Yesterday was a rare perfect day.  You could hardly believe it was early January - the dead of winter.  The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and it was well above 50 degrees outside.  The morning was a bit rainy, but when that blew through and the sky cleared, we knew we had to take advantage of the opportunity to get outside for a bit.  I have come to appreciate the importance of seizing such a day because they can be rare and fleeting - and there is nothing worse than the regret one feels after wasting a day like this indoors.  So, we walked......and walked and walked and walked.  We stopped for a late lunch at the wald biergarten, where I ordered käsknödel (cheese dumpling) soup for the first time.  Yes, it is as delicious as it sounds.  And then we walked home, tired and full and quickly losing sunlight.   There were rain clouds on the horizon and Steve commented how lucky we'd been - since we ventured out without an umbrella or rain jackets.....

Kirschhausen from a distance

a bright sunshine-y day