Peterskirche (St Peter's Church)

This is Peterskirche in Munich town centre. There is tower to climb around the church bells from which on a clear day you can see all the way to the Alps. Naturally I did not climb the 300 and something stairs, especially as the viewing platform in only surrounded by what looked like from the ground, chicken wire!!!! This photo was taken from the back of the church looking down the centre to the altar.

These are the candles which I lit in the church. One for the new born babies in my life (well they will be when I get home...), one for my family and friends, and one for myself.

And this was the main reason for the visit to the church. The shrine of St Mundita. I left her a red rose and spent some time looking at her skeleton which is entwined with gold rope and jewels. It was a rather peaceful, thoughtful time, and whilst I did pick up a leaflet about her, it is only about how her remains came to be at this location. I have still to find information as to what led her to be the Saint for Single Women. Even still, am hoping the divine intervention does not take too long to kick in.....

Munich Walking Tour

This was Jeff, our English tour guide thru Munich. When I booked into the hostel they told me about the free walking tour, and it sounded ideal, so thought I would give it a go. Figured even if it was free, the guide should know more about Munic than I did.... Well, turns out the hostel actually pays for the tour, and we joined other paying walkers, and it was awesome! In his hand he has his 'wallet' which most people who handle cash have. Cash registers are not a big thing in places like pubs and restuarants.

This is the group from the tour, outside the Royal Residences, now a museum.

The worlds most famous Glockenspiel, with chimes at 11.00, 12.00 and 17.00 daily. It depicts a royal wedding which took place, and is located in the main tower of the 'New Town Hall' (Ironically the Old Town Hall was bombed during the war, and was only recently rebuilt, so looks much newer than the New one!)

This would be the naked woman we saw enjoying the sun in the English Gardens. Apparently this is legal in certain parts of the park, and more than one cyclist has had to be rescued from the canal because they were not watching where they were going.

And this is a woman surfing in a purpose desinged outflow in the canal. The cement has been made in such a way that a constant wave is created, and there were about 6 people here sufing when we came across it!

This is 'the Devil's Footprint', an dme about to walk in it. It is in the doorway of 'Our Lady's Church'. Apparently he made a deal with the architect building the church that if the architect did not add any more windows he would help him build it in 20 years (very quick for those days). The Devil did this because from where he stood in the doorway whilst it was being built, he could only see the one window at the far end of the building behind the altar, and he thought it would make a perfect dark place for his worshipers. But naturally good triumphed over evil, as what the Devil did not know was that if he had taken three steps forward into the church he would have seen there were many windows in the side walls, which were already in place when the deal was made. So when he came back at the end of the 20 years, to check the progress, and realised he had been tricked, he stamped his foot into the floor, and the imprint remains to this day.....

This was lunch in one of the public beer gardens. Chicken Schnitzel, cold potato salad, and 1L of beer. NICE!

And this is Kyle (from Arizona), and Basim and his sister Roller (from Israel). We went out for dinner after the tour was over and we had some shopping time.

Back In London

We have returned, safely, and whilst there are many things to write and many more photos to upload, I have all the kids at home today, and Annemarie does not start school till next week. Plus I have a reunion from the Hole in the Wall on Wednesday night, a date on Thursday night and Selina is coming up for the weekend (she now lives in Somerset).

Promise I will do it all bit by bit asap.

BIG WELCOME TO COOPER JAMES EMERY!!!

Born yesterday in Wagga at 10,50am. Mum and bub doing well!

Mid week update

This has been a slow week so far. Yesterday ended with me having to go to bed whilst the visitors for dinner were still here, and me waking this morning feeling like I had slept on the floor.

Anyway, going to Stomp this evening with Max, and then heading to Munich tomorrow.

Have some photos to add, but will do all that once back in London and everything is back to normal, well as normal is it gets with my life at the moment.

Have added a counter onto the bottom of my blog, was very clever and worked it out all by myself!!!!!!! Now I will know if people are just not looking, or there are still troubles with leaving comments. I have noticed a few hiccups whilst trying to create posts, so keep persevering people, I love reading them and knowing you are all keeping up with the goings on of an Aussie Girl 'Out Of Bounds'!

Sunday in Germany

Lunch Kaffee und Kuchen

Sunday in Germany is a rather social day, with families visiting others after church for lunch, and the another family for Kaffee und Kuchen (Coffee and Cake - Afternoon Tea).

So whilst being a social day, if you are the mother who has decided to host both of these events on the one day, it is definately not a day of rest. Lynda made lasagne for lunch before going to church, then had only just finished clearing up from lunch when the afternoon guests arrived. She made a Butter-mandel Kuchen;

And the visiting family brought a Phlauman Kuchen. Ihad to laugh when the mother asked me if I knew what a prune was!

And now its dinner time!

Last nights drink selection

Has to be said that last night's beer has got to be one of the strangest ones I have found yet.

It has cola and caffeine in it, can taste each flavour, and somehow they seem to blend nicely. Sure is loaded with caffeine though, maybe I should not have had this one at night time! Whilst I was not feeling so good before I started this, I was feeing much worse when I had finished. In fact, I could not finish, had to tip the last of it out! Hope tonights is slightly better.....

Green Deutchland

This is one of the machines you put your empty bottles in.

This one is in the supermarket down the road, right near the drinks department.

You can either put them on one at a time, or a whole crate of the same bottles can go down the bottom.

Then it spits out a receipt, and you take it to the register and get you money.

You also have to pay a deposit for the crates, so you get it back then also! All kinda cool really...

Photos From Dee and Lee

These are some photos Dee sent me from their Honeymoon in the Maldives.
Had forgotten water can look like this! Can't wait for it to be safe for me to go back to Bali again!

Munich 24th-26th August

I have decided to go to Munich, for of course the history and culture, but also the biergartens and bierhalls.

I have also found, thanks to my friend and yours - Google, a shrine to St Mundita. Actually I gather it is more than a shrine, but her be-jewelled skeleton in a church not far from where I have booked my accommodation. I am interested in her not only for the sparkly things, but for the fact that she is the Saint for Single Women. Must say it kind of made my decision easy when I was tossing up between Munich and Berlin. A little divine help never hurt anyone right?!

I also promise to be a REAL TOURIST, and finally realise I am not just traveling for me here, but also for all the people I am going to make sit through a slide show when I return - better make it last more than ten minutes eh?! (I read recently that the resurfacing of slide shows was one of the top 5 annoying things about digital cameras, and I might as well get a piece of that action, God knows I have had to sit through my fair share so far in life already.....)

How good am I!

Today I somehow got volunteered to host a grill for a few children. 12 of them actually.

One of Lyndas great ideas, but of course she was not here to help.

All went well, only one injury, Annemarie lost the skin on her nose on the carpet. Not a great place for a carpet burn, but what can you do! Sure did slow her down for a while though!

Jennifer's 12th Birthday Party - Yesterday

Jennifer is one of the girls who live across the road. We are talking some serious money here. When she was younger she had a pink carriage bed from Harrods.

Anyway, for her party she had a bungee trampoline erected in the cul-de-sac.

Christina was the first to master the roll in the air, and after a while, even Annemarie was brave enough to have a go (only jumping for her though).




Check out the door hanging bought for the day (real roses!).

The older kids then stayed overnight in a tent in the back yard, and as younger sisters do, Christina told me Max had been awake till 6am, although Max insists it was only 5.30!

Lynda tells me there is an awesome party room in the basement, so will have to try and get in there to take a photo before we go.

Jever Pilsner - Friesisch Herb

Gotta be said, this one has the aroma of marijuana.

Maybe I just finally feel like a smoke after four or five beers tonight (pretty good for me, it would normally be during my second or third!), but the smell is unmistakable.

Ok, does not taste like it, but there is definate plant life happening here, and not in a good way!

In a very green way tho....

In fact, I would say the edges of my tongue are going slighty numb, nothing to do with the other beers I consumed tonight!

Ok, its all gone, and am still slightly conscience.

Might have to try it again before all the others to get a real evaluation, but check out what is next!

Actually, you will have to wait for the photos to arrive, but lets say for now, that it is not something I even like that much, but cause it is pre-mixed, and that is something rare to find on this side of the world (although you can get all the vodka ones...), I could not help myself....

Guten Nicht

Lynda rang tonight with the news that she and Johannes have decided to give me Thursday and Friday off work so I can go to another city in Germany. Am looking at Berlin and Munich from her suggestion, but would appreciate anyones advice on the subject. Am leaning toward Munich, because of the beer halls, and I promise that whereever I choose, I will try my hardest to me the eternal tourist. Even Annemarie got in on the act by telling me to take a photo of this cool car dealership we saw today on the way to Walmart! (Which I did, will add in later...)

Anyway, whilst going thru the recycling today, and comparing empty bottles to photos so I can add them to the list has made me realise I might have drunk more than I realised over the last few weeks, so whilst I will continue to photograph them all, if only to show the variety, I will only make mention of the ones that stand out.

Such as number three from tonight.

Henninger Radler der Klassiker

Lemon twist, quite delicious, could imagine it being very refreshing on a summers day.....

Now, back to the dilema as to where to go, and then of course the question arrises.....Where to stay?

Talent Show last night

Last night was a flash to the past as the children of the neighborhood gave a performance of things they had spent the afternoon practicing. Reminded me of the days when I would get a certain two boys I knew to dress up in my ballet cloths, and choreograph performances, or the ones we made up in the pool with the music coming from the window of Dad's shed.

It was great. With the great finale being a boy/man (I'm guessing 21 - gee, guess I am getting older eh?) who, when he had received the invitation that morning to the show, had decided that was just the excuse he needed to stop studying for his Uni exams to go into the shed. And a few hours later emerged with the carriage for his dog to pull! He gave a few of the smaller children a ride round the cul-de-sac before the dog - Rufus - had decided he'd had enough and just wanted to play!

Talk about a great hours, even if it was in the rain!

Zwoelf Bier

Another dark white beer, but better than the last ones.

Maybe I just really needed a beer tonight, but this one is going down rather well.

Taste not as strong, although the aroma is!


Lets hope the other one is the fridge is also as good!

Elf Bier

Has just occurred to me that whilst I have been very clever to write the number of beers in German, I have not been gramatically correct! The above says eleven beer, not eleventh bier! Oh well, these things happen!

Ok this one has lemon already in it! Very light, crisp flavour, with the gas build up in my stien nearly taking the hairs from my nose! Quite a fake taste though, not going to add this one to the repeat list. Shame, was thinking this one had the potential to be a great one for a hot day.

Sehn Bier

Not sure if I understand the purpose of a stein, or if this beer just goes flat extra fast. Might have to do a google search and see what I can find.

This one originally did not have as much flavour as the one before, but now it is going flat, has a much stonger, fuller taste.

Was quite looking forward to this one too as there is advertising for it all over the place. Also just worker out it was Alcohol free. Will have to watch out for that next time I go shopping!

Neun Bier

So, another normal beer.

Slightly strong flavour, but not an unpleasant one.

Could not tell you the colour as was the first sampled in the stein.

One observation I have come accross, since sampling all these delights, is that a pilsner is just like a normal beer, nice enough but would be better with a top or bottom. Weissbeir is great, sweeter than a normal larger, and light without being too fizzy, whilst a weissbeir Dunkel is just a big NO.

Ruedesheim - Wine country

Relos (and a few fake ones) came for a genuine German breakfast this morning. A great spread, and the best part was the thin slices of chocolate you eat on plain white freshly baked rolls. Did not sound so good when they first mentioned it, but was fabulous. Even the dark chocolate was nice with a smear of the dark berry jam on the bread!

After this Lynda, Carl, Annemarie and I headed off to the wine country. Along the way I saw a sign to Schwartz Bad. I told Lynda this was the area that the prune spread we had at breakfast was from. She decided we should take a detour and see if we could find it, and take some photos and of course get some samples to send home to be evaluated. We could not find it, but Lynda tells me the area was classic romantic German, but naturally, I did not take any photos. (I am really going to have to work at being a tourist. I did not take any photos today, and whilst we saw some pretty things, as well as a few typical German things, it did not occur to me to get out my camera!) Now we are home I worked out why we could not find the factory etc, because it is actually at Bad Schwartau, in the very north of Germany! Oh well, nice things to look at along the way....

When we finally arrived at our original destination, Ruedesheim, we walked for a while, taking in the sights. I bought a fantastic collectors edition bier stein (see photos). Was thinking I should have gotten a bigger one, but then I would have been looking at paying over AUS$140, so settled for this one. Turns out it is definitely big enough, as a bottle of beer does not even half fill it!

Now the tricky part will be how to get it home to Australia without it breaking, especially as by then there might be a complete ban on carry on baggage......

Acht Bier

Ok, another not so good one. Had it in the bath last night, and was a nice refreshment, but not a great tasting one!

Lynda (of all people) mentioned that it might be a taste similar to Guiness which I do not like in the weis (white) beer. This was after Max thought to mention to me that Dunkel meant it was made from Dark wheat, making it a dark white beer!

But unfortunately have bought a few too many of them the last ime I was shopping, so will make sure I look more carefully next time! And will ensure they are just weissbier, not weissbier dunkel!!!!

Sieben Bier

Ok, somaybe it is not all white beers, cause this one is not so good!

This one claims to be a white beer, but is very dark in colour, has a slight hint of the taste I could not recognise from the other night, and also rather heavy sitting.

Am going to have to start a list of the ones I have tried, and carry it around with me. There are too many to keep track of!

Sechs Bier

Ok, we have a winner so far!!!

This one is great. Right colour, good taste, no after taste, sweet.

Maybe I am a white beer drinker!

Fuenf und Fier Bier

Nice, poured from a pub keg, could do with a top of lemonade though.

Fifth one not as good, so went back to the first of the evening.

This was last night at the mexican beer garden, where I had Thai food and the above beer. Quite nice, will go back again sometime I hope.