Here are more (scenic) images from my energizing trip to Germany to visit an old friend from school.
After hiking up a mountain, next to where they live, it was breath-restoring for my wife and I to take in the view of the village and its surroundings from this vantage point.
The cobbled streets, the old homes felt like they were teeming with history and myth.
I've always been fond of German culture, since I was marked as a young man by German philosophers and poets (which I read in English translation). Also, for a while my grandmother lived in Germany and when my brother and I visited, we would help her collect potatoes from her garden for our dinner.
Later, I was fortunate to stay with a couple of German friends, both of whom are artists, and to discover the highly-cultured, beautiful city of Munich, home to the largest public park in Europe: the English Gardens.
Biking through these vast gardens, with a map my friends had kindly drawn for me, I still got lost and stumbled upon the unexpected sight of naked sunbathers.
I did not take off (all) my clothes, but I did strip down to my boxers and jump into the icy waters for a swim!