the fun. And the health. Sometimes it has to be a glass of wine at lunch time. Why not!
Pulled pork with home made green tomatoe ketchup.
November Blues. Gone. It’s Christmas Eve in 7 weeks! Pleasant anticipation. Have a great weekend y‘all!
Vacation in the middle of corona, wave 2. We had planned to be in the south of France… well, our days off were different than planned but still fabulous. The problem: the week ended just so fast…
Castles, wellness, day trips, getting the garden ready for winter, spa, hiking, massage, trees (cannot get enough of their beautiful color change), motorbiking, home made bread, sauna, BBQing, a passed motorbike test (yeah!), sleeping in, grabbing a coffee and go for another nap, and a lot of Black Forest (my absolute favorite forest in 2020) & cooking. Of course.
Lunch in Tübingen. Castle Hohenzollern.Home made. On top of the trees. And back down. Lunch after hiking the top of trees.
Just throw on a jumper and watch the leaves turn to rust… This could keep me occupied forever.
Don’t need anything else… Love…Cruising the Black Forest. Figs with got cheese, it’s the season. tea time. Mushrooms in our garden 🙂
We cannot wait for more richly spiced dishes and to take things slow again while creating a cosy home. Beautiful fall.
Last year August I chose a motorbike school in our neighborhood and started visiting theory class. I was the oldest between all the 16-year olds (these days you get snickers bars & coke in class. Wow! Spoilt kids. Lol.). Only when the teacher told them I’d do my full motorbike license I was considered „cool“ (and still felt old. Lol). At that point I still was confident to pass my license in 2019…
Over a year ago I purchased my own motorbike (school bike was too big for me). I tried about 30 bikes in the shop… and it came down to 3 which fitted and my feet could touch the ground. Yeah! I love my Ducati Scrambler (in „racing yellow“).
Prachtstück.
I got my bike. I was ready. The District Office wasn’t. It took them 6 months (!) to do my driver license background check (mandatory before you can continue… yes, it’s complicated in Germany…). By that time I already had finished my snickers classes, I mean my theoretical classes.
And then it was January and I was waiting for good warm weather (>10C degrees) to start my mandatory driving lessons.
And then came corona… lockdown (until July)… schools not allowed to give driving lessons. Followed by student jam. All patiently waiting to finalize their class (poor teacher… he got a lot more grey hair since…). I also ended up in the queue. And waited. In summer I could finally start preparing for my theory test. And passed.
By that time the motorbike had been sitting in our garage since one year… Patiently waiting.
Me not so patient anymore. I wanted to ride my own bike (sitting on the back of hubby’s bike is just not as much fun).
And that sound of this machine… teacher loved it. Neighbors loved it. Examiner loved it.
And all of a sudden temperatures dropped. Unexpectedly early. But my teacher and I had a deal: passing and getting me my license this year! I froze my a.. of on the motorway (it’s amazing how many layers you can wear and still be able to move your body…). I practiced in the rain (followed by hot showers). And in fog (the teacher would start every morning lesson with „hey, good news, it’s not snowing!“).
Eventually, I finished all mandatory classes within the last couple of weeks including the most wonderful sun rises at 6:45am (cold but wow). And sunset rides with a moon as huge as the world. Beautiful! I smelt fries & Döner while passing busy roads filled with cars, bikes and people. I lost my teacher on one of the autobahn rides (got told off for that one…). And got told off again by not providing an older lady the chance to pass the zebra crossing (I’m still convinced she didn’t want to pass the road and just chilled… in fact she was too far away from crossing… anyhow. I keep looking out for chilled older ladies since and forever). I truly enjoyed every single training ride. Many thanks to the teacher and his patience.
I made it. Today was the day. The day of the final test. Temperatures got up again to 19C degrees, clouds, no rain – lucky me!
And I passed (hubby said of course you passed… you drove through L.A. before, you can handle Leonberg… I love him). I am so happy. My father happy. Brother happy. Hubby happy. All waiting for the next ride together (mummy not so happy).
I have the biggest smile on my face since 3pm. Hoping for a golden November now.
Earlier this week was probably the last ride on the back of hubby’s bike. But it was wonderful.
Guess what’s next: I need to schedule an appointment at the District Office to pick up my license. Arghhhhhh.
And we both have a dream: touring the USA again… like 4 years ago. Maybe on Indian Scouts.
Stuttgart547 