Christmas in Switzerland 2023
At the “Da Vinci: Genius” art experience in Amsterdam before leaving for Switzerland
We are in Switzerland with our Swiss family as we write this, and we have no big news to report. We still love living in Amsterdam and are grateful every day for our lives, our health, our friends and loved ones, and our 20-pound cat, Mr. Spaghetti, who seems to be happy growing old with us. We are slowing down a bit but still able to cycle and travel and keep our lives busy and interesting.
(Note: most photos have both a caption and a longer description. Depending on whether you are reading this on a computer, tablet, or smartphone, you may see all the captions immediately, or you might have to roll your mouse over a photo to see the caption and/or description. Clicking or tapping on any photo should bring up a full-size photo or a slide show with arrows to move between photos.)
Juicy Oasis
View from the deck at Juicy Oasis
In January we spent a week at Juicy Oasis in Portugal. This was Sharene’s second visit; her first made such a positive impact that she convinced Harrison to go with her this year. The inspirational founder Jason Vale was there again for part of our week. We posted this link last year and it’s worth posting again: Jason’s Juice Tube channel on YouTube. We both had wonderful experiences and felt so good after our week there that we will repeat the experience in 2024.
Juicy Oasis attracts a wide variety of people including a bunch of British celebrities, but our favorite participant this year was a woman in her 30s who had just taken her very first international flight, coming from all the way from California to Portugal to spend a full month at Juicy Oasis. The most interesting part of her story was that she left nine children behind for her husband to take care of! She needed to get herself healthy so she could get her kids healthy. What a story!
Thailand
Living in Amsterdam, one of the world’s greatest cities, is such a gift and privilege. But it does lose its magic around February after months of gray skies and cold, windy, rainy days. We considered taking a sun break to Hawaii, our former home, but we decided instead to try someplace new — Thailand. We began with a quick stop in Singapore to see friends Doxie & Poh Bee, then it was on to Khao Lak, Thailand, where we stayed in a resort recommended by Berlin friends Regina & Uwe and had two perfect weeks of sunshine, beautiful ocean, fabulous food, long walks on the beach, and an overall wonderful experience. Add to that the genuine charm of the Thai people and throw in a daily massage and the overall affordability and, well, we’ve been converted. We had such a great time that we’re going back to Thailand in 2024.
Spring Events and Travel
We had a busy spring with many visitors and other events, ending with our first trip to Ireland to see family and friends and experience how green Ireland really is. It has lots of those rolling, emerald-green hills it’s famous for, but it also has the scariest, narrow, winding roads we have ever driven on! It was great to have the people (and alpaca!) connections there, because in the end, it’s people that can make a trip special.
Summer
Summer is our favorite time in Holland so we try not to go too far. We did make some nice bike trips here and there including a wonderful girls bike trip for Sharene. And we celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary in July by going to the Rolling Stones exhibition in Groningen and seeing our friends Eeco, Suzette, and Fokko in the northeastern part of the country.
Harrison’s Trip to the States
While Sharene was out with her girlfriends, Harrison made a trip to Georgia and Florida for his cousin Phil’s 80th birthday. It was the first time all living Lindner cousins (Harrison’s cousins on his mother’s side who are like brothers and sisters) assembled in one place for something other than a funeral, so it was a joyful and memorable event. He then flew to Wisconsin to reconnect with a mother and daughter who were dear friends when he lived in Seattle in the 1970s. After losing touch for over 40 years, they all got back in touch via social media a year or so ago, and coming to America made it possible to reconnect in person. The mother is now a great-grandmother and the daughter is now a grandmother, and they are still the extraordinary women Harrison remembers from decades ago.
Sharene’s New Hip and a Quiet Autumn
Sharene had her 70th birthday in October and her gift was a new right hip — and a performance of Happy Birthday by our talented musician friends Stephanie and Paolo. Harrison was a wonderful post-hip-surgery caregiver, and after a few months she’s feeling well. Sadly, she had to cancel her annual Girls Trip (planned for New York City this year), but her friends were very understanding. Seems odd not to have them in our annual letter. Sharene will be back on her bike after the new year, and it hasn’t kept her from enjoying life with our friends, including Martin’s birthday and Thanksgiving at Monica’s.
Christmas in Switzerland
Our Christmas visits to Switzerland are always full, visiting lots of friends and spending time with our Swiss family — not to mention great food including fabulous cheese and chocolate that no place does better than this country. Special thanks Isabel and Martin for the brunch and the raclette dinner in their new home with their charming boys, and to Mick for Christmas dinner with his amazing adult children. As we have said many times before, there is your biological family and your ‘logical’ family, and we are so happy to be part of their lives.
Media Recommendations
We had heard about Ted Lasso and finally watched all seasons this past year. It has become our favorite TV series since The West Wing 20 years ago — a much-needed positive story with brilliant writing and acting. But we want to recommend just one film for 2023, and it’s a short documentary: The Last Repair Shop. Our musician and music teacher friend Pete (he played the flute in our Christmas letter last year) discovered it during a stay in Los Angeles. It’s about the LA City Schools musical instrument repair shop. That sounds boring, but it turned out to be a fantastic film, with amazing stories, production quality, and music. Sharene and I highly recommend it to everyone, but if you’re a musician, music teacher, or both, it will be especially meaningful. And it’s free on YouTube:
Peace Poster contest winner drawn by 13-year-old Anja Rozen of Slovenia
As we close another year that has been wonderful for us, we would simply like to wish you a healthy and joyful new year. But we can’t ignore all the tragedies that are happening around the world and the lasting impact they will have. For our generation growing up in the United States, World War II was something we learned about in school as history — it had almost no presence in our daily lives. Living in Europe has dramatically changed that perception because we still see the aftermath of World War II every day. Among many reminders, you’ll encounter little brass plaques in the sidewalk commemorating individuals and sometimes entire families who were forced from their homes to endure the horrors of concentration camps. Our close friends’ parents survived 17 of them. The impact of war isn’t just a history lesson here, it’s a part of our current experience, and it touches people we know affected by the wars in Ukraine and Israel.
Wishing for world peace might sound naive, but we do hope future generations will learn to be less judgmental, more compassionate, and open-minded about different cultures and religions. Power and greed serve no purpose in this world. We long for a future where understanding and kindness triumph over division and self-interest.
And we do indeed wish you a healthy and joyful 2024.
Love, liefs, and aloha,
Sharene & Harrison
Just wonderful reading and experiencing your year. Happy Holidays from Nor Cal!
Miss you guys!
Tony, Hanne, and Nick
Nice to see that you (again) have been so active over the past year and seen a lot of the world. Hope Sharene’s hip is completely fine again. Kind regards also on behalf of Elsa and we hope you have a happy New Year in Switzerland.
Elsa & Fred
Loved your letter, pictures and recommendations! Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you both. We are having cocktails with James and Judy tomorrow and we will be talking about you (all good!).
Such a treat to follow your wonderful adventures !
Thank you. Just what I needed on my return this evening from a lovely Christmas with my family in Sweden.
Thanks for the great letter of updates – fun to hear of your year! Wishing you both a very Happy New Year from mostly sunny So. Cal. We’re headed to Montana (Bozeman) for a little snow fun for New Years – not sure our still thinned blood from HI will survive, but we’ll have fun trying! Best wishes, B&K
Thank you, Sharene and Harrison, for another lovely Christmas/year-end missive. We so enjoyed reading it and looking at all your wonderful photos !
Merry Christmas Sharene & Harrison! We were just talking about Kakahi last week and about how much of life has changed since. Every time we think of you it is always fondly and with much gratitude and many smiles. We welcomed a healthy baby boy, Summit, into our family October 24th. He shares an October Birthday with Sharene. Hope to see you on Big Island again one of these days. Thankful to hear Sharene’s hip is healing up well. So so good to hear from you. All our Aloha. The Rhodes ‘Ohana!
Sharlene and Harrison, thank you for this inspirational letter! Though I haven’t met you personally, I feel like I know you through your annual letter as well as through my brother Ken, & Debbie who had the privilege of meeting you (and light up every time your names are mentioned.) You two seem to have mastered what it means to live life to the fullest. I suspect it’s as much your positive attitude as well as mindfully embracing each adventure and the people therein. My aunt Sue, your aunt Sue, always used to say, “Aren’t we having fun!” And uncle Arn, “ This is really living!” when we were experiencing the joy of connection with nature and with one another.Your letter leaves a smile on my face and a warm glow in my heart. Wishing you both love, joy, and peace in the new year! Hope I get to meet you in person one day!
Carol
Happy New Year to you both and hope your trip activities are filling your Holidays with much love and once again making more memories to share.
As always we look forward to your newsletter, with your delightful narration of your years events, pictures and captions.
Looking forward to visiting you guys again very soon. Wishing you safe travels as the beginning of the year fills your calendar. We love you both. Jeanne and Mike
As always, such fun to read your newsletter and admire the beautiful pictures with their captions.
No doubt you will be able to fill the next newsletter as soon as you arrive back from Switzerland,
with new events & travels.
Happy New Year!
Andrea & Chris Hall
I am now depressed. My life seems so boring compared to yours.
Happy 2024!
Your annual photofest has become a wonderful tradition!
Thanks and all the best in 2024!
Genius work… so enjoyed this.. thank you.
james & Judy
Life is meant to be enjoyed and it’s great to see you both doing just that. Who knows…maybe we’ll connect again on a Mediterranean charter sooner than later! Thanks for sharing your amazing adventures which also inspire us.
Happy New Year!
What a great update – always a pleasure to read!
Always a treat to read your annual letter! I’m glad you’re both well and active, despite the aging aches and pains. Sounds like 2024 will be another terrific year. And thanks so much for recommending “The Last Repair Shop.” Interesting, moving and inspiring!
Happy New Year Sharene & Harrison! So great to get all your news and to hear that you continue to be healthy and happy. Including Mr. Spaghetti! And thanks for the film recco – we’ll check it out. Hope to see you soon – either in Amsterdam or here in Toronto!
Dearest Sharene and Harrison,
Better late than never.
I love your annual tradition of recapping, sharing, reaching out to us and all of those dear to you, your “logical” family. Thank you for also sharing your wonderful photography, good times, insights, & your favorite movie, which I loved watching.
I also love SZK’s weekly tradition!!!
It is great to remain in touch. I hope we are able to see you again soon.
Wishing you health first and love, laughter, Thailand, massages, beaches, great food, music. everything you appreciate and enjoy. It is a joy to know you, a true gift.