Alpine

The other day was a public holiday in Austria and I went for a morning hike/ berry-picking mission up one of the nearby mountains. I'm happy I took my camera along - I've been getting a bit lazy lately to take my DSLR camera with me when I go places, especially since I find the quality of my iPhone pictures surprisingly good.
I'm three weeks into a 10-week design internship (which I'm loving) but I miss all the free time I have as a uni student (on exchange at least!) compared to working full time. Autumn is approaching steadily and nice days are becoming fewer and fewer. It's a bit sad to see shops already having winter clothing in the displays. Summer in Europe is too nice for too short.

This place

On Saturday I went for a bike ride, planning to go to a market just over the border in Germany that I hadn't been to yet, and kept going. I visited the market, had coffee and a kitsch salad (the mango dressing was very good) at a very nice cafe. I kept cycling along Lake Constance & its fruit farms to Friedrichshafen. Had more good coffee and ice cream, bought strawberries from a stall, picked wild blackberries and stopped for a swim on the way back.
I love this place - the mountains, the lake, the river, the farms, the food, the people. I feel somehow more 'in tune' here. I jog past the farms where my fruit and milk I comes from. I talk with the people who make the cheese at the market. I buy bread that's still warm from the bakery. I go swimming in the river or the lake - not a chlorinated pool - and if I want to go somewhere I have to 'earn' it by walking or cycling - not just get into a car. Of course I still sit in front of a computer for the majority of the week and often have no choice but to go to the cheapest supermarkets, but at least there's a nice view to go with it. Yep, still happy I stayed.

Naxos

Hire quadbikes. Explore the island. Climb to the top of Mount Zeus. Buy leather, handmade sandals. Eat at least one gyros per day. Drink strong, ice cold coffee. Pick ripe figs from trees on the side of the road. Pack your suitcase full with olive oil, capers and dried fruit. Watch the sunset from the windiest spot this side of the equator.