Update

I know, it has been quite some time that I have update our blog, but so much has been happening lately that I just never really had tome to sit down and write about it.

Let’s see the last tow and a half months – well the earthquake that we experience was the first and last during our visit to Portugal. We had a wonderful time as always and are looking very much forward to our next trip in September.

My Dad is still recovering from his health crisis. He still seems to have doctor’s appointments every other day and they cut him open on a regular basis now – we will see what will happen next. One good thing though: my Dad has quit smoking for good and my Mom is also smoking less and less every day. This is good for both their health and their wallets…

On a very sad note – one of our friends died in March very unexpected at the young age of 33. I had known him since the early 90’s and it was and still is very difficult to understand that he is no more. Thinking about him I can still hear his voice, and it makes me sad to know he is dead. He leaves a wife and 1 ½ year old twins behind. There was a very nice farewell gathering in the church in which the two got married and even though it did not bring me closure it was amazing to see the church packed with people close to 200 people were saying goodbye to him.

On the other hand our dear friends from Pennsylvania have finally managed to visit us in Berlin - what joy and fun did the five of us have. It was just great. We did not think that staying with us in the outskirts of Berlin would be a good idea, and since a friend and colleague of mine has a holiday home in Berlin http://www.berlin-roseneck.eu/english/home.htm we placed them in their own little apartment much closer to the center of Berlin. I think they liked the place a lot and if you want to visit Berlin and be in your own little place, this is something to look out for.
We managed to fly to Paris for one day, went to Hamburg for one day, saw the South Sea for one day, went shopping, saw sights and had a blast for ten days.
Of course we were exhausted when they left – and very sad. It really felt like family was visiting and we are very much looking forward to seeing them again and maybe do a day trip to Vienna or Rome the next time that they are here.

Speaking about trips – our next trip is coming up shortly – well in five weeks actually we will go to Rome. Right now we are trying to learn a wee bit of Italian to get around and along in Roma – even though one has to assume that they all should speak English a little bit of “Ciao” and “Lei, como se chiama” we should be able to have tons of fun. For the next five weeks, every holiday and every Sunday will be spent with an Italian language teacher trying to learn as many words as possible in the smallest amount of time – it is a challenge – but it seems manageable.

There – an update – smiles from very warm and sunny Berlin

T