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weeknotes

weeknotes, 43/24

last few days in madrid! we did a tour of some bookshops i had bookmarked, and i got “the little prince” in chinese for myselfand the jolly postman in english, for little niece. it’ll take some years for her to be ready for that, but i don’t mind stocking children’s books for the years to come.

we fortified our bellies with cheesecake and the last churros and chocolate, watched the sun go down on the cerro del tio pio for the last time, and off we went to germany, ready to resume our yearly pilgrimage to bielefeld, that got broken with the pandemic.

it was a really nice time, like being back in a place that is so familiar to us, filled with friends and cozy corners. we had pickert again, walked in the forest to soak in all the autumn colors, and this year we even visited dr. oetker’s factory!!

the highlight of the visit is this pudding-making machine they have in the atrium, where you can make your own dessert. it’s brilliant, and the result is yummy too! on sunday, we said goodbye to germany and flew back to porto.

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just life postcrossing

october’s past

we should be in bielefeld right now, but obviously our annual october pilgrimage to the city that doesn’t exist didn’t happen this year. i don’t remember the last time we’ve spent the last weekend of october home. i miss the long drive from the netherlands to germany and back, the autumn colors, the abendbrot & kastenpickert, the walk to the zoo, geeking out about postcards… and above all, the friends we only see once a year and always on this weekend with the extra hour.

good traditions are not meant to be broken, and i hope we can resume this one next year!

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one second everyday

one second everyday — october 2016

october was quite homely and had a bit of everything: rain and sun, close and faraway friends, good meals (homemade pho and green curry!) and even a visit to our local waste treatment facility on their open day!

the highlight of the month was our yearly return to bielefeld and to the land of gorgeous autumn for a few days. this is our 7th year going — which seems unbelievable, but so nice. once a year, we come together with these friends in a little house in the woods to catch up, walk and write some postcards together. we see them so infrequently, and yet, every time we come together it’s as if we never left.

i want more of these moments.