And now let us welcome the new year, full of things that have never been.
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
The holidays are over and we are back. A little bit jetlagged, a little bit stuffed from all the chocolates and pastries we ate, and a lot more reluctant to admit that we are back and have to go back to work and the daily routine.
We had a wonderful time in Germany. We spent an evening at the Christmas market in Braunschweig, eating a half-a-meter bratwurst, buying roasted almonds and taking pictures of the crowds. We spent time with family opening gifts and sharing traditional dinners. We met friends at cafés and indulged in endless cups of hot chocolate. I realize that cold weather is not that bad if you can run in to cafés as often as possible.
I read a lot over the holidays thanks to the books and gift certificates to bookstores I received. This time I didn’t find any new bookstores as we didn’t travel to new places but I still enjoyed browsing in two of my favorite bookstores; Graff in Braunschweig and Schmorel und von Seefeld in Hannover.
I still wish my German was infinitely better so I could communicate more with my in-laws. We spent our holidays away from the computer and now we are catching up on emails and news. Oh so many sad news on the other side of the world.
To those of you who have sent me emails – I promise I will write soon! Thank you for your notes. It’s nice to open up friendly emails rather than overdue library notices or bills due notices.
Hopefully over the weekend I’ll have a chance to post pictures from the trip. And, I also plan to write more about the books – hits & misses – that I read while on holiday.
Now let me get back to answering emails, catching up on blog reading and trying to find shelf space for my new books.
