Manly

Manly is an incredibly beautiful coastal town, you can reach Sydney in 20 minutes by ferry, right by the Operahouse.

My daughter Elena lives here in Manly. Until we can take over the Kithara, I live with her and her roommate Connie and their two dogs Millie and Tillie. You live less than 2 minutes from the beach, that's how it is to live.

Christmas is celebrated here. Santa hats everywhere, the public areas at the harbor are full of people celebrating Christmas parties with picnics and wine. It is not possible to get a seat in the restaurants without registering in advance. Exuberant atmosphere and party mood everywhere. Completely different from the contemplative Christmas in Germany. Both have something.

When we go for a walk with Millie in the morning around 7, the beach is full of surfers and swimmers. There are countless joggers on the waterfront and the beach volleyball courts are all occupied. I haven't seen so many good-looking, fit people in my life. This is the third time I've been here and it keeps flashing me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manly,_New_South_Wales

I haven't been to the Kithara yet, somehow it's all more difficult than I thought. Kaspar currently lives on board with the German owner family; takeover conditions still need to be negotiated. But they don't seem to be in a hurry to move to Germany after 2 years on board.

In the meantime, I spend the days with Elena and enjoy it. We take long walks and have magnificent views of Sydney Bay. The last course was probably a bit much, in combination with a sunburn the day before and probably still jet lag, I ended up with sunstroke. But 24 hours of sleep sometimes works wonders and so today I'm back on the dam. It's Christmas Day.