Still beautiful weather in Munich

Can’t believe how fast the time is going! And the weather here is still great, bright & sunny and not too cold today. So I’ll get out this afternoon and wander around the Christmas markets. Every small ‘square’ or pedestrian area here in Munich has bloomed with wooden stalls selling food, Gluhwein (hot mulled wine), and handcrafts. I love to wander around looking at them and it’s great that it is not as cold as last year.

At the beginning of November I was in London, and saw two spectacular things: a Leonardo exhibit at the Victoria & Albert, and a show.

The Leonardo exhibit is part of ‘Universal Leonardo’; a pan-European and UK show this year. Instead of moving all the things to one location, many museums are hosting exhibits showcasing his works. A couple months ago I saw the one in Munich. In all of Germany, there is one Leonardo painting, Madonna with the Carnation – and it’s in Munich. The exhibit showcased the painting, which is now believed by most art historians to be one of his earliest works, and his first in oil.

Experience, Experiment and Design is the exhibit in London at the V&A. It is one big room with pages of his manuscripts under glass, and an excellent audio guide to his inventions, his interests and his firsts. For example, he was the first person to do an ‘exploded’ drawing of an item. It was so delicious wonderful to be in a room with pages that Leonardo actually wrote. After that, spent the rest of the day wandering the museum, which I had wanted to do for a while.

The show was the musical ‘Wicked’, based on the book by Gregory MacGuire. I really enjoyed the book. The show was spectacular. The lead singers voices were fantastic, and the staging and costumes so much fun to watch.

We also went to – had to do it – 'Spamalot'. Tim Curry played King Arthur. Very much fun and reminds me I want to buy the DVD when I get back in the states, and get ‘Life of Brian’ too.

We went up in the London Eye, the weather was sunny and cold all 5 days we were there. We had a great day to do the Eye. I can recommend it if you don’t have to wait in line too long. You get so hig above the city that it’s hard to make out what you’re looking at, (everything looks foreshortened and the same color) but you can buy a guide that helps.

On to other things – it’s been the season for going out here. Several people are leaving Munich about the same time, and we’re having farewell dinners, etc. Judi has hosted a couple, she left first but only for 3 months and will miss the actual departure of a several people so she started having people over. She had one dinner that was a 3 course meal for 22 people – and her kitchen is tiny. I don’t know how she did it. And she cooked one of the dishes that the chef had showed us, in France. She had us mix up and sit with people we didn’t know. I got talking to the guy next to me, he’d worked in Silicon Valley. He found out I’d worked at Sun, and said “You must know my good friend Tony.” And I do! Small world.

Marcia also was on the trip to France. In her earlier days she was a runway model, and she is still gorgeous. She called me up the other day and invited me to accompany her to the Escada outlet near here. You can only get in with membership. Oh boy, was that fun! I restrained myself to 5 items that fill in holes in my wardrobe left by my recent purge. Well, OK, the suede pants the same color as my eyes weren’t exactly a replacement … but they look great. I did buy a suit for when I have a work-type dress up occasion.

At the LIA Fair, I won exactly the prize I wanted, in the Tombola, a gift certificate for a haircut by Ina Fiedler, the best haircutter I have ever gone to. Jackie, prez of LIA this year, found Ina years ago and recommends her to all. I have had several cuts by Ina and the last one was the best. The guy who owns the shop. Kurt Kuchler, is very spiritual, has been to Tibet, etc. Ina is also on a spiritual path and we have great discussions. This time, she asked if she could cover her mirror when she cut my hair, and I said sure. They have decided it makes for a better haircut if the client just relaxes with their eyes closed. I must say it was a soothing experience and resulted in a great cut.

I had been helping with the IWC (other women’s club) Christmas party, ran around buying door prize gifts on Thursday before my haircut. That evening was Logan’s work holiday dinner. Great restaurant, great food, great wine. On Friday, Renu called and I met her in town for a couple errands, then we went back to her place to watch a DVD called “The Secret”. Great stuff along the lines of “What The Bleep Do We Know”. I am so appreciative of having these experiences and having these wonderful people enter my life. I have been working to adjust my attitude, with all that I’ve learned over the past few years and my life is turning wonderful.

Friday night was a trip to Tollwood, the annual winter fair set up on the Oktoberfest grounds. The band was Trouble Boys, a rock cover band. O balm to my soul to hear those guitars ringing out. They started with Whole Lotta Love and cranked from there. But the tent got very smoky, as it will do here with all those idiots smoking everywhere and I felt not so good by the end of the evening. Well, I had a cold coming on. I rather resolutely ignored it yesterday, as the IWC Christmas party was last night. And I was one third of the set-up committee. We did get the place decorated and it looked great. The party was a success and I got home around 11, not much worse for the wear.

Now it’s time to get breakfast and then launch myself out into this wonderful city again. I love Munich. I will live back here again, and soon. I will give Rochester 2 years as my main home base and then I’m either relocating or adding in other home bases for part of the year.