Thank you!

Wow, it's been a while since I've updated our blog...so now it's due time for some thanks for all your birthday wishes and congratulations! Since June 10th fell on a Tuesday this year, and I was coming down with a cold, my 31st passed without big fanfare. Carlo and I ordered take-out from our favorite Thaifood restaurant and ended up watching the Euro 2008 soccer tournament at home. Yes, not a big bash by all means-but a worthy make-up party is in the works for sometime in August. The weather by the way was gorgeous that day! A rare glimpse of summer during many days of "June gloom". (Munich-style that is, which means rain and temps in the 50's!)

Here some of the great cards I received this year! Thanks guys!

Zarautz-Spain "Basque Country"

Bilbao, Spain-rainy afternoon

It was raining continuously - what better excuse for a couple hours of shopping! :-)

Weekend in Bilbao, Spain

Just returned from a fabulously fun weekend in Bilbao, Spain. Mostly known for its spectacular Guggenheim Museum, the city is well worth a trip! It was a girl-trip with five of us enjoying the spanish lifestyle with tapas, late dinners, and lots of laughter.The weather was anything but cooperative - but despite almost constant rain, we managed to have a really fun time.

On Saturday we drove up to a small surfer-town called "Zarautz", where we spent our Saturday night. The Atlantic coast was beautiful! Steep, green cliffs, yellow sand, and green-blue ocean!

The Basque region of Spain is a beautfiul destination which should be on everyones agenda!

Sailing at the Ammersee-for real this time!

On Sunday, Carlo and I rented a sailboat at the nearby (30km away) Ammersee, which we had visited waaay back in March. We were surprised how easy it was to reserve a boat and get on the water. We didn't need a license or any other documentation. The lake at 10AM was covered by a thin layer of fog, through which the snow-covered Alps were peeking at the end of the lake.(If you look closely, you can see them in the last picture!) We were only able to reserve the boat for three hours, but it was a fantastic morning - time well spent - and worth the early rising.

Sunset from high above - Salzburg

It was a beautiful afternoon and we managed, thanks to Carlo's intuition about the location of the cable car ticket office, to see the sunset from the castle high above the city. :-)

Mirabellengarten-Salzburg

Can it get more beautiful???

Mini Tour of Salzburg

Carlo and I left Munich around 4:30PM and reached Salzburg close to 6:00PM. Since the historic center of the city is so small and contained we were able to walk and explore the sights pretty easily...

It seemed like something out of a picture book.

Funny thing was that the first house we took pictures in front of turned out to be Mozart's birthplace. Carlo told me, "stand in front of that house and I'll take your picture"...not until later we discovered the insignia on the wall.

The nicest part was our visit to the Mirabellengardens, where hundreds of tulips were in full bloom.

Chiemsee and Salzburg on the fly!

This past Saturday, Carlo and I wanted to take advantage of the nice weather and decided very spontaneously to drive to 133km near city of Salzburg, Austria.

We allowed for a quick stop at the Chiemsee to marvel at the Kite Surfers and daring wind surfers there.