D'you know, I think I'll actually manage this time to write a reasonably short blog entry! Mad!

So I've started taking my nephews swimming on Tuesday evenings. We've been to two different swimming pools so far (in Michaela's car), and they were both cool. The first week, when I was playing chase with the boys in the heated outdoor pool, I nearly drowned because I was laughing so hard: Charlie, splashing and thrashing as he tried to put distance between us, shouted "Get away from me, you freak!"

I had a cracking weekend, the kind I hope to spend again & again this summer. It kicked off with dinner at my favourite Greek, Lucullus, with a couple of mates followed by drinks in town on Friday night. Then I spent all of Saturday in town, first for a late breakfast, then for lunch, then sitting in the blazing hot sun at the beer garden at the Chinese tower in the English Garden, then at my mate Walter's place for dinner and too much wine. The whole day was most amusing. Then Sunday was a complete contrast: just lying around in the sun by the riverside at the island called Flaucher, rounded off with dinner & drinks at the Flaucher beer garden. A top weekend.

I should mention that I did as the locals do, and got all my kit off to sunbathe. I felt a bit uncomfortable to begin with and very aware of my nudity, but I managed to console myself with the thought that I would have stuck out much more if I'd kept my clothes on. Germans seem to see nakedness at the beach in much the same way as they see nakedness in the changing room or in the sauna, i.e. as completely normal. And who am I to challenge their cherished view?

I had some top tapas at a Spanish place near Goetheplatz on Monday night. They really tasted like the food used to when I lived in Santander. It was great! And I had a wonderful German meal on Thursday night when I met up with Oliver and his friends Christian & Trixi. The four of us are going to visit Israel together later in the year. That should be a lot of fun!

And the weekend just gone was a pretty good one too, especially as it was sort of a long weekend by virtue of yesterday being a Bank Holiday. Okay, I had to work on the Monday in between, but I can sort of blot that out if I try hard enough. The weather over the second half of April has been just mindblowingly gorgeous. Here's hoping the summer is this good...

On Saturday we brunched, then hit the Auer Dult (a market just down the hill from me that is open three times a year and specialises in crockery and antiques), then hit the river for a spot of sunshine, then hit a beer garden in town for dinner, then went to Peter's house for drinkies and a late-night chat.

On Sunday we brunched again, then cycled out to the Westpark (an obscenely huge park that stretches westwards from the Wiesn where they hold the Oktoberfest), then I headed out to Harry's house for a couple of beers as he was having a barbie with a few friends.

Apart from having to work, Monday was a cracker too. I went to dinner at Oliver's house with Ferdinand and we drank lots of German sparkling wine to go with the delicious coconut & tomato pasta that Oliver rustled up, all the while listening to '80s classics from our childhood.

The extension of the weekend on Tuesday was pretty good too, with more brunch followed by a spot of sunning myself in the English Garden with Lorna (thankfully, as Brits neither of us felt the need to get naked), then tea & biscuits back at mine. But after a record hot/dry/sunny April for Germany (this time last year it was still snowing!) the weather has turned a bit colder, with gusty east winds taking the edge off the hot sun and lying around (semi-)naked no longer so appealing.

All these recent excitements have helped to take my mind off the fact that I have a huge sty on my left eyelid which is actually quite painful. Hopefully the antibiotics and the cream I'm rubbing into it five times a day will deal with it soon, because I'm fed up of having to wear my glasses all day.