We’re back in Berlin after three wonderful weeks in South Africa. I always find it disconcerting how, with the speed of air travel, you can one afternoon be walking on a beach far in the southern hemisphere, watching surf school pupils practicing in the waves, and the next afternoon be way up in the north, in an apartment in the city of Berlin, listening to the music practice session of the neighbors downstairs while answering work emails. The two places are so far from each other that even the constellations in the sky are different, but within a day you can travel from one to the other. With such an abrupt return to everyday life, it begins to seem that the holiday was a dream from which you have suddenly been woken. I think that is the reason I like to buy some souvenirs, to remind myself that the experience was real.

To keep memories of South Africa from slipping away too rapidly, I might break from the theme of this blog and write a bit about our travels there. I’ve been very bad at updating the blog lately and there are still lots of places that I keep meaning to write about – hopefully I can become a more regular blogger.