Going on a trip

To Poland. My friend Ewa is starting a tour business. Several other ladies from the women’s club are going, we leave Friday and return April 6th. Not sure if I’ll be online while I’m gone. Hope the email doesn’t build up too badly!

Have a great week, dear readers, and I should have new pics to post soon.

Word for the Day:

In German: Niederschlagswahrscheinlichkeit
In English: Probability of precipitation

The Perfect Moment

I love Terry Prachett’s Discworld books. On a recent sunny Tuesday, I wandered around a new neighborhood and found The Munich Readery, a very large second-hand English book store. It smelled so good in there – shelves and shelves of books that I can read. I realized I hadn’t been in a library in over a year and a wave of homesickness came crashing in. I believe that libraries are the best invention of mankind yet, and used to be in a library for 'library therapy' at least a couple times a month.

Back in the store, I came across one of my favorite Discworld books, Thief of Time. (Of course I have all these books in storage in California, but it was cheaper to buy it here than to ship it.) I bought it, among others.

I picked it up a couple days ago and settled in for a good read. I came across this passage: “Wen considered the nature of time and understood that the universe is, instant by instant, re-created anew. Therefore, he understood, there is, in truth, no Past, only a memory of the Past. Blink your eyes, and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them. Therefore, he said, the only appropriate state of mind is surprise. The only appropriate state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now, you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now. Be glad of it.”

Stopped me cold. I marvel at the skill of the author to bung this into a very funny, slyly observant, sort-of science fiction book. And thanked the Universe for the reminder: The perfect moment is now. Be glad of it.

Spring?

Did my first German train trip out of Munich on Friday. One of the women from the clubs has moved to Frankfurt, 5 of us took the train to go see her for the day. We had reserved second-class seats, on the high-speed trains our seats were in a compartment, on the one regional train on the way back we were just seated in an open car. I liked the travel that way pretty well, will do that again.

The weather has given us a break - Sunday was sunny and warmish, as was Monday. To make the most of it, I went on a country walk on Sunday. The German-English Association here in Munich has many active members who organize lots of activites and the Sunday country walk is one. I met the group on the S-bahn platform and we took it out of the city for about 1/2 hour. Set off around a small lake (still frozen enough for some people to walk on). The path was muddy on places, icy in others but it was wonderful to be out in the sunshine. We tromped for a bit over an hour, went to a restaurant for lunch and the walked back to the train station for the return to Munich.

Today I had to find a copy shop, to copy newsletters and other info for the LIA meeting tomorrow. I had seen a couple on my rambles near the University so I went there and found a place to get the job done fast. Most are self-serve, and I have gathered the words for double-sided and stapled. It was such a nice day I treated myself afterwards to a sit in a cafe that had the windows open, a place called Croissant Show. The proprieter is French. Hey, I'm in Europe, sitting in a French cafe in Munich. Love this! Especially as Spring seems very near.

I have also found a trainer at the gym who speaks English. I had my first session yesterday - boy am I feeling it today. Not painful, but muscles that apparently haven't been worked in a while are voicing their concern. I'm sure I will feel better tomorrow. And if I don't, it won't matter, because tomorrow evening I am going to the Starkbierfest. The tradition here is, the monks fasted during Lent. To compensate for that (?) they brewed a strong (stark) dark beer for the late winter months. (So, on top of fasting they're drinking beer that is as strong as wine. Must have been very interesting, those drunken Lenten contemplations!)

These festivals are like mini Oktoberfests. Bands playing, everyone wearing their trachten, drinking and eating. One of my friends had reserved a table for 30 and I scored one of the tickets. I am looking forward to this. Must be careful with the beer, though, I like the dark beer best (have been drinking Guiness of late) and I have my next personal training session at the gym the next day at 9 a.m.

Yes, I gave it up for Lent

Bavaria is very catholic. They celebrate Faschings, the season leading up to Lent (gotta get lots of partying in, before we’re supposed to be sober and thoughtful!) Last week I went to the Victualien markt area, where there is a big outdoor Faschings party on Faschings Dienstag (Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday – day for the biggest party of the season.) Started around 10:30, the party went all day long. Lots of Prosecco being drunk. Sadly, not by me as I was coming down with a cold. People wear costumes in celebration. Most of which went nicely over their winter coats. Lots of great hats & head gear. Lots of people in cow or bear costumes - extra layer of warmth.

All parties over, people are now talking about what they gave up for Lent. I decide to give up thinking negatively about myself. Unlike giving up chocolate, this one is really hard! I catch myself a few times a day. Also unlike giving up chocolate for 40 days, I think this will really help me after Lent.

I am really tired of winter. Last Friday, I met some friends at a local Jazz club. Walked home around 11:30 – it was windy, and warmish (must have been in the low 40s). The sidewalks were clear and starting to dry. Overnight a massive storm moved in and in 12 hours, we got 90 cm of snow (that’s almost 3 feet!!) It has been snowing on & off since. Here are some pictures from Sunday morning.



Off the balcony at the back of the apartment.



Looking up the street toward the apartment.



Bikes parked overnight at the U-Bahn station.




And if you've only got a bike, you ride it no matter the weather!



Snow flooping out of the trees in English Garden. Lots of branches came down too, this is very wet & heavy snow.



A side stream in the English garden.