The long-awaited visit to the beach...at the "Pilone", Faro

Since Carlo and I both miss the Ocean, or a large body of salt water, in our lives we had to take a quick drive to the beach. The same beach we visited 6 months ago, only in our bathing suits instead of down coats. Nevertheless, the sunshine and blue water made up for the chilly wind. It was lovely being there.

We saw hundreds, if not thousands, of seagulls letting themselves drift with the very strong currents. In the summer I always wondered why there were no seabirds around. Obviously, this must be the time for them to gather here!! They were flying in huge swarms and landing on the water only to quickly take off again after having drifted around for a bit...

P.S. "Pilone" refers to the giant electrical tower which once connected Sicily to the mainland. There are no cables running across the straight now, but the huge red and white towers remain on both coasts.

The straight of Messina-always a sight!

One of Carlo's friends moved into an apartment with a gorgeous view of the straight of Messina. We came to check out the new place and could not believe the view!!!
The ferry, which traverses the sea over to Reggio di Calabria every 20 minutes, docks right below his balcony and you can observe the cars being "spit" out by the ferry almost like out of a giant mouth!

On the "autostrada"...

Lunch in Arcireale

Here some pics of Arcireale and our fantastic lunch right next to the water. Thank you Flora and Antonio for a great day!

First visit to Sicily this year!

Carlo and I visited Carlo's parents for a few days last weekend, with me arriving a couple days early. As usual we had a lovely time with family and friends, fantastic food, and Sicily's own wild landscape to feast the eyes on.
We had come to scout out some locations for a possible wedding reception and found Villa La Limonaia...which was truly a gorgeous setting. Mt. Etna behind and the sea out front... we are trying to decide how we would like to celebrate the day, yet have not been able to reach a decision. After touring the grounds of the villa we drove to the nearby town called "Arcireale" where we decended all the way to the beach, where we had an amazing seafood, fish, shrimp lunch. Delicious! Thank you Flora and Antonio!

SNOW!!!???

Very unexpectedly, we received the biggest snow we've had all winter on the day I was leaving for Sicily. My newly planted flowers suffered a bit, yet they all made it through.. It was a cool, crisp morning which we had waited for all winter!

Spring has sprung!

It is only the last week of February-but due to a pretty mild winter with very little snow in the city - spring has come much earlier than expected. The shrubs and brushes are pushing out their green buds and the tulips and crocuses are poking up everywhere! It's fun to see where they choose to stick their heads out!

The weather has been superb so far! This past Sunday we experienced 18 degrees celcius which is about 65 degrees farenheit!
Carlo and I dug the bikes up from the basement, got the tires pumped up and set off for the next beergarden. :-) There is a really nice park close to where we live, which houses a large group of ornamental deer. The benches and tables are located right next to the fence and you can watch the animals walk right by you.
As in any typical beergarden you are asked to buy the drinks at the "bar" (it's more like a beer booth) but, on the other hand, you are encouraged to bring a sacked lunch or dinner. (Which equals out the high beer prices) Of course there are kiosks with lots of food - enticing you with smells of french fries, bratwurst, spare-ribs and smoked fish on a stick! Yes, even in Munich you can buy things on a stick. If you've ever been to a state-fair...the feeling is somewhat similar. :-)

We had a great time, yet no camera was present. Therefore just a few pics of my latest planting ambitions on our balcony.
Happy spring y'all!

Sailing at the Ammersee...

The other weekend, it must be two weeks ago now, Carlo and I had this overwhelming urge to leave the city and see something new... Off we drove and decided to check out the nearby Ammersee (1hr drive from Munich). According to our internet research, you can rent sailboats of all sizes and we wanted to check it out. Of course, since it was still winter, we didn't find a single sailboat in the water (moreso on land) yet at least we know where to go once the nice weather sets in. (We CANNOT wait!)

P.S. Munich is located in the upper right corner of the map. (E1)

Accident kills Orang-Utang at the Zoo!

And a message on a less happy note:
Sadly, only a few days after our visit a tragic accident killed the youngest member of the Orang-Utang group at the Zoo. I believe it was the tiny little baby we all saw last year when Björg, Abdul and Isaac visited us in Munich. The little Orang-Utang girl got her head stuck in the steel netting at the top of the enclosure. Once panicked and crying for help, the other monkeys came to her aid. The large male pulled on her little body so hard that she broke her neck and later died. This apparently happened in front of 35 terrified onlookers, who immediately alerted the Zoo keepers. They tried to deter the male from pulling on her with a heavy stream of water, then they had to dart him with a tranquilizer in order to safely enter the enclosure.
A tragic and sad accident, especially since we had seen the same little Orang-Utang when it was still a tiny infant cradled in its mothers arms. :-(

"donkey-business"

For our avid blog readers, Björg and Isaac: here some more pictures from the Zoo.
The donkeys were sooo cute, with a thick fur coat!