Year in Review 2020

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In 2019, I wrote my year in review prematurely. We actually did make it to France! And I ended up visiting FOUR new countries in 2019, not the original 3 I had thought (Monaco being the fourth). When I sat down to write this year in review, I began to wonder if it would be worth it. 2020 was not the year anybody had in mind. Did I even have anything to write about? When I started chronicling all we managed to accomplish in 2020 I felt surprised! The year was still fantastic and I was able to have a ton of experiences. We already loved being outside, but 2020 got us out there even more than normal. For that I’m thankful! So make sure you take the time to look back on your 2020 and see that there are good things (big and small!) to look back on.

January

We rung in the New Year in….Jever! Have you ever heard of it? I had only heard of the beer but East Friesland (Ostfriesland in German) has more to offer than that. We went out to the islands in the North Sea, rode bikes a ton, and had the traditional tea time. Think January is too cold for hiking? Think again! I convinced 5 colleagues to join me on an incredible sculpture hike from Wiesenburg to Bad Belzig on a day trip from Berlin.

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February

It’s also not too cold in February for an outdoor adventure. We went to the Harz Mountains with friends, staying in Bad Lauterberg for a hiking and climbing weekend. For my one week long winter break, we headed to the Czech Republic’s South Bohemia region. I was drooling over the numerous castles even if the off-season visit meant we couldn’t go inside most of them. It was too warm for a winter ski holiday, but we did get in an amazing winter wonderland hike instead.

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March

March is usually a quiet month. There aren’t any school holidays to look forward to and, although the weather is getting better, getting out is sometimes limited. Having loved the art hike in Bad Belzig in January so much, C and I returned to complete the second half of it. We got in one final hike before the lockdown began, from Neubrandenburg to Burg Stargard, a recommendation from our German Alpine Club magazine (DAV).

April

When the Coronavirus hit, we weren’t sure what to do. I started a balcony garden, we dyed Easter eggs, I baked nearly everything from Classic German Baking, and we went on a ton of day trips biking and hiking through Berlin and Brandenburg.

May

We had had enough of the lockdown and took the first opportunity we could to finally get OUT in 2020! Our first trip was to the Lüneburger Heide, which I fell in love with even though it doesn’t turn purple until August (I will be back someday to see this!). We continued cycling: a trip around Grunewald and Potsdam, from Teltow to Babelsberg, and a few trips to Hennigsdorf and Tegel along the canal. The Döberitzer Heide didn’t enthrall us, but our hike from Ketzin to Brandenburg was fantastic. And we spent a weekend in Quedlinburg, which is one of Germany’s most picturesque towns.

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June

My school returned to in-person learning and I invited a group of colleageus out for another hike, this time the Erpetal, a fantastic little stream which runs from Berlin to Altlandsberg. C and I visited his family in Pirna and took a bike ride to visit the Baroque Schloss Garten in Großsedlitz.

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July

My sabbatical year officially started the same day that my bicycle was stolen. A few days later I left for Münster to cycle the 1000km long 100 Schlösser Route. I spent three weeks in the city, cycling a different section of the four loops each day. As if that wasn’t enough adventure for one month, C and I went to the Märkische Schweiz in Brandenburg for a hike around a Caribbean blue lake, the Schermützelsee, one of Brandenburg’s few Qualitätswanderwege.

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August

For all of August, I set my wheels in motion again. I cycled from Ulm to Passau in Bavaria with my friend, Lothar, with whom I had so much fun in the Vogelsberg region and on the Schächerbachtour previously. Ulm is where I began the Euro Velo 6 two years ago, so it’s where I wanted to pick up the trail. C met me in Passau and we continued together through Austria and Hungary for the next three weeks, landing in Suza, Croatia to end our journey.

September

To start off September, I visited a few friends in Stuttgart, who all showed me an amazing time. From there, I began hiking the Westweg, a long distance hiking trail through the Black Forest. The 12 day trail ends in Basel, Switzerland. Once there, I traveled to Zug, Switzerland to visit another friend and go on another fantastic hike, this time to Wildspitz.

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October/November

I took a weekday to finally test out a hike I had been hearing so much about: the Schlaubetal. It did not end up as I had expected. I was invited back to Münsterland to spend a few days biking along the Werse River. I took some time to begin planning a language trip to Italy. Learning Italian had always been a dream of mine, since I have Italian heritage and some family there. I spent the last week of October and most of November as the only student in a language course on the coast of Tuscany, Italy. After a hectic return to Berlin, I spent the rest of November carrying out a 10 day quarantine, and baking my heart out.

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December

Germany returned to a stricter lockdown, and although I felt pretty stuck at home, I continued to bake and hike. We sent friends and family loads of cookies, even if they didn’t arrive so quickly. We went on some new hikes and repeated some old favorites. Christmas was in Saxony again. I just hope New Year’s will be quieter than in Jever, even though we’ll be in Berlin!

Review 2020

I hope you can also look back on 2020 and see that you have had experiences you are grateful for. We can all be happy that we’ve grown stronger as people – who thought we’d be able to survive all the different small and large crises that a pandemic can throw at us?

Review your 2020 and share your highlight(s) in the comments! What are you grateful for this year?