Since I could not go to Sardinia this summer, I asked our sixteen-year-old to write a short post about this trip. This is what Thomas had to say:

This summer was the first time that our annual family vacation took place in Sardinia. We had been to Italy before, specifically Sicily, but I had heard that Sardinia was quite a bit different from the other regions of Italy.

This family vacation itself was also a bit different than what I had been accustomed to, as only half of the family (my father and I) would go. This was due to some complications regarding my sister’s physical condition… she injured her knee three days before our departure and ended up in the hospital in Frankfurt.

The city where we stayed for two weeks, called Bosa, is a very picturesque town full of history. The apartment where we lived, was submerged directly into this culturally intense atmosphere. It was aptly called The Lemon Tree House, as one of the main attractions to this place was the lemon tree situated on the front terrace.

The tree was a very pleasant and shady place to relax under the warm sun, and provided us with lemons as well. These we would use to make lemonade, or just pure lemon juice. As I arrived on Sardinia with a bit of a cold, my father had me drink  freshly squeezed lemon juice almost every day.

Fresh lemons in Bosa

Visit Lemon Tree House Apartments (rentals) in Bosa, Sardinia for more information.

Among the photos, taken by our daughter, in Sicily (April 2010), I found this to be the most striking and representative of the Sicilian dress style.

(with friendly permission from the photographer, Margo Shipley)

On our last visit, my brother pulled out this demijohn of forgotten Zwetschgenschnaps (plum schnaps) from the former beet cellar. It must have been sitting there for ages.

As we all figured, this high level of alcohol could not go bad, so we had a shot of it. It tasted like a 50% proof Schnaps!

My parents had kept several of these Schnaps Glasballons (demijohns), secured in a straw basket, for our well being. Way back, when we had a toothache and no dentist in the village, we were given shots to numb the pain. My aunt used the Schnaps for swathing her lower legs against some other pain. When our colds got too heavy, we got a shot of Schnaps in our tea before going to bed.

I never saw any adults drinking Schnaps for the fun of it. It was considered medicine only in our childhood.

Schnaps served the old-fashioned way

Two days ago we had a shot of this Schnaps for fun only!! This glass bottle holds about 20 litres of it.

As the procedure of making Schnaps and keeping it in a Ballon, must be a relic from the 60s, I knew I must have  had my hands in its making. Back then, my spinster aunt and I had to gather the fallen plums, rotten ones included, in buckets. We had to pick them up by hand, without the luxury of rubber gloves. We developed a real art in using our feet to avoid getting stung by the nettles.

Those buckets of plums we then dragged to the neighbor’s house where the distillery took place.

This Schnaps used to be our in-house pharmacy more than 40 years ago.

We spent another weekend in lovely Franconia. We saw family, visited with long-lost relatives, talked to neighbors. Everybody, but the sun, came out to greet us.

Franconian vineyards

Dark skies and winter coats dominated the landscape wherever we went. The Nordheimer Weinfest saw lots of heavy coated patrons sitting under the famous Kastanienallee (chestnut alley).

Nordheimer Weinfest May 2010

These German winefests are for young and old as their wine culture has no bounds in regards to age. We enjoyed Flammkuchen (Tarte Flambee), Steak Brötchen, Fischbrötchen (photo), and good wine.

How would you like to harvest grapes on that hill?

Visit a  Franconian castle, or the online beer guide to Bamberg and Franconia, as well as  Franconia – the heart of Germany.

There is a lot to see and do in Franconia. They love to eat and drink well, at very reasonable prices!

With friends just having returned from Japan and raving about Hanami (花見: flower viewing) and  others posting their Hanami photos on facebook, I began digging in my own memory box.

Hanami and the wheels of time

This photo was taken on the island of Kyushu in 1993, when it was just the two of us.

Baby Thomas and cherry blossoms

By April 1994, there were three of us. The following year, we took Thomas on his first Hanami outing. Having been such a drooling baby, he attracted so many Sakura (cherry) blossoms which would neatly stick to his chin and throat.

I do miss this time of year in Japan.