The Bavarian Rain
In two weeks there have already been several evenings of very heavy rain. I should be forgiven in thinking that I am in a rain forest rather than Bavarian, save for the lack of extreme heat and humidity. Right now as I write this entry, it is already late evening, and the rain is heavy, dense and loud. The sound is incredibly musical; the sky is completely dark. A dim street light lit up a small patch of trees. The leaves are wet and shimmering. I am standing on the balcony of the house, overseeing the garden, where my friend's pair of pet bunnies seek shelter under a huge stool. Far away, a family is having a party in the garden. The merry laughter of the party-goers punctuate the music of rain, occasionally. There is a unique freshness in the air. As I inhale, it travels through my nose, my lungs and permeates my entire body. I took another breath.
Doing Over 180km/h On the Deutsche Autobahn on a Rainy Night (The German Motorway)
I wasn't doing the driving, unfortunately, as I only recently got my license in a country that drives on a different side of the road and has speed limits on its motorways, quite unlike most of the stretches of the Autobahn. The combination of being allowed to drive at this speed and the capacity of the car to remain smooth at this speed turns driving into an art. In the darkness all the other cars (going at more or less the same speed if not higher) flashed by like lightning. We overtook at least seven cars within half an hour, each time revving up even higher. This was the moment I fell in love with speed - I promise myself to firstly, become a really good driver, and secondly, learn to drive on the left, and lastly, move to Germany.NB. It is NOT true that there is no speed limit at all. When the ground is wet, the limit is usually 100km/h and sometimes that also applies between 10pm - 6am. The funny thing was, most of these German car/speed-lovers observe such rules, even if it's on five minutes past10pm!
Early Morning Stroll from Stachus to Marienplatz (a.k.a. centre of the Münchner Universe)
My daily commute in Munich consists of 15-min walk to the village train station, 30-min ride on the S-Bahn (when it decides to run normally, which is not always the case. I will save the rant for another time), interchanging at Marienplatz to the U-Bahn, another 20-minute ride plus a 10-min walk to the classroom. One morning I got off at Stachus, one stop before Marienplatz and walked the stop. It was a straight line along Munich's high street (Neuhauser Straße and Kaufinger Straße) which during the day is packed with local folks and tourists. Since it was only 8:35am, the street was deserted save for the fruit stall owners who are setting up. It was so peaceful and stress-free, and reminded me of Luxemburg, one of my favourite places in the world.
Solo-Meandering in the Forest I live next to...and finding something unexpected...
The second weekend of August was a long weekend (Bavaria = Catholic state, + Assumption Day = Monday 15 August is a day off) so the wonderful MVV decided to do work on my S-Bahn line meaning I couldn't go into Munich quite so easily. So instead I went for a little exploration around the village. Googlemap told me that there is another tiny village behind the forest I live next to. But as soon as I got into forest I loved it so much I stayed inside the forest. Armed with a compass (so old school), a camera, water and a bar of hanuta, I went deeper and deeper. The forest turns out to be Forstenrieder Park. About an hour and a bit of brisk walking I noticed this...
then this...
Red Mushrooms, Fairy-Tale Style! I have never seen wild mushrooms in my own life, let alone this type of mushrooms! : )
then this...
