Welcome once again, ladies & gentlemen, dogs, cats & babies, to the wonderful world of my dinner dates and other leisure activities!

I think I've mentioned the restaurant called Andy's Krablergarten before. It is a Mecca of pork (that's somehow very wrong, but I'm going to go with it) and in recent days I was to be found there again & again, worshipping the huge expanses of meat that hang over the edges of your plate and the delicious piles of roast potatoes; truly a 5-a-day of lard. It's a good job I'm cycling to these places instead of catching a tram.

So the weather has become a little more springlike, with a few wet days mixed into the otherwise sunny hotness. Last Saturday I escaped the downpours by spending most of the day on the phone to all corners of the world, and then by taking refuge in a tapas bar with Oliver & Christian to eat ourselves into a Mediterranean frame of mind, and then in a cinema to watch "Sunshine" (it's okay, but don't go out of your way to see it, because it's essentially just a take on the classic space thriller with a new cast). This ironic film / climate mismatch was neutralised by a couple of drinks in town with my mates Matthias & Stefan, who were over from Augsburg for the evening.

Then, on Sunday, I spent the afternoon at Michaela's house messing about with the boys, before popping over to Doris & Jens' house for Kaffee & Kuchen (the Germans do love their afternoon coffee & cake, and so do I), followed by another film evening with Oliver, this time in his flat watching "Der Schuh des Manitu", a German-language Western pisstake focussing on a pair of identical twin Indians - both played by a prominent Bavarian comedian, Michael 'Bully' Herbig - one of whom (the chief) is a classic useless bloke and the other of whom is gayer than John Inman's jockstrap, and their misadventures at the hands of hilarious baddies; all in all a cracking film!

Can I just say that I am impressed by the length of that last sentence? I feel like Thomas Mann or something!

Last week was pretty busy too. After the standard Monday night badminton and Tuesday night babysitting, Wednesday saw me (with Christina and Susanne) at Christine & Olli's new flat for a flatwarming party of chili and cocktails - yay! Then on Thursday it was Moyra's 50th birthday party, which went on well into the night (I finally got into bed at 3am). This was hardly good preparation for the weekend, because I was knackered all day Friday.

The weekend was top! Stephen & Becky flew out from London to spend a few days with me, and we had a lovely time (at least, that's what they said to my face...), first with beers in an Italian pavement café in the blazing sun, then with beers in the Nockherberg beer garden near my house, then with cocktails at Moro with Oliver, then at dinner (with more beers) at the Kreuzberger inn, and then with überportions of German pop kitsch (and more beers) at Prosecco with Oliver & Doris.

And that was just Friday night!

Saturday was dedicated to sightseeing (with beers), with a lovely walk into town past the Deutsches Museum, then we were up the Petersturm (yes, folks, I have my very own tower in the centre of Munich!), then we had a coffee at Villanis in the Asamhöfen (another tucked-away square of coolness in the middle of town), then we saw many many churches, then we walked through the Hofgarten and back to a tram and to mine for a quick kip. The evening's entertainment began at the Hofbräuhaus (with litres of beer), where Phil came & met us, rescuing us from conversation with a drunken American bore. Then dinner (and many beers) at Ayinger over the road, followed by strong beers (and beers?) at the Weißes Bräuhaus.

Sunday was a little more relaxed, inasmuch as we let a train carry us about most of the time: we headed down to Starnberg to enjoy the baking hot sunshine at the lakeside with my mate Rudi who lives there, with a view of snow-capped Alps in the distance. It would have been truly idyllic, had not half of Munich had the same idea as us: there were masses of people! Still, we found a nice bit of grass to have our picnic on and then had a pleasant walk along the shoreline to a nice café a bit further round, where we had a drink and a sit in the sun.

Then suddenly it was time for Stephen & Becky to head back to the airport. I went with them as far as Munich central station, where we had left their luggage (so as not to have to have a mad dash back to mine), and then bade them farewell.

But that wasn't the end of my day's excitements. Oh no! I jumped on my bike and headed down the Isar to the Flaucher beer garden, where I met up with Tom, Fritz, Ferdinand and Reinhold for a couple of beers and a bite to eat. And I finished my evening with a couple of wines with my mate Matthias the biologist.

And now the weather has gone all April-y (where the weather in April was all May-y). Time to reflect on the wonderful times I've been having with Brits and Germans.