Life should be an endless summer! Ok., it can rain once in a while but the fact that everyone is happy and smiling at you when you look around makes me believe that their mood is strongly weather depended.Mine included although, I can also be very happy in winter (e.g. at christmas when I get a lot of presents 
).
Anyway, the point is that you should visit Germany! Yes, boring, up-tight, dull, efficient Germany that is full of happy Germans who say: 'Ze weather is great, ze beer is cold and ze sausages yummy!' I strongly disagree with the last argument, but hey for all you meat eaters out there it might be an attraction.
The past month seriously was like I’ve been on a holiday in my own country. First (I try to remember in the correct order), Greg my former housemate from the best house in Melbourne (Gore St international!) came to visit in Berlin and not only we had a wonderful Gore St. reunion (with Alina and Lily), but I also obviously had to show my guest around town. That included a birthday barbecue at the river, strolling around in the sunshine, watching soccer games in the beer garden...
Speaking of which, although the Euro 2008 it’s over now it should be mentioned here. Some of you might know that I missed out on the World Cup in 2006, because I was in Australia (which was alright, because I actually coped quite well and don’t care about the soccer), nonetheless
I kind of enjoyed the sudden feeling of community, people waving their flags all over the city and watching the soccer games with strangers and hugging them when our team won and I love the way how emotional especially boys can get when it comes to sports and I’m almost convinced I saw my dear brothers shed a tear or two …
So, even Greg was forced to participate in the soccer mania by my whole family who he went to visit in Hamburg after his stay in Berlin. Apparently he got well fed, my Mum packed him lunch every day and although there was some significant language barriers they ended up having conversations on medieval times, Mozart, history and the whole lot. Therefore if you ever fancy a family holiday, my Mum and Herbie are more than happy to host you. Additionally one of my brothers might be around and you even get to see a bit of the nightlife in Hamburg.
What next. Another 30th birthday party! Besides all the weddings I’m attending this year, everyone seems to hit the big 30. Not bad, especially because everyone still seems to party like they just turned 20. So, Maren and I decided to do a little road trip down to the south of Germany (Freiburg) to celebrate our friend Christian’s day of birth.
And it was so much fun! Not so much the driving, because we were stuck on the Autobahn for 12 hours (our car was sooooo slow that even lorries took over, which was a little humiliating given that there’s no speed limit…). Once we arrived Christian’s Dad made us try the local wine, beer, schnaps, you name it! The rest of the weekend passed in a second and we even got to climbed one of the highest mountains in the area with a brilliant view and spend another night partying with the guys and my friend Imke in Freiburg!
Consequently, I had to recover for a change and spend three wonderful sunny days in my parents garden, being pampered by my Mum and doing nothing much but sun baking and reading. Very unusual for me but much needed.
After having recharged my batteries, my big (and rather tall) bro Jan and I went to visit little bro Hanno (who is also really tall! So, why am I not tall?!) in his new flat in the world city of Vechta. It’s that famous that I didn’t even know it existed before Junior moved there to study and told me the fairy tale of the donkey. Long story short, Chanter the donkey is part of the Grimm’s fairytale Bremen town musicians and he’s walked all the way from Vechta to Bremen to play in a band. Or maybe he just wanted to leave?
Now, to the last chapter of the journey: Fusion festival! Man, I’ve been for the third time now and I can’t even describe how f***ing great it was. We were such an awesome group of international friends and the festival makes you feel as if you are in a different universe for a few days. There were so many things I would love to tell you about: the stages, the djs, the different people we’ve met, the concerts, theatre, cinema, cabaret, bars, shops, shower tower, food stalls; the dancing, drinking, camping, the bond fires, fireworks, paper lanterns, the shiny disco ball, flamingo yoga, the funky green birds you could ride on or the rocket on the hangar. No wonder, Anne and I kept saying there’s no other place I’d want to be right now!
