Berlin, 01.12.2015 Not yet cold

The first of december always arrives too "early", at least it doesn`t feel to christmassy yet and the greyish wetness of november still lingers in the air. Luckily, we have grandparents that always send 24 packages (for each kid!) on time to put them in the middle of our living room, so that we remember the season. The school invites for cookie- house handcrafting, and my boss calls for a competition whose office looks the most decorative. And finally, Mia got an invitiation to a Christmas play at a theatre.

Berlin, 20.12.2015 Nina

Early Christmas present for Franz: Nina the rabbit. Obviously as chubby as he himself is!

Berlin, 28.12.2015 Crematory office

Tobis new office space, a former crematory. Very special!

Berlin, 01.01.2016 Happy new 2016

Berlin, 10.01.2016 Japanese 'cooking'

Berlin, 23.01.2016 Winter morning

Reykjavik, 01.02.2015 Iceland magic

Tobi wanted to go to Iceland, but I did not like the idea on spending a summer holiday in a place colder than Berlin. That`s why we went in the winter holidays instead. We started in Reykjavik, but realized soon that the charme of this country lies in its vast landscape. I did never experience any place so white, so empty, so sparce, so open. A wonderful location to empty your head of routines.

'Geysir' is the only Icelandic word used in both English and German, surely because there are so many springs pulsating in this country. Its meaning is "wildly flowing", prominently used for the great Geysir after that all other geysirs were named.

Grindavik, 02.02.2016 Blue lagoon

Funny to go swimming in an outdoor pool when everything is covered in snow. We enjoyed the hot water with silicea in our faces while drinking blueberry shakes.

Kirkjubæjarklaustur, 03.02.2015 Heading south

Gullfoss. So cold we felt like being on a polar expedition.

Urridafoss. So cold Mia refused to leave the car.

Seljalandsfoss. So cold the whole staircase was frozen. Mia loved to climb it, I was scared!

Skogafoss. So cold both kids stayed in the car.

We knew Icelandic weather can change in an instant. We experienced the significance of the yellow poles when earth and sky merged into one whitish mess!

Kirkjubajarklaustur, 04.02.2016 Locked in

We went to bed imagining the snow storm to calm down. We got up imagining we could visit some place, because we still believed we could move the car. Tobi and Moritz shoveled for a while and then got stuck in the middle of the entrance gate. We still imaginged to spend a calm day with lots of tea (and cookies). We found a movie (Kung Fu Panda) and made ourselves comfortable on the sofa when finally, all lights went off and with it: the electricity. We spent hours by playing Doppelkopf and Rommee with candlelight, realizing how luxurious a life with hot water and heating really is. The power cut went by and we fixed dinner. Luckily, we had packed packet soup for emergencies. When the second power cut came about, we just went to bed, imagining the worst would be over by the next monrning. That was still before shoveling the car out for three hours just to get stuck within the next snow drift.... by that time we were completely out of food, and therefore grumpy (and also a bit worried). Around early noon, the local guy with the snowplough came by and helped us out. Our hero! I haven`t been as thankful as that in a long time, and even though he did not speak or understand English, I hope he felt a bit of that happiness amongst us.

Joekulsarlan, 05.02.2016 Glacier ice

Impressive. To see turquoise green light shine out of your footsteps in thick snow.

Reynisdrangar and Dyrhólaey, 06.02.2016 The black beach

We have to get back to this incredible black beach, where thousands of puffins breed in summer time. Sadly for us, they prefer to spend their winters out in the open ocean, so we did not meet any of them.

Hafnarfjordur, 07.02.2016 Reunion

For our last day in Iceland, my fellow student Christian and his lovely family Inga, Kjartan, Tindra and Stigur welcomed us at their home. We were especially happy to share a meal from the same set of church congress dishes we use at our home, too. Great memories.