Let the Advent begin.

 

 

 

 

Although there are a couple more days of autumn remaining, I think it`s safe to say that it`s all but over. The first snow of the season fell this weekend as we brace ourselves for the arrival of Old Man Winter. As much as we dislike the cold weather, the snow has to be one of the things we love most about living in Munich. Along with its proximity to the rest of Europe, being able to safely ride our bikes everywhere, having ski slopes on our doorstep and the beer. Definitely the beer. Even though this will be our second winter here, the snow is still indeed a novelty. Especially when matched with blue skies, reminiscent of the `bluebird´ days we used to look forward to when living in Lake Tahoe. The snow is also a reminder that Xmas is but a snowflake away. The Weihnachtsmarkts are up and in full swing and yesterday Ola and I went into town to buy our very first German Xmas decos as this time last year we were rather preoccupied. He chose that baby Jesus in a manger set up there. Bless his woolly bedsocks.

Happy 1. Advent! 

xxx

Ps This time last year I was sick with a sinus infection and awaiting (yet hoping she would stay put a little longer. At least until the antibiotics had kicked in..) the arrival of a certain baby girl. She did stay put. For 3 more days in fact. Just enough time for me to kick the infection and focus on the enormous task ahead. But more about that next week. 

Schwangau.



We hired a car for the weekend and decided to drive to the village of Schwangau, situated on the Romantic Road, to check out its two famous castles - Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. The first one built by King Maximilian II of Bavaria, the latter by his son `Mad King´ Ludwig II. Almost 10 years ago I spent  Xmas here with my family (at the Hotel Müller) so it was nice to make the return trip. We planned to visit both castles but since Elke wasn`t in a particularly good mood we thought we`d play it safe. First stop Neuschwanstein. If we made it though the tour relatively unscathed then we`d brave it to Hohenschwangau. Honestly, we didn`t like our chances. Elke was whingey enough while we queued for a half an hour or so to buy the tickets. We opted for the shuttle bus up to the castle and she pretty much cried the whole way. And the relief that was felt when the bus ride was over? That was short lived when David realised he`d lost our tickets. ``But they were in my back pocket. There is no way they could`ve fallen out. Stolen perhaps?´´. So he popped the tourist brochure in said pocket and we did the only thing left to do:  we walked around the castle`s grounds and took in the pretty awesome view. All to the tune of Elke`s sobs and Ola`s moans - ´´Can we go home now?, It`s too cold. I`m tired´´. Even though the sun was shining, it was bloody cold and all of us by now were pretty irked so we made our way back down the hill and went home. Not before a quick stop at nearby Füssen for a late lunch and a stroll around its 700 year old streets.

And can we all guess the fate of that brochure? The one placed in David`s back pocket. Well, it too fell out and this time we heard it hit the ground. Dammit. All in all it was a very different experience to the one I had 10 years ago. Just as well this part of Bavaria is so ridiculously...good looking.

xxx

Randomness is bliss.

Some goodies that arrived this week. Magazines and books for me. Scarf and shirt for Elke`s bday next month. There were also some books for Oli, including one on Greek Myths. He l-o-v-e loves them. As soon as he saw it he flicked through it trying to find the story about the ´giant with one eye`. A boy after my own heart.

Nell, pretty Nell, tagged me for a blogger award thingy in which I need to divulge 7 random things about myself.

So here goes:

1. My parents met at Oktoberfest in 1969 and now 40 years later here we are, living in Munich. München. Munch-town. I`ve now been to the Oktoberfest twice and am yet to drink a whole maß due to pregnancy last year and breastfeeding this year. Next year will be the year I finish a litre of beer. I may even go all out and wear a dirndl. Crazy, I know.

2. I love musicals. Love them. I remember my mum taking us to see Anything Goes, 42nd St, South Pacific when we were little and I`ve loved that combination of singing, dancing and acting ever since. She also took us to the opera, ballet and plenty of theatre. I now realise how important it is to do things like this with your kiddies and never assume they`re too young. Ok, maybe Elke is too young but I know Oli has caught the musical bug. We lost count of the number of times we were made to listen to the Lion King cd on our recent travels to Italy. Though secretly I loved it. And sadly I still knew the songs word for word.

3. I am the most indecisive person in the world. Apart from my mum. And my sister. Oh and my other sister. I wouldn`t go as far as labelling it decidophobia. But it`s bad and very annoying for all involved. I can spend what seems like hours trying to choose between 2 pairs of shoes. Only to find it all too difficult and walk away. And then attempt it again the next day.

4. David likes to call me a crusader. Growing up my mum was (and still is) a passionate environmentalist, feminist and all-round lefty (or according to her: a social democrat). She taught us that if you want to enact change then you need to be pro-active. Stand up for what you believe in and let your voice be heard. Especially as we`re lucky enough to live in a country where this is possible.We used to enjoy going along with her to protests and I can still remember shouting, ´´What do we want? Education. When do we want it? Now!``

5. 6 years ago, Dave and I planned to move to London so we could see some of Europe together. He had never been and wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Then I found out I was preggers. At 24. Those plans came to a sudden halt and the Europe dream got pushed to the wayside. But here we are 6 years later, living overseas and travelling around Europe just as we dreamed. Except with 2 kidlets in tow. I`m not so sure we dreamed that part.

6. My sister Chiara and I used to tape songs off the radio, write down the lyrics and practice them over and over again until we knew them by heart. Then we would perform them. Dance moves and all. Time of Our Lives, Opposites Attract. Preferably duets but we were open to some Bananarama. Man, how I wish we`d recorded our attempts.

7. I`m bad with money. Really bad. I think it`s kinda funny I ended up marrying an accountant. Oh and David wanted me to add that I`m particular. Annoying so. Just not where it matters according to him. Whatevs.

xxx 

St Martin.

Another year, another St Martinsfest. At least the lanterns are different. Last year Ola made an owl. This year, a frog. We lit lanterns, sang St Martin songs, watched a play (Oli scored the part of St Martin`s horse. He pretty much nailed it.), shared bread and drank warm punch.

Oh and the week without David started off fine. He left on the Saturday afternoon, no problems. 2 days later it was a different story. Elke became sick with a cough thing and then a few hours later I came down with a sore thoat. By the next morning I could hardly move but luckily friends and neighbours came to the rescue. A visit to the doctor and some antibiotics later I was on the mend. Elke still has her cough and now Oli is sick. I`m getting flashbacks to this time last year when our run of sickness began. Those Northern Hemisphere viruses are the worst. The worst. I´m sure by the time we come home to Oz we`ll be immune to them all...

xxx

And Vettel`s win? David is dumbfounded. Disappointed. Dissatisfied. Disheartened...not happy.

The Day You Went Away.

 

Back for more coffee, hot chocolate and cloudy skies.

Some lovely weather for taking a stroll through the Theresienwiese. Oktoberfest has been held here for the past 200 years. Though it looks a little different than it did a month ago. Also the location of the annual, giant fleamarket. The largest in Bavaria and seriously good fun. The circus tents are part of preparations for the upcoming Tollwood winter festival to be held here later this month.

New baskets.

Crazy cardi. Crazy hair.

Benedikt (`Bene`) the bunny. Victim of Elke`s wrath.

David left today for a week long business trip to Bangkok. Oli was very nonchalant about the whole thing. Farewelled him with a quick kiss and cuddle and off he scampered to his room. 15 minutes later I could hear crying coming from upstairs. There he was, lying on his bed, listening to Bon Iver, crying: ``paaapaaa, paaapaaa´´. He was fine until he popped on that cd. Little boy. Big heart.

xxx

A random thing happened while we were walking through the Theresienwiese. Oli fell over whilst riding his scooter. Nothing special, this happens all the time, right? Right, but there happened to be lady standing nearby who saw him fall and ran over to see if he was ok. She saw that he was relatively unharmed and then proceeded to hand Dave some money and told him to buy something nice for the little, injured boy. A random act of kindness. So shines a good deed in a weary world.

The Long Weekend.

I had some dreams there were clouds in my coffee - Carly Simon.

It was a long weekend here in Munich and the weather was unusually balmy. Today is 17C. That would be 10 whole degrees warmer than last weekend. The weather here in Munich can be so fickle.

We kicked off the weekend with what is possibly the only good coffee in this whole city, then spent a lazy day at our local biergarten, played knights with the neighbours, did our bit for promoting the kindy fleamarket and finished it all off with some Halloween madness. Oli was still so sad about missing his kindy Halloween party so Dave relented and ended up going trick-or-treating with him. We ripped up a newish white sheet added a cowboy hat (to cover some Elke tomato fingers) and off they went. Only to return after just one house. Apparently Oli freaked out at some of the scarier costumes from the neighbouring competition and that was it. Trick-or-treating was over. Finished. Fertig. Fine. Fin. Along with my newish white sheet.

xxx