ghost of nature.

bad berka  is a tiny spa town which is also known for being a place that the famous writer  goethe  visited quite often. my mother and i visited this place primarily because of a cute hiking route we discovered upon researching the area. it was all about myths and history and actually made for children, with several activity stops thrown in, but we figured we might like it as well. the city of bad berka is quite charming and the region and its landscape is also really beautiful, with soft hills and the river  ilm  flowing sleepily through the valley. the ruins of a moated castle sit next to the river ilm and provides as a setting for ghost sightings. the hiking trail was really nice, a small pathway in a flourishing spring forest. ah, the beauty of tree roots. we encountered many of them and it's the most aesthetic thing in nature for me. also, old wood which has been perforated by wood worms. oh, and wood in general. what is it abo...

kammerforst is a forest area of hohe schrecke , a ridge of hills located on the northern rim of the thuringian basin. my mother recommended this place to me, as she had already ventured out there with my dad before a few times. we went there on a late afternoon just to get out of the house and get our heads free. i did a lot of activities with my mother that week because my father had to work most of the time. we had a really good time and talked a lot and generally enjoyed each other's presence ( it's not always easy with her - we are very much alike, stubborn, paranoid & anxious - we had a lot of quarrels when i was a teenager, but these days i mostly get along great with her ). i remember that i never wanted to 'end up' like my mother as a teenager, i felt she was too negative and accusatory. now i look at that differently, because i'm actually very much alike. of course this probably means that she rubbed off on me, but then again, these days i feel tha...

what would a visit in thuringia be without a visit to the erfurt zoo ? that's what i always do, at least once a year  and it was time again, so without further ado, have some animals! cape hyrax munching on fresh greens. did you know they are close relatives of elephants? i cannot see anything elephantine about them, but it surely is strange to think of them as mini elephants with lots of fur and a short nose. cape ground squirrel excavating. the zoo was awakening and glowing in all kinds of spring colours. white rhinoceros . and more of them! strange animals they are, so alien looking. giraffe kiddo. it was born last year and she is called mayla. i adore giraffes with their long necks and soft-spoken eyes. they're family animals, too, so tender and caring. hedgehogs and snakes in the sky. the cheetahs had six cubs last year, too and boy, were they real players. they were already almost 1 year old at the time we were vi...