"Can't it stay summer forever?"

When we lived in the heart of Europe,. it was relatively easy to drive to the Mediterranean Sea.
We went to Greece, twice.

         and to Spain

Another summer, we went to Hungary with our friends, the wonderful Erlacher family.
Hungary was  amazing! The iron curtain was still up (but not for much longer)  and prices were incredibly low, especially compared to our home in Switzerland.  John noted that our whole family of nine could go out for a delicious dinner, including dessert, for the price of one person's meal  in Switzerland.

And it was the same in Czechoslovakia.
We took an excursion to Prague while we were staying at a family vacation village in northern Austria. We were really close to the border. John would ride his bike up to the warning signs and crossings.
picturess

And of course we took excursions closer to home:

at Insel Mainau, the flower island

Neuschwanstei

                                 Looking at our house and village down in the valley.