Sardinia

First morning and first photo of our trip to Sardinia

Bregenzerwald

On our way back from Italy to Germany we stopped for one night in Austria and stayed at this wonderful Hotel called Gasthof Krone within the Bregenzer Wald  area. It is so beautiful there and we wish we would have had a few more days there to explore and really would like to go back. The architecture in this area was so inspiring - a mix of very classic Austrian houses mixed with very modern elements.

Merano - Crossing

We walked by this street every day a few times on our way into the centre of Meran. I always wanted to take a photo without a car or anyone crossing and to just focus on the stripes of street crossing and how they are seen in the street mirror and the shadow play of the sun. Well, on our last day I was finally able to take it and I am glad I waited.
I have taken a few photos where I thought it was worth the wait (like at the Getty in LA here). As much as I love having people in a photo I equally love to just take a photo of a scene itself without anyone in it. I hope you know what I try to say  :)

Hope you enjoy it, too.

More Byron Bay

In the last weeks (while becoming and being a mum) there hasn't been much time for taking photos of my life here. When I get a few minutes I sometimes scroll through the posts of this blog of the last years or photos on my computer and travel back in time. Its nice to remember moments like those few days in Byron Bay. The warm sun on the skin, sleeps at the beach, finishing a book...The photos help me to travel there within my little daydreams I have at the moment and I hope they help you and your mind to travel a little bit as well.  :)

 > Elizabeth from Primoeza has a SALE, check it out.

Leaving Sydney

And then our last week in Sydney arrived.

Even though we have made the decision to move to Germany a few months ago I feel now that we have actually left, we can slowly process the change and realize that it is not just a holiday we are here in Germany for but actually to set up our life again.

I am so grateful for the amazing time I had in my last 4.5 years living in Australia, most of all for the people I met, friends I made and places I have been to. It was a big move back in 2010 but I am so glad I did it and was able to collect all those different experiences and go on many adventures in the last years.

It was a hot Sydney Summer day last Friday, our last day. I got woken up from the noise of the birds outside our friends apartment. Those exotic birds whose songs became so familiar to me over the last years. The Summer light and smells coming through the window and realizing that this will be the last time for a while until I'll feel, hear and see this again. Our bags were all packed up and we had farewelled all our friends over the previous days. So we woke up early and walked through the Botanic Gardens to the Andrew Boy Charlton pool for a final swim. It was a 35C day and it was already quite warm...the Summer sun was standing high and hit the surface of the pool which was glowing in its inviting blue. I put on my goggles and cap and dived into the cool and salty water. Swimming my laps, like the many mornings before work in the last years or late afternoons after work. I put my head under the water, the blue of the tiles seemed so strong due to the midday light and with every move I could see the shades of my hands at the bottom of the tiles of the pool. It was a really nice moment which I wanted to remember as I said goodbye with every lap I swam and seemed to be getting ready to leave after finishing the ritual which I'd gotten so fond of over the years.

We left the pool, our towels around our hips still seeming to be people who are living in that great city but secretly saying goodbye. We went for a last coffee and breakfast to our favorite cafe (Room 10) before we took a taxi and left our street and neighbourhood behind. After an almost 30h trip we arrived in Hamburg, welcomed by dear friends and relieved to finally be here.

The last view days have been all about settling in, catching up with friends, getting used to the different season and trying to find an apartment. It is very exciting to be back and we look forward to everything which is about to come over the next few months. I still have a few photos from Australia which I would love to share with you over the next weeks....

I hope you are all well.
Maria

PS I took the photo earlier this year when we flew back to Sydney from Hobart, Tasmania :)

See you later Sydney!

In a few weeks time will we pack up our apartment here in Sydney, say goodbye to dear family & friends and move to the other side of the world! Again. It has been 4,5 amazing years here in Sydney and I am not sure if I have completely processed yet that this is all happening. While writing this my hair is still drying from my early swim, the sun is shining and there is no cloud at the sky. When you followed this blog in the last years you might have seen how special this place is and how fond we are of it. I really do think that Sydney is one of the best places to live. When we tell people about our decision to move we get very often asked why/really/are you sure?

It really is not easy when you call two places home and when those two places are 16,000km away from each other it is particularly hard to keep in touch and be part of people's life you really care about. We realize that we will always be in the situation to leave people & things we love behind us but at the same time we feel very privileged to call Australia and Germany our home. How lucky are we!? But you know, nothing is forever & it is important to be flexible and be open for new ideas and plans and that is what we are trying to do. We are excited to being back in Europe again and look forward to being closer to family and friends we have only seen a few times since I moved here, to more traveling and me speaking a bit more German. :)

Something new!

Those of you who follow me on Instagram might have already read & seen about our new project. Will and I have been cooking something up (excuse the pun) and sat down together to start a little food blog. We still have to get into the routine of updating it regularly but we are working on it. 

We both love food & cooking and as we mostly find the time on the weekends to try out a new recipes or make and old time favourite we called the blog 'Mostly Saturdays'. 

It is a place where we want to share our favourite recipes, some of the many cookbooks we collected over the years, some we grew up with and some we just came up on our own.  

Have a look & we hope you enjoy it. 

Wellington - a city to put on your list

When I looked at the photos from our time in Wellington I can feel again what a great time we had and how much we liked this city. During our two trips to New Zealand one thing which stood out for me apart from the beauty of the country is how friendly everyone is. People smile at you on the street, are super friendly and happy to answer questions, tell you what their favourite place is to go and I think they know that they live in one of the most beautiful countries.
The sun came out again for the last 2,5 days of our trip and so we were out and about all days walking through neighbourhood, eating good food (highly recommend Loretta's, drinking good, really good coffee in many of their great coffee spots, getting craft brew beer at the garage project and went up to Mt Victoria to watch the sun set. One day we drove a little out of the city to do the Eastern Walkway, we stopped every few metres to enjoy the view. It was incredible to think that this was still part of the city and that people have their house right here within that amazing landscape. When we looked out to the water I remember saying that it feels like the end of the world here, right there where we stood.

PS: Can you spot the two people in the last photo, they were walking with their dog down there.

On the road - Northern Island New Zealand

A few photos I took on our way between Auckland and Wellington. As it was (is) Winter in New Zealand we also had a few rainy days but we didn't mind and enjoyed the beautiful landscape nevertheless the grey sky and green landscape made it look so mystic like in a fairy tale....

Auckland, New Zealand

In early June we went back to New Zealand. You might remember our first trip to the South Island in October last year. This time our plan was to explore the North Island for a bit longer than a week. We flew into Auckland to spend a few days there, to catch up with a friend we haven't seen in almost 10 years and to just explore the city . We could have spend so much longer here and there are so many great outdoor activities which you can do just outside the city which means we have to come back with a bit more time.
Here are a few photos from our first days. We had breakfast (twice) at the wonderful Good One cafe in Ponsonby, which is a lovely neighbourhood with lots of great shops, cafes & restaurants. We went up to Mt Eden and looked over the city and walked around the big crater.

Western Australia

A few more photos from our trip to Perth a few weeks back. Happy weekend to everyone!