My Life As I Know It

The Slight Edge

It is a rainy, cool summer day in the northwoods of Wisconsin. Reflecting back on the past few months, I have turned a corner. For a considerable amount of time, I have felt as if I were not getting traction in life. My relationships were not as strong as I wanted and I felt I was not clear on my direction. 

My daughter gifted me a life-changing system for making goals active. The process helped me find the direction I was missing by not only focusing on what was important but bringing those items into my daily life. In developing my direction, I read a book named The Slight Edge. Perhaps it was the timing or the message but, whatever the ignition switch was, it led me to develop a daily, disciplined routine that helped me take small, positive steps toward my goals every day. The outcome has been positive in the way I feel and, long term, I expect the process to make a dramatic difference in my life.

 

 

 

 

 

Today, I feel better and focus on being a better person and working on my relationships. One year ago I would say there were five people important to me in my life. Today, through focused effort and gracious help from multiple people, my circle has expanded threefold. This morning I felt reflective and, as timing would have it, a message came in from a good friend with a picture of him and his family in Prague. In a few quick messages we initiated a plan to see each other in 2025 somewhere in the world. I am blessed to have met and continue to stay in touch with this man.

My most important relationship with my wife continues to be strong, loving, and have a powerful impact on my daily life. We read The Slight Edge together and have since discussed it and the impact multiple times. Without her support, I would not be getting the traction I am today.

Even more powerful was spending a day with my daughter and her beautiful family. While we have stayed in contact since my divorce, we were not where I wanted our relationship to be. First off, my daughter is a beautiful person who I have always felt connected to on a higher thinking level. She gets it. It is that simple. She is one of few people in the world where we can easily slip in and out of various subjects ranging from life, travel, business, and people. It is so gratifying to watch her raise two gifted children, manage her marriage, buy a home, and find a career that fits the talent she has. Very few things hit me as deeply as being connected to her. Getting to know her children has truly been a gift.

Over the past few months I have witnessed my Father's decline. At the age of 97, it is expected but seeing the deterioration of his mind is heart-breaking. Every day with him is a gift and our connection is very deep. He means so much to me. I have continued a great connection with my youngest son. He and I have always been good and he stood by me through the entire divorce process. I commend him and his loyalty. We worked together last weekend on a project at his house and it felt so good. He handled it well and was totally engaged. I gifted him a copy of The Slight Edge but the power of a book like this is how it lands with someone. It is a tool that left unused is meaningless. However, at the right time with the correct person, the mind can be a fertile field and the seed of a thought can blossom. Just as a wildflower will wait through years of the environment not being right for its growth before it flowers. Hopefully this book and its plan will hit fertile ground with him. He is one of the most talented people I know. He just needs direction.

Today, so many pieces of life's puzzle seem to be in place. Yet the plan continues to unfold. I am anxious to see how it plays out.

Feeling Good About Life

My mind is peaceful today. I am in a good place with a number of important people, there is nothing outstanding that is pressing me. I completed painting in Bear Trail last week in five days and 30 hours. The time alone was good but never easy. I got done what needed to be done and the place looks great. Contractors left - off the payroll after 9 months. Our plans are to leave for Colombia next week for a month to avoid the last of winter and enjoy the cultural differences.

I have a number of items I want to move forward - boring stuff like taxes and my Dad's rental properties and taxes. The tasks are not difficult but required me to focus and the typical gymnastics that go with those hurdles. I will focus this week and move things significantly toward completion. Other things include needed changes to focusing on my 2024 priorities - working on relationships and developing patience - RESPONSE. My word for the year and working on my ability to control the way I respond to daily life.

My wife and I are doing well - laughing, working together and on the same page. We are walking, pilates, talking through things. She has the weight of her Mother, her daughter's continued mistakes, her relationship with her son that is far more shallow than she wants. She has been in contact with her ex - supported my me - and it makes is easier for her family as she knew it before me. I understand it is strange but something we want to let go organically and see where it goes. If it threatens our relationship/marriage, it ends. I trust we can handle it.

I love my life. There are many things that are less than perfect but I recognize them and continue to get better. Day by day. I am excited about our daily living and our plans for 2024. Cheers.

The Northwoods - A New World

In late 2020, we struggled to find answers to a pandemic world where it seemed everything was turned upside down. Our travel was limited, we could not see people in large groups, and the primary focus was staying healthy in the middle of horror stories and people's lives being destroyed by covid. I began looking for a cabin in the woods. In the beginning, the idea was far fetched to say the least - buried in nature, a lake, isolation void of people but full of nature and counting on yourself to be strong enough to survive. Don't be mistaken - I would still have my coffee maker and access to my sports watching. 

I wanted to disconnect from stupidity knowing full well, I could never escape it. However, I deeply wanted a different life than streets full of speeding cars and people you did not trust and that didn't really care about you unless you were in their way.

I began living on zillow - looking at areas, best places, and best deals on a woods, a lake, and some level of seclusion. When my wife asked me what and why I was searching, I replied it was nothing but interesting. I slowly started sharing great looking properties with her and her level of interest and questions slowly increased. On April 15, 2021 we bought 2 acres of lakefront on Petenwell Lake - the second largest inland lake in Wisconsin. It was wooded and a great location - less than 3 hours from our home and it looked and felt different. We began meeting with builders and became serious about design and priorities. Our first bid came in double what we budgeted. After 60 days of weekly price increased, cutting our house plans to shreds,  and inability to get building materials, we began a new search for an existing house. 

I was back on the search path and this time Debby joined me. We searched high and low with the priorities being a great lake view, a lake of 0ver 200 acres, a wooded lot, a 3 season room, a garage, a minimum of 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. The real estate market was nuts - housing selling in 24 hours for 20% over list with buyers 5 deep.

We found a real estate agent in the far northern piece of Wisconsin and she did a remarkable job of finding great properties - she knew the area and was an avid fisherman so she knew every lake. We put a great deal of trust in her and began making five hour drives to walk through houses on very short notice. Our first two offers were unsuccessful - one out bid by $120,000 and another lost at the last hour after a verbal acceptance. We were beginning to rethink the hows and whys of the dream.

We put the idea of buying a northwoods home on the back burner. We focused on our trip to Germany. In Germany, we would look at new properties that came on the market in Wisconsin but we were not serious until one night in Muggendorf, Debby saw a property that we nixed before had dropped its price by $50k. We asked our relator to look at it and she said it was worth bidding on. We put together the paperwork and an escalator and ended up buying the property, sight unseen, for $15k over asking in a bid war. It was ours. Now we had to see it...

Moving into 2024

It just feels different. Perhaps it is the time of year and turning the calendar to 2024. Maybe it the depth of my thoughts or the process of aging. While I am in a good place mentally, there is still much to consider. This past year I have made measurable progress in the areas of relationships, travel and having fun, increase my time reading, and most importantly I have stood in the moment more than any other year of my life.

I have taken in my Dad's smile on his 96th birthday as the grand children visited. I have had deep talks with my Dad on our memories and the strength of our relationship. He said straight out to me whether I learned more from him or he learned more from me in our life together. I thanked God many times for the time and days I had with my Father. I watched him struggle. I heard him condemn living this long. I listened to his desire to be with my Mom, his Mom, my brother, and his brother. I helped him get dressed and felt the difficulty of simple acts - getting up out of a chair, putting his pants on, pulling on a shirt while he was in a wheel chair, and his lack of clarity in many situations. Looking in his blue eyes I still saw life and the desire to not give up.

I stood numerous times this year at the end of my dock in Northern Wisconsin and took in the beauty of God and the fresh air. I watch day break more times than I can remember from the point. I was amazed when otters swam within inches of me their air bubbles marking the progress of their underwater hunt. I stood at the end of that dock and took in the changes we made in landscaping and a new addition finally materializing in front of my eyes. I stood in awe. I stood in reverence. I expressed gratitude for being in that place at that moment.

 

 

 

 

 

I had so many times during our trip to Italy to absorb the place, the sounds, the beauty, and the smells. The moments shook me to the core. Italy in a place to take in the entire experience and recognize and appreciate the differences. Our time there was nothing short of amazing. I want to adopt more of that lifestyle - the appreciation of fresh, high quality food. The perfect mix of time, temperature, and quality product that comes together and taste so amazingly different. Their simplicity of life - the focus on quality versus speed.

I look over the past year and my life's path in amazement, wonder, and a feeling of both satisfaction, the desire to improve, and my want to experience more envelops me. I have never been good at slowing down but each day brings more times I pull off the accelerator, set the cruise control at the speed limit to arrive a little later but happier.

 

Hanging On

Something that has shaken me to the bone has been witnessing the continuing decline of my Father. Granted, he is three weeks from being 97 years old but, the idea of losing a Father, the last living parent, the end of a generation of eight children, is hard to swallow. I feel so blessed to have him as my Father, my role model, my mentor all wrapped in one man. Honest, fair, consistent, soft spoken, and principle-based. He is irreplaceable. 

My Dad was a white collar senior manager for a large food processing plant in the Midwest. He left the house every day of the week at 5:15 am. He came home for lunch at noon - ate lunch, said a rosary, and returned to work at the large plant. He came home around 6 pm, drank two beers before dinner. He did this for 47 years. He never missed a day sick, a snow day or other excuse. Everyone counted on him and he rose to the level of being the number one operations manager in a plants with over 3,000 union employees. He was tough, direct, fair, and had a temper. We knew not to cross him yet we knew he would always be on our side. He was a man among men in an age that will never be duplicated.

On Thursday, I saw him at his new assisted living home. The new house has 39 residents. My Dad is in the top 3 considering mental capacity and having his mind together. The place he left was well over 100 residents and he was one of the bottom 5. It was a trip from a luxury hotel to a nice large home - new, big, lots of staff but many "zombies" walking around. It was and continues to be difficult for me to get my mind around. On Friday I came into his room and he was asleep, half undressed, and I thought he was dead. His first words were how could my kids take everything I own and put me in a place like this. He was so negative for the first half hour and then he turned the corner and talked about memories. It was hard to listen to him. It was hard to refute. It is losing your Father one step at a time and it doesn't feel good.

My cousin, my wife, and I walked away at noon Friday leaving my Dad at the lunch table. He was by himself by his choice. I see in his eyes the thoughts and the desire not to continue. He wants to be reunited with my Mother, his brother, his Mother and my brother. Our role is to keep him safe and enjoy as many days/hours as he has left. I can't imagine losing him...

I invested the time yesterday to look through pictures from 2023. It caught me how many experiences were captured in less than a year. Seeing pictures of my Dad celebrating his 96th birthday. His smile, his reactions to grandkids and family. Now, just over 10 months have passed, and he has deteriorated a great deal. He requires much more help and he is "tuned in" less frequently. He is ready and done and has been for a while. I am so damn lucky to have him as a Father, a role model, a hero for so long. Our relationship has been through the normal roller coaster of emotions and I regret how many times I disappointed or hurt him. However, he has always had a special place for me in his heart. I see it when I walk through the door. Others recognize it as well. I can't imagine him not being on this earth and a part of my life but he is gradually slipping away.

We spent a month in Colombia in February, a month in Italy on a remarkable trip in May, I was on the Northwoods July through October with renovation of our WI home, back to Colombia with my son and his wife in November, and here I sit in the library this early morning in Illinois. It has been a whirlwind of a year. So much time with friends and family - time with my favorite cousin from Omaha, time with our northwoods friends snowshoeing and traveling Lake Superior, exploring Italy with my brother, and Medellin with my son. Tons of memories - great experiences and it makes me wonder why am I so blessed. Why do I deserve this?

Today, the year begins to close out. It seems like the year has quickly passed through my hands. I see and feel things slipping away - my Dad, losing my aunt, losing people from our community up north, and see myself age. I am more peaceful than I have been for a long time yet there is a sense of urgency to experience more because of my age and the lack of time left. It has been nothing short of a remarkable journey. I am excited to see what is next.

Medellin 2023

I am in the last week of a three week trip to Medellin. This city continues to draw me in and has a certain level of a hold on me. The people here make so much of a difference. Where ever we go, people see a need, they do not hesitate to help.  My son, his wife, and Debby were on a street in a poverty stricken neighborhood on the north side of Medellin. We were unsure where to get on the bus to get to the metro. A lady selling street food noticed we were confused and called us over to explain where to meet our bus. Unnecessary for her; needed by us. She helped in an unmeasurable way. It is one of so many times people have gone out of their way to help.

Changes are also evident. In my first five years here, I had never heard sirens. Now they are far more common. The biggest danger here is getting hot as a pedestrian - between motorcycles, taxies, buses, and older ladies - the corners have many dangers. Street lights, stop signs, and general traffic control are often just suggestions. You often feel like you are in the middle of a game of frogger here. We also have seen a steady increase in prices. For the first time, I spent $175 USD for a great dinner for the four of us. It included two great imported steaks and 4 wonderful drinks but it represents the highest I have paid for a meal.

Zach and his wife Sarah visited us here for the first time. It was a great experience for all of us. Their six days had many memories but Zach walking into our condo and seeing tears in his eyes when he saw the view was remarkable for me. They were surprised by many things - the variety of food options, the markets, the people, the temperatures, the malls, and the metro cable system. They left with a great feeling for Colombia and Medellin.

Working Toward Measurable Change

Trying to change by developing new habits is not easy for me yet the need to improve enters my thoughts often.  The desire to change is typically internally driven yet I hear feedback that confirms my areas of weakness. When I reflect on who I am today and do a self assessment, I recognize many changes on the past five years. The most dramatic is going through a divorce that changed my path forever. Add in retiring, moving out of state, and remarrying to the mix, and major change was inevitable.

Today, I believe that I have slowed down. I am less in a hurry and have become more aware of being present in situations. I sold my race car and bought a pick-up. I bought a new home in the north woods that is isolated and takes me to a new world. It takes me closer to nature and keeps me in awe of the world around me through peace and quiet. While taking walks on the empty roads of our development, I stop to listen multiple times and hear nothing. Occasionally a nuthatch or a crow but more often than not, silence. It is an amazing feeling.

More introspection highlights was needs to be changed. I don't have a spiritual connection that I believe is best for me. Recently, within the past couple of years, we have grown much closer to my brother and his wife. They have always been more religious than I have but I push back against anyone telling me what I should do. I observed from afar and think about what feels right for me. 

My 16 years of Catholic education have pointed me in certain directions but being a "cafeteria" Catholic, I have not been great in this area. I watched my Dad, who was a Lutheran until he was 50, pray the rosary every lunch hour and profess the power of the rosary. I have tried his path many times but have yet to consistently make it a part of my habits. I am currently reading a book titled I Heard God Laugh and it teaches how to pray. There is danger in this approach due to me being prone to get on something after I read about it and it becomes the hot ticket of the week or month. Time will tell if I can use this as a springboard to change this aspect of my life.

Back in Medellin

We had 10 great days in Santa Marta before returning to Medellin. There are remarkable differences between the two cities which are a short hour flight apart. Santa Marat has much history, the Caribbean, coastal weather cooled somewhat by mountain air, and a completely different people/culture. Santa Marta is around 500,000 people where Medellin is over 3 million. Santa Marat has many areas still developing and often is not as clean and proper. However, we noticed positive changes over the past two years.

Our condo is on a smaller beach that is not packed with people or people selling their wares. When we bought it in 2018, we said in five years things are going to change dramatically. The build-up has begun and new building are being built next to us and a shopping center and twin towers behind us. It mill move out some of the very old shacks, the roosters, and bring some peace to the area. While the beach is not as nice as Colorado Beach, it is quieter and that is what we prefer.

This was a great trip thanks to our friends Andy and Ana. They helped us fix a number of issues including installing a new American style toilet. More importantly, they introduced us to other residence who will develop into friends. We hosted them for Thanksgiving and hiked with them to Inca Inca early Saturday morning. Our condo looks great and has a remarkable view and position facing the sea. We are very blessed by our friends both old and new.

Thanksgiving 2021

Clearly it is a different Thanksgiving today than last year and, possibly, many years. The pandemic has impacted many things. Personally, this was a day for a large family celebration at my house that became a tradition for nearly two decades. The largest gathering was over fifty people. Since my divorce in 2016, most everything has changed. The first Thanksgiving, my son and his girlfriend (at that time), drove four hours to celebrate with us. That act of giving is one of the things I am most thankful for today. Our Thanksgiving evolved and got to a maximum of 16 family members before last year being shutdown completely.

Today, we are in Santa Marta Colombia and teaming with a couple we are closest to here. He is American and she is Colombian and we decided to have an American feast. Today we will have eight people - three Americans and five Colombians. For most of the Colombians, it will be a first. On the menu, split between Andy and I, is 15 pound turkey, stuffing, 5 pounds mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, apple pie, and wine. I am looking forward to sharing, cooking, laughing, and being thankful for all we have.

Thinking about this day, I come back to my deceased Mother. She always involved me in the preparations - grinding cranberries, buttering the rolls, setting the table and other small tasks that kept me engaged and busy. My Mother meant the world to me. We sit here today and different group - the vast majority of my family has moved on without much of a thought about me. I am sure it feels like I rejected them when in my heart it feels they have left me. I left my ex-wife, not my kids but it seems they feel they have to choose between the two of us.

I am blessed to have a loving, caring wife, a father who is active and very much alive at 95, a supporting brother and his family, a cousin who has been a friend all my life, and my wife's side which I consider family now. It is different and feels bad when I think through it but it was a choice I made and knew I would live with the consequences.

I am thankful for my family and all the great years. I complained about the work it took to host 50 people and today I miss it deeply. But it is my responsibility to create what I want. To make new friends, support my family, and nurture the relationships I have while building back the ones I have lost. I am blessed in so many ways. I am very thankful.

Different Venue

I am sitting outside on the balcony listening to the Caribbean waves crash and the sun light up Playa El Rodadero. We traveled from Medellin without problems - short drive to the airport, short flight, and friends picking us up. Andy and Ana have been friends for four years helping us in so many ways - fixing our apartment, supervising projects, translating, showing us the way here in northern Colombia. They are very giving people almost to the point of making it impossible to pay back the debt. Ana spent two days cleaning the apartment with her contact to prepare for our arrival. I could not think how any condo would take two days to clean but the wind/air here is remarkable in leaving everything dirty. They literally took pounds of dirty away from the 20 months that we were gone.

The feel here in Santa Marta is so much different. Clearly the caribbean weather but also the people, the rhythm, the feel is a different pace from Medellin. We are making up for being gone two years  and so many improvements have been done on the condo since we were gone. The building around us continues at a slow but constant pace and much more is schedule including a huge mall and grocery store within walking distance. The locals are reporting condo values up 35% from four years ago when we purchased. Sitting here watching the sea change with the morning sunlight, I understand why.

 

 

It has been way too long...

We finally made it back to Colombia after being away for nearly two years. It is strange to walk into your own house and rediscover clothes, dishes, and decorations. It wasn't all good as the internet was down, the debit card I needed did not arrive and the condo showed damage from roof leaks. However, this city is still remarkable. It draws me in - the large city in the mountain jungle, the latin way of living, and the people. It feels and looks different.

Today we will recover from travel, walk to the market, and have breakfast at a favorite place. We will relax, enjoy the mild weather and the new surroundings. This trip is a reconnect with Colombia and people vacation so not hard and fast plans other than to enjoy.

Since rereading Chasing Daylight, I have sought out "perfect moments". Time frames where everything seems to line up and a feeling of peace is within your heart. This morning at day break, I stood with my coffee and witnessed the break of daylight in the north woods. I listened closely hearing on the sounds a nature - a distant bird calling and a small squirrel looking for food at the tree tops. The beautiful light reflected in the lake and a spectrum of color spread out before my eyes. I revealed in the perfect moment.

It is early Saturday morning as the sun breaks in northern Wisconsin. We have worked for the past three days on the process of fixing, replacing, and updating the Baer Trail home. The changes we have made already seems to transform the house into a home. We are personalizing the look and feel while trying to make things rustic. It is something neither of us have done.

We have met and talked with so many people up here. They are much more willing to talk, give advice and tell stories than strangers do in Illinois. Everything seems to flow at a different pace. People drive a little slower, conversations are slightly longer, smiles are more frequent. Standing on the deck watching morning break, the peacefulness is striking. You hear the calls of swans and pileated woodpeckers. The daily visits from the deer in the front yard who don't move when you go out to get a tool from the garage demonstrates how little fear and rather curiosity there is from the animals.

Starting a New Challenge

I sit alone this morning in the tool filled, messy kitchen of my newest project. Two weeks ago, we closed on a home in the north woods of Wisconsin. It has been a dream of mine for a long time to own a property that was somewhat isolated and provided an opportunity to live in nature while still having modern conveniences. It was not an easy task to pare down what we really wanted, where it should be located, finding the right feel, having the right "bones", and making a purchase of the property in a crazy market. Each property had multiple offers with automatic escalating clause.  One property we  walked through and turned away was 50 years old with an unworkable floor plan sold for $475 and went back on the market two weeks later without any changes at $640.

Once I left the home I built in rural Iowa, I began the need for a place that I could work outside and would provide a window into nature from my front window. (Just now, I looked out and it is snowing, the moon lighting up the yard and there are three deer laying down 20 feet from the house.) We wanted lake front because water draws all animals and I did not want close neighbors or noisy roads. For nearly a year we looked - in the beginning it was me but then my wife bought in and is now a driving factor to this place.

In March 2021, after 6 months of looking, we purchased 2 acres of waterfront on Petenwell Lake in central Wisconsin. It was beautiful, close to our primary home, easy to get to and the second largest inland lake in Wisconsin. We were stopped dead when our building costs were double what we expected so I began to research existing homes. We found a great realtor who acted as our eyes and ears in the north woods - her husband was a fishing guide and she knew all the lakes by the quality of the lake.

We made 5 trips, put in three offers and finally out bid the competition for this place. While it isn't old (17 years) it was not well maintained and the single owner who built the house fixed things with 3" wood screws and duct tape - literally. Now I am here for five days, alone, beginning the process of fixing, replacing, and making it ours. New appliances, new flooring, new light fixtures, everything. The house was custom built by a great local builder - 8" walls, 9 foot ceilings but updating  is a pain staking process.

In retrospect, this is something I need - a major project to develop, work through hurdles, and make into a great home, vacation, get away.

The Black Forest of Germany

For the first time on day 26 of this German trip, we found ourselves in a basement Airbnb. It is large with five windows giving a "garden view" of the outside but on the bottom floor of a three story apartment in Vorstetten. The hosts are a couple who are retired and live in the upstairs apartment. It has a large kitchen, walk-in shower but the living room, kitchen, and bedroom are one large area. It will work fine as long as the internet and bed/sheets/pillows all behave.

This is a relatively small town - 3,000 people - yet has a few restaurants, a butcher, a bakery, and a grocery store. Walking the streets of the half-timber houses surprises me with the size, quality, age, and close proximity to each other. The amount of flowers and care they give to their properties and how they pack everything into a small space is surprising.

We ate at a very good restaurant last night - one of the higher priced meals at 65 euros. As typical on this trip - 2 beers, a drink, 2 dinners and tip is running 40-60 euros whether it is lunch or dinner which is higher than I expected. However, we eat well and many times take leftovers home for another meal. We grocery shop so we eat breakfasts and have our coffee in the apartment before leaving for the day. The quality of food and taste have been excellent. Pork knuckle, wiener schnitzel, rump steak, wurst platters are great. We also have eaten at a number of excellent Italian restaurants. 

Our trip from Fussen, we stopped for a few hours in Lindau and enjoyed the walk to Lake Constance and lunch lakeside before we walked the old city and drove to Vorstetten. The drives remain less than settling but once we get in a rhythm of GPS, calling out distances, and speed limits, it has gone well. Tomorrow we will explore the Black Forest including Schitach, Lake Titisee, Baiersbonn, and Triberg.

Fussen

I am sitting down for drink after a day in Garmisch and visiting Zusprite. I am pinching myself by the rapid fire experiences we have continue to have here. The sights, sounds, smells, and tastes are amazing me. We left Fussen early to drive through the pre-Alps to get to the highest point in Germany. The gondola ride up was 10 minutes and the day was perfect - we could see four countries and many peaks including Mont Blanc. At the top it was 30 F and sunny and we had no issue with the temperature but more for the shear height and the feeling it gives you. It was strange walking around the huge platform and feeling uneasy about falling.

The Airbnb we have here is a short walk to the High Castle in Fussen. Although we are walking over 7 miles a day, it has been relatively easy and helps me sleep well at night if it wasn't for the damn German pillows! The walks here are all on the miles and miles of bike/pedestrian paths that are everywhere. I swear bikes have a higher priority here than cars or pedestrians. You have a greater chance of getting hit by a bike than a car walking.

The place we are staying is newly renovated, comfortable, and clean. The view of the high castle is breath-taking. The city is busy with so many people which surprises me for this time of year. We are however, seeing few kids as they are back in school. We walked the streets of the walled city and there are many options for shopping and eating. Last night we went to an excellent Italian restaurant and loved the truffle ravioli. 

Driving here is pretty crazy. In the north of Germany, the autobahn has unheard of speed but here more often you are in stop and go traffic, construction or following people on 2 lane running far below the speed limits. The changes in speed limits is so fast and so often that you have to constantly be on guard. It is difficult to completely relax due to all of the different things to watch.

Today we walked to the Neuschwanstein castle from our apartment. It was 7 miles round trip but even with the elevation changes, easier than expected. My legs felt the climb up but nothing more than I could handle. The views were fantastic and we walked early missing a large part of the crowds.

 

 

Salzburg

Today I woke up in a large flat on the outskirts of the old town of Salzburg. It is cool at 48 F and the windows are tilted open allowing cool air to flow through the spacious apartment. We are only here for two nights but feel comfortable that we walked much of the town yesterday. We went first to a fort overlooking the city before walking the streets while churches rang out their call to gather.

We are on our 20th day of this long awaited trip. It seems like we have been here even longer. I struggle to remember all the details of the various towns and sights we have seen. We have had had a great trip - so many perfect moments.

 

 

 

Yesterday, we found a terrace in a brewery halfway down the mountain that over looked the old town. It was 68 degrees under the shade of large maple trees while we enjoyed a beer, and shared cheese beer soup with the side of a fresh pretzel. For our main course we shared an over-sized veal schnitzel and boiled potatoes. The air was fresh, the chorus of bells from a dozen churches, the beers was good and we soaked up another perfect moment.

We walked over seven miles taking in gardens, ancient sculptures in multiple town squares, and dodged many shoppers in the narrow, cobblestone streets. It was a beautiful Sunday and we watched many people taking advantage of the cloudless afternoon. For dinner we walked to a neighborhood Italian restaurant that was great. We shared a bruchetta  and then a creamy tomato sauce over farfalle pasta, shrimp, and mushrooms. The glass of house merlot made it a great meal.

We left the restaurant and decided to do one last walk through old town. Since the shops were shutdown, pedestrian traffic was far less and the walk in the golden hour was relaxed. It was a great way to cap the evening.

Today we move back to Germany and the a small town of Fussen. We have five days there on the water hopefully a short walk from the town. I enjoy the days we park the car and walk as we did here, Berlin, and Munich. Driving here seems like there is so much is going on - heavy traffic,  bikes paths alongside most roads and then add in pedestrians, scooters and a multitude of confusing signs. To add to the mix, we are driving a diesel 6-speed SUV and I am missing gears. It is fun driving the autobahn but the big cites are crazy.

Berlin to Wiesenttal

Ten days into our Germany trip, we have experienced a number of "perfect moments" - when everything just seems to line up the right way. We left Berlin before 9 am headed to Dresden. We walked around Dresden before finding the "altstadt" or old town. It began to rain and we made a fast and good decision to duck into a bar and have something to eat. It began to pour and we luckily beat the crowds sitting outside under a canopy and a heater - it was 60 F. We stayed and ate a good lunch and followed with cappuccino apple strudel, and ice cream. We stayed 90 minutes while the rain slowed leaving very full and heading toward our next airbnnb.

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived in Muggendorf around 6 pm which was an hour later than expected due to traffic delays. Our host met us in the driveway and immediately talked about history of the town and people and showed us the apartment. It was a fun place on a hill over looking the small town.

We walked to a cafe and sat down with a beer and ordered dinner. The place was perfect and ordered schnitzel and oven baked pork shoulder - it was so good and we chatted with a Dad and his two sons about Germany. It was a perfect moment in the perfect place and felt great. We brought more than half the food home due to the size of the meal.

 

Berlin Final Night

It is our fifth and final day in Berlin as we head further south. We wore our shoes here walking an average of 9+ miles a day. We stayed in a great area where there were numerous options to eat within 15 minutes of the apartment. Luckily we were able to park off the street and have not been in the car since the day we arrived. 

Berlin is big, spread out city and a mix of so many different nationalities. We had no issues getting places, negotiating traffic, or finding good places for a drink or food. We are mixing traditional German food - currywurst, Berliner - with Italian, Mexican, and sushi. Anything you want is here. 

The sights are dramatic, the people are good but far less friendly than the Northern part of Germany. They don't look you in the eye going down the streets. The old building and architecture is everywhere. I was taken back by the lack of maintenance in the parks and green spaces. However, I would not consider it a dirty city at all. 

We spent one day on a paid adventure walking with 25 dogs in a huge park. It was something different and fun.  The owner, Alex, was easy going and a dog trainer so it made for both a fun and informative trip. We visited the major sights, relaxed today due to rain and plan to head to Dresden tomorrow morning before landing in Wiesenttal which is between Bamberg and Nuremberg. It wall begin the central/south portion of our trip.