“Sibirische Kalte” and other stuff

Well it’s really cold here. I’m happy we’re not in Paris or Berlin, as the temp in Munich is merely -11 C, instead of -26. We have the blessing of bright sunny days, which helps make up for the cold. I am again really happy to be so close to the Ubahn station, today I zipped down there & took the train 1 stop to Karstadt, to do my grocery shopping. I did walk that far earlier, to go to the health club. I didn’t want to make that walk twice. Even in my big puffy coat, and with my big puffy boots, the cold seeped in quickly.

A week ago, I attended a memorial service for Susan, one of the ladies in the club. She was what I now consider to be young – 57 – when she died of cancer in the fall. I did not know her well, but the general feeling was ‘we in the club support each other’ so I went. Sadly, during one of the tributes, her friend mentioned the first time she’d seen Susan (when they met, just 4 years ago), she was larger than life, a wine in one hand & a cigarette in the other. Oof. DON’T SMOKE! STOP SMOKING! It’s deadly! And the health problems sneak up on you when you’re in your prime – kids just grown, you’ve sorted out all the career muddle, traveling the world.

Over the weekend, we sought a break from the cold. Logan booked us a flight to Malta, the farthest he could get us south in Europe. And as a plus (and the deciding factor) they speak English there. Had a great time wandering the island, marveling at the massive fortifications and learning quite a bit of history. I must have been asleep when they talked about Malta in the context of WWII – there were over 3500 bombing sorties over Malta, as it was so strategically important to the allied forces. It’s very close to North Africa and Italy, and served as an airplane and submarine base. The pictures of the rubble were astounding. 1 in 200 Maltese lost their lives, 1 in 70 was injured. And this type of conquest has been going on for centuries - Phonecians, Romans, Turks, etc. Fortunately, current pop culture has not overtaken them yet. And Malta & Gozo (the other island just a 15-min helicopter ride away) have some of the oldest standing stone temples on the planet. It was fascinating to walk around them. Of course, the weather wasn’t great, but that also keeps down on the number of tourists. It was much like Northern California now – cool, rainy and windy. But it wasn’t Siberian!