It's comforting to be in a place so familiar, but yet also bursting with novelty. I love Munich a lot, and it's mostly for the people I always come to see.
Yesterday Mari had a seminar so we had a hurried breakfast together, and then I stayed, grazing on that amazing German brit and tomatoes bursting with the taste of summer on my tongue. I continued reading Bill Bryson (I figure more high brow stuff can wait until I'm more rested) in the sun in my bathers in this green-blessed terrace above the world.
Andreas came just before noon and there too is the comfort of the familiar. The best thing was that when I met his wife Steffi for the first time at their incredible apartment, that sense of familiar did not disappear. We made a very comfortable trio over a sumptuous lunch with more excellent coffee (but I have never seen a more space age coffee machine) and views over Munich. The city couldn't quite decide her mood yesterday - cloudy, sunny, stormy, windy..we had it all.
After lunch we hopped in the much-loved Q7 and Andreas managed to park into a space that was perhaps designed for half a Seicento and he did it with ease. Okay, with the help of a parking camera, but it was still pretty impressive.
We went for a walk through the Englischer Garten, where despite the clouds there was a very real summer festival feeling. My first pint of Augustiner was just divine.
On the long walk through the city toward my second pint we stopped in at the Theatiner Kirche - my favorite in the whole world, the Asamkirche which is a favorite of Steffi's and then Andreas and I hiked to the top of the 316 steps in the tower of the Alter Peter church. The views took my breath away more than the climb. A dearly loved city view under a dark blue and sometimes grey skyline, it was just beautiful.
Later at home, when I started to feel that my body was still on Perth time Mari and I had a simple dinner fit for kings and talked like we always do. And at the end of the day, this is why I'm here. It's a holiday for my soul. Just before bed I met her lovely man Walter, who is phenomenally sprightly for a 65 year old, but he is intelligent and considered, and I can see their connection.
Today promises less squirrel communion as the weather is a bit blowy to be out on the terrace, but there will be coffee (any minute now), and shopping (for my birthday) and a film or two at the Munich FilmFest. What perfect timing!
And here is a lesson in why I love Australia, and my iPhone: I bought Mari a Dinosaur Designs resin necklace back in April from the GPO and she loves it but it's too short. So I emailed the company back in Australia on Sunday and today received an email listing three different options of how we can exchange for a longer strand. One of the options was to check the warehouse in Sydney, and do a postal exchange. The lady wrote that it would be really helpful to see the necklace so she could check the stock. And I coolly whipped out my iPhone, took a photo and emailed it in about three seconds. How easy is that?! Welcome to the twenty first century Banana :)
Yesterday Mari had a seminar so we had a hurried breakfast together, and then I stayed, grazing on that amazing German brit and tomatoes bursting with the taste of summer on my tongue. I continued reading Bill Bryson (I figure more high brow stuff can wait until I'm more rested) in the sun in my bathers in this green-blessed terrace above the world.
Andreas came just before noon and there too is the comfort of the familiar. The best thing was that when I met his wife Steffi for the first time at their incredible apartment, that sense of familiar did not disappear. We made a very comfortable trio over a sumptuous lunch with more excellent coffee (but I have never seen a more space age coffee machine) and views over Munich. The city couldn't quite decide her mood yesterday - cloudy, sunny, stormy, windy..we had it all.
After lunch we hopped in the much-loved Q7 and Andreas managed to park into a space that was perhaps designed for half a Seicento and he did it with ease. Okay, with the help of a parking camera, but it was still pretty impressive.
We went for a walk through the Englischer Garten, where despite the clouds there was a very real summer festival feeling. My first pint of Augustiner was just divine.
On the long walk through the city toward my second pint we stopped in at the Theatiner Kirche - my favorite in the whole world, the Asamkirche which is a favorite of Steffi's and then Andreas and I hiked to the top of the 316 steps in the tower of the Alter Peter church. The views took my breath away more than the climb. A dearly loved city view under a dark blue and sometimes grey skyline, it was just beautiful.
Later at home, when I started to feel that my body was still on Perth time Mari and I had a simple dinner fit for kings and talked like we always do. And at the end of the day, this is why I'm here. It's a holiday for my soul. Just before bed I met her lovely man Walter, who is phenomenally sprightly for a 65 year old, but he is intelligent and considered, and I can see their connection.
Today promises less squirrel communion as the weather is a bit blowy to be out on the terrace, but there will be coffee (any minute now), and shopping (for my birthday) and a film or two at the Munich FilmFest. What perfect timing!
And here is a lesson in why I love Australia, and my iPhone: I bought Mari a Dinosaur Designs resin necklace back in April from the GPO and she loves it but it's too short. So I emailed the company back in Australia on Sunday and today received an email listing three different options of how we can exchange for a longer strand. One of the options was to check the warehouse in Sydney, and do a postal exchange. The lady wrote that it would be really helpful to see the necklace so she could check the stock. And I coolly whipped out my iPhone, took a photo and emailed it in about three seconds. How easy is that?! Welcome to the twenty first century Banana :)
posted by BanAnna at 7/01/2012 10:14:00 pm
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