We’re back in Berlin!
Finally, after three full months away from our new home city, we’ve returned! You’d almost think we didn’t actually live here.
We’re both really happy to be back, to just be still in our own home (and make it feel more like home), to see all our wonderful friends, make new ones and get to know the city better, perhaps even by exploring Berlin by bike when we finally get round to getting ourselves some wheels!
But the travels don’t stop now. Summer is in full swing, and we’ve got several plans on the horizon for the next few months which we’re really excited about, even if they will take us away from the home that we’ve so fallen in love with.
First, we have something important to announce: we’re taking part in #mygaypride!
Along with 17 other bloggers, we’re going to be part of a campaign to showcase pride in eight European cities, so most of our summer plans revolve around this. You can read more about the campaign here, but for our part, we’ll be taking part in Berlin, Stockholm and Copenhagen prides.
With that in mind, this is what our upcoming summer plans currently look like.
June and Early July: Berlin
We’re staying put at home in Berlin for the rest of June and into the first half of July, something we’ve both been looking forward to despite the very pleasant last few months of travel.
However, the first pride event we’ll be attending will luckily be right in our back yard at the end of June meaning we don’t have to go anywhere! Neither of us have ever been to Berlin pride before (with the main event locally known as Christopher Street Day Parade), so we’re excited to see what face the city puts on for the event itself and all the festivities surround it.
Late July: Sweden
We will start our annual summer trip to Sweden in the west of the country with a week’s holiday in the countryside with Zab’s best friend and his husband. We love Sweden in the summer, and we are really looking forward to discovering new parts of the country as well as hitting up old stomping grounds, especially around the area where we almost bought a house once.
We’ll then head to Stockholm to experience pride there. We went to Stockholm Pride last year and enjoyed many of the events leading up to the parade itself. We were actually housesitting at the time, and will be doing so again, as the family whose cats we looked after have asked us to return at exactly the same time, which we’re very happy about!
Early August: The Netherlands
Thanks to Interrail, we will be doing most of our travel around Europe this summer by train, and since we had a few free days between pride events, we thought why not pop back to the Netherlands again? We had such a nice time there this past April reconnecting with Zab’s family and making some new friends that we’re planning to go back for another visit, although this time just for a few days. We might even get to visit Amsterdam this time!
Mid August: Copenhagen
After a few days back home in Berlin, we’ll be heading back north to Scandinavia for Copenhagen pride. We’ve both been to the Danish capital before (though the last time was in 2007!), and even though this visit will be very short, we’re looking forward to discovering some vegan treats and cosy hidden gems of Copenhagen.
Late August: London
Straight from Copenhagen, we'll fly to London, where I’ll be teaching for two weeks. We’re looking forward to catching up with friends and family there too and enjoying the city at what is probably the best time of year to be in London.
Early September: West of England and Wales
We’ll then be heading out to the Cotswolds, Bristol and to rural Wales to visit various friends and family members on my side, this time perhaps by car meaning we’ll have more freedom to make stopovers between visits as we’ve never really had much time to see any of the beautiful countryside in this region of the UK on our previous visits.
What are your plans for the summer? Will you be attending any pride events?
