Florence - weekend escape

Finally in Florence - capital of art and architecture. Admittedly, architecture-wise, a stroll through town ressembles an open-air museum.
From the Piazza Michelangelo one gets a nice view on the hills of Tuscany and a beautiful view on the city, especially at sunset. Under the burning summer heat, this is also a nice escape from the city with some fresh air. Florence radiates some majestic ambiance with all the monuments and sculptures by the most famous of all Italian artists. The monuments were also radiating an immense summer heat these days which made an occasional Aperol Sprizz very necessary :-)
However, apart from the touristic buzz, Florence has a lot more to offer - random little antique markets, lots of bookstalls (if only i knew italian), little cafés where everyone gets his or her espresso in the morning and farmers markets with the best cheese.
I´ve learned never to order a cappuccino after 11 a.m., apparently coffee with milk is considered a breakfast and may only be consumed before lunch time, therefore, to avoid displaying the the touristy ignorance, rather order an espresso during the day :-)

Where a spirit of wisdom strikes you with every step you take...

Upon our arrival we felt the cloud of knowledge and wisdom surrounding us...knowledge written down in thousands of books evaporated from the thick college wallls, wisdom of famous graduates floated in the air when walking down the aisles of a college court and in the beautiful gardens one could easily imagine a young philosopher sitting on a bench, pondering about Kant´s ethics.
Oxford had its charm on me...a prestigious and privileged place yet so authentic that one is tempted to grab a book, find a chair in the old libraries and immerge oneselft into a philosophical or mathematical problem, soaking up the energy of the place...
Have a look!

In blossom

With the wonderfully warm and sunny days of the last week, spring has arrived and is enchanting us with  almond and cherry trees presenting  their blossom dress in light rosé...so beautiful!
Everyone was out and about today, enjoying a walk in the sun, a drink with friends in one of the street cafés or just a good book with the sun shining on one´s face...weekend feeling!

Finally...weekend time...with sunshine

after two very stressful weeks packed with work, uni and exams, there is finally a weekend of sunshine and some time to go for a walk and let the soul wander...we fought against the icy temperatures with at least three layers of clothing and went up to the castle. although it is just a ten minutes walk up the hill, i go there far too rarely...a habit in need to change...its always somehow magical to look down on the beautiful old town. afterwards, we went for some much needed hot chocolate at wohnküche, a small coffee and tea place owned by a very nice guy who knows the world about tea...he has 140 different teas on the menu and knows a story for every single one of them!

A Saturday stroll through town....

Weekends havent been blessed with sun lately....sun is rather shining during the week when only beams of sunlight make their way up to my workbench at the lab since shutters are "protecting" us from natural sunlight...but such is life...im still waiting for a weekend of sun and crisp winter air (we didnt have much of a winter so far, no snow, no cold, no sun, just clouds and rain)....
So, on a rare saturday when it didnt rain and wasnt too grey to leave the comfy house, we went  out for a stroll around town...and passed by all the nice bookstores....Heidelberg at its best!


.........more book posts to come...waiting for better light in the apartment :-)

My personal bookshelf porn...

In line with Anthony Dever´s blog "Bookshelf Porn", I thought I´d set up my own one with pictures from our bookshelf in the living room...I admit, compared to the bookshelves shown in "bookshelf porn", there is still some potential for expansion :-)
However, on a student´s budget, its not that bad...take a look and judge yourself!
And make sure you stop by http://bookshelfporn.com, for all book lovers, its a MUST!

2011 - a year of traveling...

...hopefully to be continued in 2012!
While I was having breakfast this morning, I was zapping through some blogs and found a lot of "My 2011 in pics"-posts...so I wondered how my 2011 in pictures would look like and I figured it would be about traveling to European metropoles, the French countryside or roaming Southern India...I actually cant believe to how many different places I ve been this year....amazing, I hope I can keep this up :-)
So, HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody, may 2012 be a wonderful and succesful year for all of you!

So I thought Id give it a go, this is MY 2011 in pictures....

January: Preparing for my exchange semester in beautiful Bordeaux, daydreaming about French lifestyle....

February: Enjoying French food. Always a highlight, breakfast with shrimps, oysters and a glass of white whine at the Marché aux Capucins...

March: Enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Dune de Pyla, the highest sand dune in Europe, and reading a good book...moments of peace.

April: Exploring Bordeaux and getting settled there...my new home for the six months!

May: Weekend trip to Barcelona, strolling around flea markets..amazed about all the old books!

June: Weekends of serenity spent at the beach of Cap Ferret or the Bassin d´Arcachon.

July: Weekend trip to Porto in Northern Portugal with my French roommate. First couchsurfing experience was a success, wonderful weekend with great food and port wine, all set in a stunning city!

August: Ouddorp holiday retreat - quiet days with long beach walks.

September: A day trip to Venice - eventually...

October: for once, at home, enjoying the new apartment.

 November: Hiking through the tea plantations of Munnar in Kerala.

 December: Helping the local fishers at the beach to sort their prey...at 6 a.m. - priceless!