Berlin, 23.03.2018 Finally fourty

My grandmother Liesel had celebrated her 39th birthday six times to avoid turning fourty. But to me, turning fourty just means not having died at 39. Another good year gone, another year - hopefully a good one, too, lying ahead. I threw a big party, had a lot of friends visiting, even my sister, and Katinka. I thank everyone who came and celebrated with me. No pictures, though. We simply enjoyed ourselves.

Kufstein, 25.03.2018 Mountain idyll

Our first stop on our journey south was in Austria, where we met my kindergarden friend Ursula and her family.

Spazzavento, 25.03.2018 Tuscany at its best

Approximately sixteen years ago, Tobi made a bet with his mate Thorb. They were travelling through Vietnam, having fun, just the two of them. They were around twentyfive, still students, both in a relationship. And Tobi suggested to bet on who would have the first kid. Because this is not a tiny something to bet on, they decided the price would be a vacation to Tuscany, with both couples and the kid. Or the kids. It took us a while to find an opportunity. But we made it this year, 14 and a half years after Mila was born.

While all of our four kids were smaller, we had travelled to Foehr and to Denmark together, visiting Legoland, feeding sheep, playing with snails, cruising around with the kids all tucked into bike trailers. Such a difference to this funny group of teens (or soon-to-be-teens), that now start conversations on their own and enjoy all kinds of food and read - to some extent - the literature that we also enjoy. Lucky us being in beautiful Tuscany!

Lucca, 28.03.2018 Sunglasses

Just as I remember it to be. A charming city with great views from above!

We stayed in a small village where the family of our friend Pietro is making wine and olive oil and is running a fantastic restaurant serving local specialities. What impressed me most was the sight of the olive oil press. The whole village is using it once a year, and the payment is half of the olive oil they produce out of the olives they harvest. The oil is then put into big clay jugs, with farmers fetching their yield whenever they need it. Pietros mom told us casually, that it takes approximately one olive tree to produce one liter of olive oil. One tree makes one litre! It is still hard for me to imagine, even though you see a lot of olive trees around here. I am wondering how on earth olive oil is sold for so little money.