after we did not participate in the zoo run last year, we managed to enlist this year. and this year we even made it into the tiger starters block - so it was "team tiger", yeah. i convinced a few of my co-workers to join me in the 6.4 kilometres long run that leads through the zoo in schoenbrunn, thus it was six people on our running team. our boss even had shirts printed with a cute tiger on it. the tiger block is the last to start, but still it was very, very, very, very hot this day. so we took several breaks at the enclosures of lions, cheetahs, leopards, wolfs, and of course the tigers; since we were on their team, it was a must. this year there were not that many costumes as the last time we ran. maybe because of the weather, or maybe it was because we were among the very last ones to cross the starting line, and therefore did not see that many other runners. but what stayed the same as the last time was all the helpers that stood along the course and cheered and helped us to keep the motivation up - they really do a great job. nina and i reached the finish line holding hands. again our rank was pretty bad, but it was fun and a unique way to do a tour through the zoological garden. we had our favorite meal, namely chilli for nina, and sugared pancake for me. to drink we had beer. after everyone had renewed their strength a bit, we went to a nearby restaurant to have another drink to wind down after all the excitement and exhaustion. great fun, so i am definitely looking forward to the zoo run 2018.

we went to tyrol again, and as usual we stayed at the place of nina's parents. during the four day stay, we were accompanied by the two cats[01-03,​14-19,​25-27,​29-34] of the house, bonnie and havanna. we also did a trip to the berglsteiner lake[05-13] on the first day to have a nice hike around the lake there. on the second day we went to innsbruck, to play an escape room game at perplexx with nina's brother mario and his girlfriend maria. thus we drove to the location of the game, got a few instructions and a little background information on the story of the quest. we made a very good team and had all the puzzles solved within the time limit of one hour. in the end we even had seven and a half minutes left and had no clue used. one could push a "clue"-button if the team runs out of ideas; but the button is only available three times, and there has to be a pause of at least ten minutes between each push. i think once all three hints were used, and the team would still be stuck it might be stopped and the door openes prematurely. but we had no need for a clue; quite amazing. the scavenger hunt was very entertaining and made a lot of fun, and the puzzles had just the right balance between trickiness and being solvable, even if it was a first for all of us. also, the story was well elaborated throughout the game. and some jump scare elements, like some toy spiders falling on your head, because you were forced into a position right under a special drawer that had to be opened, were well placed and made us laugh. it also had rats, snakes, skulls, bugs, scary toy dolls and mystical electrical instruments - so all the fun stuff. after the successful escape we had a drink in a nice rooftop bar[21-23] with a nice overview of the city. a good place to chill out, review and talk about all the clues, hints, props, and puzzles of the game. this was really fun. nina and i considered to do more escape room games in the future.

yeah, we were invited again to come and see maya & miele, our neighbour's newly adopted two kittens. they had grown a little, but still they were so tiny and looked so fragile. the two balls of fluff were again playing and active at first, but then soon got exhausted and fell asleep fast. the perfect time to pick them up and cuddle and pet them extensively. while nina's darling is miele, i am inordinately fond of the little princess maya. miele has pretty big paws, so we assumed he will still grow quite much. also he might be a main coon cat, which also have a tendency to get pretty huge. same with maya, as norwegian forest cats also can get quite big; although her paws are of normal size. are we not lucky to have such adorable neighbours? i think there might be a few follow-ups in the future about those two gorgeous creatures. and we wonder how big they will become.