the sun, the warmth, flip-flops, strawberries, BBQs, looong and bright days, the smell of fresh cut grass, iced coffee, freckles, blue skies, not being cold…. but most of all the colors!

two weeks ago C and i packed our bags and left for a short get-away we had planned months ago. remember how i said we wanted to take more trips and all? well, this was one (hopefully the first of many more to come) of those trips. we took the train down to munich and as soon as we crossed the “border” into bavaria i noticed the gazillion little church towers because apparently every tiny town there has a church. when we got to munich we put our luggage in a locker and walked around the city for a couple hours. my conclusion after that (granted, very little) time: munich people are snobs and not too friendly, a map from the tourist information costs 0,40 euro which i have never experienced in any other city before, i’m not too impressed by the “hofbräuhaus-area” but LOVED the viktualienmarkt, would go back if i had the chance but it’s not very high on my list of places i want to see more of. and yes, i am biased because of the bremen-munich-rivalry in soccer. but enough of that, on to salzburg…

we got there around 9 pm, grabbed some fast food at the train station, got a taxi to the hotel and checked in. our room was AMAZING. top floor = 6th with big floor-to-ceiling windows on the corner. we were sooo excited and not just because we could finally take a shower and crawl into bed :)

after enjoying the GREAT breakfast buffet and fueling up for the day we started walking towards the city centre. the weather was amazing (sunny at around 20°C) and we didn’t even have to take our jackets. we walked on top of the kapuzinerberg, hiked around the kapuzinerkloster and had a great view from up there across the river salzach to the other side = the old part of the city and the castle.

after sitting up there in the sun for a while we took a gazillion stairs down and walked across the river to the old town. we saw the mozart’s birthplace, the cathedral, all the little streets and squares and stood at the bottom of the hill looking up to the hohensalzburg fortress …

we had a beer and apfelstrudel on a terrace of one of the hotels right at the river and walked to the mirabelle palace and gardens after that.

by the time we got back to the hotel that night we were both pretty tired and decided to just stay in, order room service and enjoy our view ;) naturally, i slept like a baby that night.

on friday we had heard that the weather was supposed to get worse in the afternoon so we decided to take the “sound of music tour” which C had taken on his last trip a few years back and highly recommended. it was awesome. even though i haven’t seen the movie (yet!) the locations we got to see were great. we even drove into the mountains to lake wolfgang and across some beautiful scenery until we got to the final destination “mondsee” which is where a famous (wedding) scene of the movie was shot. it was a great time and i’d do it again in a heartbeat!

here’s the whole salzburg-set with a few more photos if you’re interested :) as you can see we were pretty lucky with the weather despite the forecast but sure enough, as soon as we got back to the drop-off around 6 pm it started raining. so we walked back to the hotel to relax for a while before heading out for dinner again. that evening we had dinner at a pretty cool brewery – die weisse – which was rustic but not old-fashioned and very comfortable. the beer and food were great and we just hung out there for quite a while.

after another GREAT breakfast buffet it was time to pack up, check out and leave on saturday morning. next stop, regensburg to spend the weekend with a couple we had never even met before. we’s crazy like that ;) seriously though, i’ve known tara in the online world for quite a while now and we had wanted to get together so this was the chance with regensburg only being three hours from salzburg and basically “on our way” back. tara’s husband and C hit it off right away, having not only their home country but also their love of the beer in common ;) so naturally we did a (short) brewery tour (of two places) after we got there before heading back to their place. the rest of the weekend was filled with amazing food – seriously, they spoiled us big time with taco-night, great breakfast with everything one can ask for and a wow BBQ sunday night. can you say t-bone? :)) – lots of talking (and “beer tasting” on the men’s side) and relaxing. it was perfect in every way. thanks so much again, tara & J <3

we got home around 9:30 pm monday night. tired but in a good way. plus, i had taken an extra day off and just chillaxed some more at home on tuesday. so it was allll good :)

this is one of my all time favorite photos. of one of my favorite flowers. i took it on easter sunday of last year at some friends’ house in their absolutely beautiful backyard. it just makes me happy and giddy for spring :) but that’s not the only reason i’m sharing this photo today. i’m sharing this because i would love a new camera bag in my favorite color and – believe it or not – i can win one just by sharing this photo with you. so it’s a win-win and me likey :)

beyond snapshots is having this contest and of course i’m in! red is one of my favorite colors and i would really LOVE a new camera bag. or, you know, A camera bag since i don’t have one at all. i just usually put my camera in my zing bag and then carry it around in whatever purse/bag i’m using that day. i think that should really change. plus, that bag is really pretty… just go and look for yourselves…

this is how we’ve been rollin’ here at the crazy household for the last 2.5 weeks :)

a cat’s life … from puttytat on Vimeo.

C spent 2.5 weeks back home in the midwest with his family in the beginning of december. i had to work until dec 18th and enjoyed my quiet time, had a lot of sushi, watched a lot of E.R. and just pretty much did what i felt like doing. just in time for my christmas vacation it started snowing on the 18th and has been pretty white and wintery since then (with a couple “rainy” days after christmas) – it’s beautiful and i love looking outside at the winter wonderland :) C got back on christmas eve in the morning and we had a nice christmas evening at nina & benny’s with leni and the rest of the family. it was the second best to being with our own family and we enjoyed it a lot. then there was a brunch with friends on the 26th and that’s about it.

we did like speedy does in the video most days and it has been awesome. barely any headaches or tension… i don’t feel bad at all – you know, like i didn’t take advantage and made the best of my time off or anything – and actually managed to pretty much enjoy the time. our new year’s eve was so-so because C’s grandma S. passed away on the 27th and he wasn’t really in a party mood. so we canceled our trip down south to see pia & mike and went out to dinner by ourselves and to betti & marc’s place afterwards. it was okay. i am REALLY hoping for a much better 2010 than last year!

now i gotta go back to work on monday and i’m somewhat ready. not too excited but it’ll be okay i guess. it’s time for a normal routine and decent outside world clothes again and to let 2010 come. nothing but the best to all of you for the year to come. xoxoxo