#photofail

The end of an era... My lovely neighbours left Rosenheim for good on Monday.
Sunday we went for our final dinner together. As I had realized that I don't have any photos of them, I asked the waitress to take a pic. The result after several minutes (I was assuming she was taking quite a number of shots...) was this:

😂😂😂😂😂
(in all fairness, she did manage a second photo which was kind of decent 😉)

getting back into the swing of it

As a belated birthday gift, I got a monthly subscription to Headspace and have been doing their Take 10 meditation introduction. Having meditated before, I've been finding it easy to get back into it. Especially being patient with myself. I recall taking a colleague to a class back in London and she was so frustrated with herself, and felt she was doing it wrong. When really it's about accepting that our minds very often flutter around and that with practice one generally gets better at letting thoughts go instead of holding on to them - and then berating ourselves for not succeeding in 'simply' being present in the moment.

Just like sports, meditation is one of these things that I find so beneficial and still don't make time for it regularly. The beauty of life is of course, that we can start over at any given point in time. Such as right NOW! 😉

coaching with love

coaching with love (aka Nina and Jenni) were hosting an evening at the Hasenöhrl in Bayerischzell. Four women were invited to talk about their personal journey, all in the spirit of: Do your (own) thing!
And I was lucky enough to win a free ticket via their fb give away.

The evening started with punch and roasted chestnuts. Outside. Yes, it was freezing cold! So the fire came in handy. Nevertheless, when I couldn't feel my toes anymore, I ventured back inside, to sit beside the fire there. And I got to know Linda. Of course I was excited when I heard about her international career including 7 years in my beloved London!

Then the main event of the night started, moderated by Nina's fiancee. A lot of it sounded familiar and all four of them were brutally honest about some of the tough stuff they had to go through. Once more, I am grateful that (so far), I haven't experienced a physical or mental breakdown. I do believe that certain experiences in my life make me determined not to 'suffer through' bad phases, or to at least get myself out of them before any significant damage is done.

Afterwards, we enjoyed some cold meats and cheese (the typical Bavarian Brotzeit). And Linda and I were joined by Rosi and Martina. A lovely evening, which ended with us exchanging contact details and me having gained a potential new coaching client, too!

At the end, Rosi said something about what a positive person I am. Which made me very happy indeed 😊

It took me about 45 minutes to get there. And what can I say?! I enjoyed the drive!!! Crazy, right?!
The landscape looked so beautiful, driving up into the mountains was a tiny bit scary at one point as my Seat Ibiza has no power and I was struggling up the hill...
Besides, after about 30 minutes, my tank warning light lit up. With no petrol station in sight, I figured, I'd be able to make it back to Rosenheim. And I did. Probably not advisable to test the limits like this again... When I had made it back to Rosenheim, I was so relieved and went straight to the first petrol station. Just to realize that it was closed already (it was just after 23:00) 😞

5 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Exactly five years ago, I wrote my first ever blog entry.

I don't think I expected to keep it going so long.
The motivation for starting it back then was really two-fold: 

1) practise my writing as a preparation for my plan to write a book

2) use it as platform to advertise the jewellery I was making at the time

Well, you guessed right: neither happened. In five long years...

But this has become a collection of a lot of wonderful memories. Some tougher times, too, but overall, I love looking back over my entries, having captured many fun times and amazing experiences (in mediocre pictures).

To the next 5 years!

💫💞🎆🌸🍹🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🍹🌸🎆💞💫

pizza and unintentional compliments

After I missed the last usability testing get together back in the autumn because of bloody roadworks combined with my ignorance of this area (ie. inability to find another way quickly), I attended the meet up this Wednesday.

I like the concept:
Either you attend and present a new business idea, this could be a website, an app, a new product or really anything you would like feedback on. Or you attend as testing person and are asked to give feedback on those ideas/products etc.

All of this accompanied by beers and pizza.

This time, there were six different testing stations. Some of them more interesting and 'relate-able' than others. Some of the testing stations were also better than others at not making you feel like an idiot for not being able to complete the given tasks. Even though it all started with the premise that as a testing person, you cannot give 'wrong' feedback. One lady in particular - and I am not sure whether at that point she was simply so frustrated with their crappy product - didn't do very well at hiding her feelings.

Anyhow, an interesting evening.
And twice I got asked what I study at university....It does make me wonder whether it's my young looks or my childish demeanor that causes people to think I am least 10 years younger than I actually am. Also with view to coaching, I feel it would be beneficial for people to know my actual age - then again, I can of course simply state that on my website!And at the end of the day, I take it is a compliment. Still preferable than people thinking I'm older than I am!

Up on table mountain

During the various exercises I've been doing during the NLP weekends, I kept having issues with going meta - which means finding a position external to myself, from where I can look at myself from the outside and with significant distance.

The interventions from the assistants signaled me that I somehow wasn't doing it 'right' and I kept slipping back into being 'me'. I suppose a sign of how self-critical I am, as well as just how many thoughts keep swirling around my head at all times.

Anyway, I asked one of the assistants for advice (what a useful skill it is to reach out for help!). And she did a mini exercise with me. It took me all the way up table mountain. And suddenly I was filled with warmth. Warmth towards myself. And this strong feeling, looking down at myself, that everything is ok. That I am doing well and that things will develop the way they need to.

Going forward I shall try to take that image with me. And take a moment to step outside for a moment, to get some distance to whatever is going on and whatever is frustrating and upsetting me and to take that view down from table mountain.

2014 - actually physically being up on Table Mountain

La La La

I love Ryan Gosling. No secret there. And I will admit that I primarily love him because he is so gorgeous. I have this thing, that I enjoy looking at beautiful people. No further agenda or anything, I just like looking at them.

La La Land has of course been all over the media since it came out. While I love musicals, I wasn't sure I would enjoy a movie with so much singing and dancing. And jazz. But Ryan is good enough a reason to watch any movie really (which reminds me that I still haven't watched my Half Nelson DVD...).

As it happens, I had gone to the movies with P some time last autumn. He picked the movie at the time, and our agreement was, that I would get to pick the next one. And then he disappeared off the radar... Anyway, I don't give up easily and with quite a few movies out that I wanted to see, I got back in touch and out of three options (cause I am generous like that), he picked La La Land.

I watched the trailer afterwards and actually think it's a bit misleading. The movie is much better! And I loved the ending.

For those, who want to read a proper review:

The Guardian 5*

Telegraph 5*

Empire 5*💖

scary shit ...

Ok, so I generally refuse to even record a voice message, leave voice messages or send whatsapp voice messages. In short, I cannot stand listening to my own voice and the thought that somebody else can listen to my message over and over again (I know - why would they though, right???), is just too much!

As part of the #ClaimYourConfidence Challenge, we were asked to do a facebook live recording. The minute I read about that task, I dismissed it. Never was I going to do THAT! Then of course my inner ambitious voice also exists. And that voice on the other hand, called me a coward and pushed me to do it anyway.
So I did. As I didn't announce it, nobody listened in while I was doing it. But it is still scary enough to know that others can listen to it. We were asked to talk about our achievement through this overall challenge and just listing all the things I have done and that happened as part of it, reminded me how worthwhile it has already been.
Go me! 😎

*brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*

It is so incredibly cold still. My face feels like it's about to fall off. On average it's about -10°C during the day. Way, way too cold. And of course it means that the massive amounts of snow don't melt away either...

On the flipside, even I admit that nature looks pretty. On my way to Bad Aibling, I was admiring the white landscape, with the frosted trees, dipped into fog.

Occasionally there is even a bit of blue sky to be seen!

check out the full moon trying to hide away behind the tree

#3

Third NLP weekend. And it was a good one.
Every time I am simply amazed about how well the 'interventions' work. For everyone. Everyone doing it in their own way but everyone having an outcome that is meaningful to them.

As always, after those three days my head is bursting with information, learnings and revelations. Here are just a few:
- apparently my Hessian dialect is stronger when I am being my authentic self
- I am getting at better at accepting positive feedback. And yes, I AM a quick learner.
- I am able to keep my thoughts to myself and let the client get on with THEIR learnings without trying to impose my views
- somebody asked me to meet up for coffee - I know that may sound trivial but it's huge for me
- I reached out and asked somebody for a testimonial
- I have fun learning again
- I am nervous in groups and that's ok. A lot of people are.
- some people simply get on my nerves and I need to regulate how much space I give them in my life
- NLP can facilitate feeling less scared when driving

off target...

While I am not keen on giving presentations, I equally - despite my nerves - give good presentations (there, I said it. And I'm not taking it back as much as I am tempted to add something to make it sound less full of myself...).

The other day, I went to a meet up with the topic: Management in the digital age. Not that it was altogether rubbish, but I was sitting there thinking whether I was simply not getting it, or whether the presenter wasn't getting it... Based on what he prefaced it, I think the issue was that he took a previous presentation on management and tried to adapt it. Potentially not spending much thought and/or time on the adaptation. I did not see a clear link to the challenges management has in times of digitalisation. It also wasn't clear to me whether he was talking about management or leadership. And I thought it was embarrassing when he showed us a video at the end of it where you could clearly see that he had copied some of the elements for his own presentation. Also, if a presentation starts with a definition taken from Wikipedia, one does wonder whether it was the intern who prepared it...

Having said all of this, it was still worth going cause I met Hubert. And Hubert - amongst other things - offers career mentoring at one of the universities in Munich. And cause I asked him nicely, agreed to offer me some, too. WIN!
Secondly, I finally had time for at least a short catch up with T.

Reject me, please

Thanks to Christine Pereira from Soulful Selling, I came across this Ted Talk by Jia Jiang the other day (also check out her article on rejection). It's interesting AND funny! And of course resonates with my fear of failure and rejection, which I recognize is quite universal. I'm not ready yet to go all crazy and actively seek rejection for some absurd-out-there-ideas, but when I notice that I am shying away from something 'normal' because of that fear, I've been making myself do it anyway.

And I do think that putting yourself out there can create opportunities you hadn't even dreamed of! At least that is also my experience on the small scale of my small world.

shopping ban

I am running out of wardrobe space, not least as I keep sewing new clothes. So once again, I have decided to put myself under a shopping ban - with the added benefits it will have on my bank account.

Then I saw that Skagen was offering additional 20% off on their sales items which included a watch I've had my eye on for a while. When looking through their sales page, I came across another watch and then was torn between which one to get. Waiting paid off this time. And by the time I was about to place my order the watch was sold out - LOL

One of the few things that was on my shopping-ban-exceptions list was a backpack, as my old one is falling apart and with my back pain it is getting more and more useful to carry a backpack rather than one of my many beautiful handbags. 

When I received a sales email by adidas, I found this backpack. And - after spending a considerable time scrolling through their sneaker pages - resisted the temptation to add any more trainers to my collection (we all remember that I bought three pairs, replacing one not long ago,..). 

simple and pretty

*STOP*

Sorry, I don't know the source anymore, but I read about stopping your negative thoughts the other day. A group of people was asked to think about a situation that made them really angry. Everyone did, re-imagining whatever had made their blood boil in the past and as you may imagine all those negative feelings came flooding back. When someone suddenly screamed 'STOP!!!'.
Everyone was startled and when asked everyone had stopped thinking about that situation instantly.

Unfortunately we do not have somebody going through life with us at all times (well, our friends and family can indeed offer that kind of service at some times though! If we let them), but really we can call 'STOP' at ourselves, too. It sounds simple enough: increasing your awareness of your own thoughts and pulling yourself up on it immediately. Stopping and letting go.

no. 3

This one is one of my more creative pieces. Simply cause I changed the pattern.
I had already sewn a couple of this Burda 7178 pattern:
- no sleeves and sleeves, no collar
- no sleeves with collar

I changed the back and made the neckline the same as the front, as it would be a little cold otherwise.... And I went with long sleeves with a different coloured cuff (same fabric, just different colour). Not entirely sure how much I like it. I actually thought that it looked better with 3/4 sleeves, but then the fabric is quite thick and it makes more sense to have long sleeves really. The thick fabric also meant that the neckline is a bit bulky and I used top stitching to keep the neck facing in place. Lastly, and as you can even see in the photo, the darts at the front don't lie flat. I haven't yet ironed it, but I fear that ironing the fabric won't make much difference either.

Either way it feels really comfy. And once again my overlock came in very handy!

YANA

I just read YANA [Your are not alone] by Amy Klco in one go. Once started I simply had to know how it continued and couldn't put it down.
Here's the abstract:
"When Jacob writes a note threatening his teacher, he doesn't mean for anyone to find it, especially not the teacher. But Ms. Birch does find it and turns it in to the principal, not because she is afraid of the threat to herself, but because Jacob also threatens to take his own life. Now, Jacob is facing expulsion and Ms. Birch is left wondering how to tell Jacob that he is not alone."

The story is being told from both Jacob's and Ms. Birch's viewpoint. It is well written and it took me back to my old school days. I immediately felt a connection with both characters and it manages to show how universal the truth in the book is. I am sure everyone can relate to it in their own way.

And  - and this is one my quality criteria in books and films! - it made me cry.

I don't want to give away the story but you can download it here for just $0.99!
Or get the print version for $5.99.

And last but not least a big thank you to Amy for letting me read it! ❤

healthy living always starts tomorrow...

I feel like I have been stuffing my face non-stop since just after Christmas (yes, Christmas itself was not a food-fest for me!). And despite my best intentions, this keeps happening:

A new Irish pub opened in Rosenheim and since drooling over their spare ribs on their fb page, I've been dreaming about them. And they really were good. But a bit of a meat overkill for me. The coleslaw I could have done without - too much mayonnaise or whatever else the dressing was. The Texas garlic toast on the other hand was delicious!

In preparation for German carnival, the bakeries are selling an extensive range of donuts at the moment. And I picked the biggest of them all today. Filled with cherries and a vanilla sauce. So good, but so naughty...

mushrooms

G came to visit last weekend. Unfortunately the constant snowing meant we primarily spent time indoors. Which meant that my continuous eating ... continued.

just a selection... German breakfast is mandatory when I have visitors. And Vietnamese delights

On Sunday we braved the cold and went to Munich. A wee city tour and a couple of hous at the Pinakothek der Moderne for the bargain ticket price of €1 (only on Sundays).

Here I present to you 'Double Garage' by Thomas Hirschhorn:

This is what it said:

Whatever Thomas meant by it - I thought it was funky. The two rooms seemed somehow displaced in the museum, which made it even cooler. And I couldn't help but think that he must have been on drugs when putting it together.

inspiration

I am slowly but surely beginning to have doubts that A will ever complete my chair 😭
In order to revive the momentum I shared this chair pictures with him from a collection on display at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich:

my favourite is the tiny rocking chair 💞

tearjerker

When I am in the mood for a sad song, I tend to listen to one of the songs from the musical Wicked. I saw the show just before I left London and especially For Good brings tears to my eyes every time. Then yesterday this song came up, which I don't actually recall but it's sad, too. And sometimes sad is good. 

the hairdresser conspiracy

It happens every single time!
I have an on-going hate-love relationship with my hair. Mostly hate unfortunately. I've tried it all: long, mid, short, fringe, no fringe, curls, all sorts of colours etc. And I mainly yoyo between a short and long bob. Going to the hairdresser I find stressful as I already anticipate loving the result while still sitting in the chair, and hating it the day after.

Anyhow, what always happens without fail is me sitting in the chair, looking at myself and thinking that I don't actually need a haircut right now!!! For some reason, my hair always looks lovely and impeccable the day I go to the hairdresser, while it looks awful the days and even weeks beforehand. Is that just me?
And how is that possible??? 😒

Anyway, in case you are interested, I am back to a short bob at the moment.

Testimonial Time

As part of a FB challenge I am currently taking part in, we got tasked to ask somebody for a testimonial. At first, I came up with excuses of why I couldn't do it and then quickly realized that they were all bullshit really and I was just trying to rationalize not completing the task.

And what can I say: reading what I got sent made my day and I am very proud to share parts of it here:

"... I was immediately impressed by the precision and attention to detail K gives to every task. ... K gave the whole workshop a welcoming and professional air, while interaction with the attendees and solving minor problems was done with poise and good humour. 
...K’s main role ... was as Head of Meetings and Events – a demanding role for a society with over 3500 members – she managed a diverse range of events including our flagship Annual Congress hosting over 1000 attendees... .  K carried this role each year with aplomb, without ever appearing stretched.  Her personal characteristics dovetail well with this type of role: a cultured and thoughtful character with a fine sense of personal integrity and the drive and determination to always ensure a deadline is met.  K is an absolute ‘keeper’: everyone I know of who has worked with K wants her back!"

First of all I was overwhelmed by how much thought he had put into it. I expected a couple of sentences and not a full page (the above is just a part of what I received). 

Thanks to Christine for 'making me' do this 😊

quick, quick

I'm on a sewing roll.
Second garment of the year completed.
Same dress as first garment of 2017 but with a different fabric and without the 'pouch'.
Super comfy but God does the fabric fray...
My overlock came in very handy!

Celebrating the little things: finding a thread in my pile that exactly matches the fabric colour ❤

And the award goes to....

This gets the award for ugliest bit of craft (or crap...) ever🏆.

Quite a pity, as I had started to like cross-stitching towards the end of the process.
I'll stick with sewing for now.

Top left and top right show at least some improvement. As you can see I coloured in part of the bow in pink instead of white.
Looks quite pretty on the right, and then I messed it all up by trying to make it into the keyring...
Nevermind. I am facing my fear of failure 👽

the ugly truth

I'm a horribly judgmental person. I am aware and I am trying to change this.
But it's clearly taking time.

The other day I came across this article on Tiny Buddha: The truth behind judging others and why we do it.

Every time I now have a negative, judging thought about somebody else, I remind myself of the article and let go of that thought. It's quite scary how regularly this occurs.
But I am optimistic that this will get less and less with time.
Babysteps, n'est-ce pas?

that feeling

Another coaching session under my belt. And it felt great!
Seeing how my words cause a reaction in somebody else, her face lightening up (my observation and interpretation, of course), and her stating that she felt better and lighter than at the start of the session. Incredibly rewarding.

Maybe I should move my sessions to earlier in the day though, cause I feel so hyper afterwards 😊

more swinging from the ceiling

I am very excited that the local yoga studio is now offering weekly aerial yoga classes. So, I finally signed up and got myself a membership card for 10 sessions. Of course partly to make myself go regularly, too. Yoga on Monday, pilates on Wednesday and hopefully some exercising at home in between. And I really hope that my back will benefit.

Interestingly, the instructor said that aerial yoga is more demanding than normal yoga. While I feel the exercises are much more doable than the yoga classes I've tried before. Difference: I noticed slight bruises from leaning forward into the cloth. A visible sign that I've been exercising! 😂

barely visible (in the photo!!), I know...
any excuse to show my tattoo again 😎

So, and what have you been up to since 2014?

I was skyping D yesterday and realized that we had our last skype call a bit more than 2 years ago! 😲
Well, we had been messaging on and off in between, but still quite weird. And at the same time, not weird at all.

Right at the start, he summarized one of my unrealistic expectations that lead to disappointment again and again: connections with people take time. They don't develop in just a few weeks.
Ah, he knows me well...
It was great to see his lovely face (and at one point a close up of his crotch area 😂) as well as his angelically sleeping boy 💕

getting old

I write my shopping list on my mobile.
I went grocery shopping without my mobile the other day.
Yes, you guessed it.
I came back with 1 out of 10 items from that list...

first garment of the year

This was a quick sew and - for once - I am happy with the result. I am especially proud on how I used the colour gradient fabric for the different parts of the dress.

It's the Burda 7148 pattern, which I already used to make a hoodie. Despite searching on my blog (and once more feeling a bit wistful looking through my London adventures...), I cannot remember when and where I bought the fabric.

I had a bit of a panic moment, when the fabric got stuck in my machine and for the first time, I wasn't able to just jerk it out. I hate to admit it, but for the first time I opened the bit and not only was able to remove the fabric but also lots of fluff that had collected there over the years. Oooops...

And as I like the dress so much, I bought some more fabric. I want to make it using the dusky pink fabric. With the navy one, I am thinking of doing another one of this one (with sleeves), potentially without the v-neck back though. Or maybe one of these two.

€5.99/metre, Karstadt Rosenheim

Really?

Since moving to Rosenheim, I've been meaning to watch a film in OV. Mostly, I missed the films I wanted to watch and whenever I did remember to check the schedule (one film per week), there wasn't anything on I wanted to see.

The other day, somebody posted in a FB group that she was looking for people to see OV films with, and of course I jumped at the opportunity.

Passengers. I had seen the trailer, and thought it was interesting enough.
Well, what can I say.... it was crap. The storyline was really bad. Cheesy, and entirely unrealistic (I appreciate it's a sci-fi movie, but still...).
Nevertheless, nice to get out of the house (that sounds a bit desperate, doesn't it?). Half-way through the film, I suddenly realized that I hadn't consciously noticed that the film was an English (sounds weird, I know). Clearly my brain is still in English speaking mode after T's and A's visit. And, last but not least, I met a nice person and hopefully further OV movies are to follow.

The Guardian's review
The Telegraph's review

snow, snow and a bit more snow

The freshly fallen snow is beautiful. No doubt about that!
But then it turns into icy and slippery, grey slush and it's not so pretty anymore. Let alone making driving even more tricky than it already is under normal circumstances...
Temperatures are at least back to 'bearable' after an incredibly cold Saturday. Just a short walk to the supermarket and I couldn't feel my toes anymore and thought my face was about to fall off. Supposedly temperatures went down to -18C here in Rosenheim.

Adding to my collection

Thanks to T and A for this lovely birthday present!
I already tried the Lucky Lucky Lavender, which I happen to have used up recently. So, that comes in handy. And despite the small bottles, the brush is just like for the big ones and the result was streak-free and perfect (if I may say so myself...).

A collection of OPI mini nail polishes

Greetings from afar

And not so far. Got these lovely birthday flowers sent by my sister and delivered by a florist in Rosenheim:

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

By Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi


My brother sent this to me the other day. And it really resonated with me. Linking up with a lot of latest thoughts and insights. And I will attempt to go through 2017 with exactly those thoughts at the back of my mind.

Menschen 2017

Quite some years ago - and I have a feeling that I wrote about it on the blog, too - I saw a piece of art in a Scottish museum which was essentially a list of people the artist had met. I cannot remember what period of time it related to (whether a year or a decade, or most of his life). I liked the idea ever since and finally, I will try to create my own piece.

While I've been moaning a lot about my lack of a social life (in comparison to my London life), I have met quite a number of people even here in Rosenheim. Many people come and go. Some touching on my life just very lightly but even an encounter lasting sometimes just 15 minutes can hold so much beauty and wonder and wisdom. Or also just fun 😉

Once a month, I will aim to publish my list, which will (hopefully!!!) grow each month. I am just going to include new people.

7 days - the photographic evidence

Frasdorfer Hütte

Chiemsee

Salzburg

Kampenwand

Munich

Just a mini selection of food

7 days - the details

Day 1: T arrives
And - in addition to T arriving, of course - here comes THE highlight of the day: I went to pick her up at the airport by car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, this has been the longest drive I dared in a while. In the dark. And about half way there, I urgently needed the toilet... Except for a little hiccup with finding parking (which included me driving to the very end, and involuntarily having to exit the car park, as well as momentarily losing my ticket), I am very proud to say that we arrived safely back in Rosenheim. Admittedly, I did ask myself why on earth I was torturing myself in this way all the way there. With T in the car, and chatting away, it all seemed a lot easier. Which doesn't really make sense, cause I must have been much less focused...

Day 2: T's first hike
After a leisurely breakfast at Dinzler's, we went for a hike up to the Frasdorfer Hütte, also a first for me. It's an easy enough hike and on the way up, we warmed up quickly despite frosty temperatures. On the way down, it felt a lot colder though. I felt that the views aren't as spectacular as some of the others I've enjoyed on my many (5??) hikes in the area so far but with the blue and cloudless sky, it was still a good experience.
And we had enough time for coffee and cake at the Kaffä, and a tour of Rosenheim before getting sushi.

Day 3: MY BIRTHDAY!
Ok, I wasn't really excited about my birthday... I am not a birthday person, and getting closer to 40 isn't too exciting to me either...
In the morning we went to Wasserburg and had to realize that the train station is a 45 minute walk from the city centre. For once I under-researched a trip... Fortunately, the weather was ok, and it was a pleasant enough walk into town, where we had Vietnamese lunch before heading back to the station by bus. And what a lucky coincidence that was! The bus only runs every hour, and thanks to my shit phone, I wasn't able to call a taxi. But miraculously, we got the bus, and thus got to the airport on time to pick up A.
Back in Rosenheim, we had dinner at the Mail Keller. Who didn't have my reservation and also offered a reduced NYE menu, which they hadn't mentioned on the website... But the food was good, even if service was a bit slow.
We then proceeded to watch the fireworks in my street. And once again, my neighbours did not disappoint and T and A admired the spectacle that lasted 30 minutes. Back in the warmth, I introduced them to the typical German Bleigießen, where you melt a bit of lead over a candle and pour it into water. Whatever the result predicts what the new year will be like. Of course, all our futures look bright and rosy!

Day 4: the Bavarian sea
The Chiemsee is a beautiful photographic object, even on not so nice days, but that day was probably the most beautiful I've seen it so far. 💖

Day 5: the hills are alive in Salzburg
Daytrip to Salzburg and despite having been a few times, there is still more to discover, despite my earlier complaints about it being so disappointingly small... Anyhow, this time we took the funicular up the hill to visit the Fortress Hohensalzburg, including an audiotour and the museums, as well as surprisingly good and affordable Goulash and a funny looking sausage.
Back in town, we enjoyed some Austrian cakes before heading back to Rosenheim for lots of meat at my local Greek restaurant.
The day ended with lots of snow... I was very relieved that I managed the small drive from the station back to my place without much sliding across the roads at the average speed of ~20km/h...

Day 6: der Berg ruft
Another leisurely breakfast, this time at Café Innig. Interestingly, I always order the Munich breakfast despite their wide choice.... By midday the initial fog had at least lifted in Rosenheim, so we made our way to Aschau to take the cable car up the Kampenwand. And it was so worth it! Stunning views, snow, blue sky. The photos don't even do it justice!
Back in Rosenheim, we did a tour of the town centre (never takes long...), where I discovered that Alfons Schuhbeck sells (amongst many other spices) a 'sex spice'. Might be worth investing in...👯
After a drink at Arte & Vino, we had our final Bavarian dinner at Duschlbräu. Their schnitzel is so yummy. And so big. I feel I should go on a diet for the next month...

Day 7: Munich and goodbyes
The snow continued to fall, and we thus decided to skip the 3 hour walking tour and did our own small Munich tour instead. Including the Frauenkirche, the Glockenspiel at the Marienplatz, the Viktualienmarkt, a bit of shopping, watching the crazies surfing at the Eisbachwelle and enjoying some tea and cake at the Victorian House. A surprisingly nice and authentic place! I'll definitely be back to enjoy a scone or some fish 'n chips there!
And then it was time to get to the airport. The snowfall got heavier and heavier, but fortunately, the flights was only delayed by about half an hour in the end. And I also got back home safely.

A fun-packed week.
A reminder of friendship.
And a reminder how beautiful this place is!

It's resolution time again

Looking at last year's resolutions, my first resolution is to remind myself of my resolutions in regular intervals. Maybe I'll do a monthly blog update for that purpose.

Anyhow, here's this year's list (I'm sure it'll evolve with time):
1) once again: keep up the exercise! Which I at least started towards the end of 2016...
2) eat more healthily. In line with last year's number 1 of using my kitchen more.
3) stop the moaning. Argh, this one annoys me the most, as instead of getting better, it got worse over the course of last year 😒 (I appreciate the irony of moaning about moaning 😉)
4) travel
5) spend less time on the internet or more generally: be more mindful about how I spend my time

And from the archive (not sure what happened in 2015):
2016
2014
2013

language chameleon

I've written about this previously. Subconsciously, I adapt the way I speak to whoever I speak with. To a certain extent at least. I recall visiting my sister in the UK when I was 16 or so. One of her friends was American, and I started using 'like' a lot... When I spent quite a lot of time with my Aussie friends, I started mimicking their accent to the extent that others thought I was Australian or had at least learned English in Oz.

Anyway, since meeting J from my school days, it seems that I have fallen into my home local dialect again. When I met up with B, another school friend, he commented how I sounded much more Hessian than 'normal' - a bit unusual, given I now live in Bavaria. Only then did I start hearing it myself (Gosh, I should maybe start to pay attention to what I actually say! Bad enough, that I don't listen to others...). Not a bad thing at all, as I do like that accent - and let's face it: I'll never learn Bavarian...

7 days

My guests left today. After seven wonderful days. The weather was amazing with lots of blue sky and sunshine. Beautiful countryside. I ate lots of food. And had so much fun.

Thanks so much again to T and A for a lovely time!!! 

And see you hopefully soon in London 💕

more happiness, please

Who doesn't want to be happy?

Quite a while ago, I came across the author Adam Jackson (cue the Bukowski reading at a local cafe). It's taken me until now to also read his book on the 10 secrets of abundant happiness. Which I loved just as much as his book on abundant love. It actually included elements of NLP, too.
It feels that all the jigsaw pieces are coming together.

And it also reminded me of something I heard the other day, about life being a spiral. And that we learn certain lessons over and over again. This has pained me to a certain extent especially in the last few weeks. When I get to a conclusion, that I thought I had reached a long time ago. And I realize again and again that I need to be more patient with myself. Surely it's still preferable to learn a valuable lesson a second and third time, than to never have learned it all. And surely, it's annoying that I might sometimes have the need to learn that same lesson for the xth time. But surely, the general direction is onwards and upwards, right?

that's life

My Mum finished her radiation therapy at the end of November. It will take a few more weeks for the doctors to establish whether or how much the therapy improved her condition. For now, the pain has gone, which of course is a great improvement already.

Something - whether the radiation or other drugs she was on - caused her to have hallucinations though. And those became ever more vivid over the course of a week or so, and have now pretty much stopped again.

This is not something I've ever been confronted with. And I have to admit that it was strange to hear that there are people in the room with you while sitting on the sofa and watching TV. What the cause of her specific hallucinations are, remains unknown though.