This is me!
I am a Marketing Communications specialist & Photographer,
focussing on lifestyle & travel
I was born 1969 in Frankfurt am Main and until recently the German cider called 'Äppelwoi', and the typical snacks 'Handkäs' and 'Gruene Sosse' were among my culinary favourites. I liked living in Frankfurt. The second largest airport in Europe (after Heathrow) was on my doorstep, and the entire Rhein-Main region always had a huge economic power and therefore interesting jobs.
I'd wanted to be a writer since my teenage days. Become a journalist. Take photos. In 1991 I started my career in Communications working for a Public Relations agency. A few years later I moved to the corporate side working for the Marketing & Events department of Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Europe. It took only 6 month to get my motorcycle license - and to buy a Dyna Super Glide, 1340cc. I was on the move. A rider, and thoroughly enjoyed it!
After several years on two wheels, I moved into the tourist industry: Marketing Communications & Event Management for Tourism Queensland (Australia), Yangtze River Cruises (China), the Bahamas and various airlines. This obvious meant travelling to all these exciting places - happy days.
In the summer of 2003, I met my husband in a beer garden in Frankfurt. He told me the first evening: 'I live in London, work in IT, but my plan is to open a Bavarian Beerhouse there'. Four weeks later I moved to London. He was the one. The plan was brilliant, the challenge I wanted. Pretty well all my friends called my silly and thought I would be back in Frankfurt within three months. Little did we know how things would work out!
I like to refer to my move then as 'emigrating light'. Apartment, bank account, car, etc. everything was already arranged by Rene. The start of the Bierhaus plan took longer than expected, so in the meantime and I accepted a job at an event agency.
Organizing a global roadshow - Moscow-Dubai-Shanghai-Tokyo-Santiago de Chile - was my last project before the 'Bavarian Beerhouse' took off. An instant success. A simple idea 'there is no schnitzel in London' became the UK's largest restaurant-entertainment Oktoberfest chain. This is a separate story that I'll talk about later. If you are interested: Our life in London was shown on German television https://youtu.be/BoWC12j4boM
After 15 years in London and Oktoberfest Oompah-Pah it was time for a change.
Hola Andalusia! Que tal? Let's dive into my new blog. In the beginning, there won't be a lot of stories but stay tuned.
Many blogs only report about the sunny side of life; everything is easy going. I don't think so. I experienced the dark side, too. Very painful. I have lost loved ones, far too early, without warning. That makes you thoughtful. Leaves scars on the soul that may fade but never go away. However, it also strengthens the attention to the positive things in life, in all its glory! The most important factors to me are freedom and independence. How grateful can we be to have it?!
This freedom, the free spirit that my husband and I share, and the thirst for adventure brought us to Andalusia. Neither was it planned nor did we know the area. Naive? Or just brave? Neither, I call it 'guided by the Universe'.
I am grateful for my life so far and look forward to the next decades. Full steam ahead. My latest challenge is the reporting from our new home in Andalusia! Create the website, take pictures, write texts, ideas, social media.
Welcome to my blog www.andalucia-mi-amor.com
You can follow the blog, my Instagram account, Facebook and Pinterest.
Your comments are welcome
Claudia Sabine von Reth