So it's autumn now. Officially. Oktoberfest is over, the weather has turned a couple of notches colder, and the next big party in people's heads (I'm not counting Halloween, that semi-holiday of dubious American heritage) is Christmas - or more precisely the Glühwein at the Christmas markets in town squares hereabouts.

I've had a lovely start to autumn though! The last weekend of Oktoberfest was fun because Bénédicte's friend Nath from Amsterdam was down with her Dutch husband & his two best mates, and Béné's friend Aleks from Berlin was also in town. We all met up in the Augustiner beer cellar just off the Marienplatz for far too much beer on Saturday afternoon.

Lorna & Tomasz joined us (Lorna was also in town for the weekend) and then, after a few drinks, the Dutch contingent were hungry. We wandered past a few places but eventually found a table big enough (and an establishment willing to take veeeery drunk people) at Donisl. The food was, erm, a bit underwhelming, but beggars can't be choosers. Then Béné & her guests headed off home (they'd been drinking since 11am) whilst Lorna, Tomasz & I headed to Prinz Myshkin, the fab veggie restaurant, for dessert & a drink. It was a good deal less rowdy in there, I can tell you!

The weekend was crowned by another delightful cheese & wine evening at Lorna's on Sunday night. It was just the two of us, but even so it felt like a continuation of the cheese evenings we used to do when Phil was still living in Munich. We drank wine, ate snacks and talked all evening, moving on to Pardi for a last drink just as the rain that had threatened all day started to fall.

I've been taking advantage of my weekday lunch appointment availability quite extensively in recent times. I've had lunch with Michaela, with Bénédicte, with Gabi & with the whole EPO crowd on various days. The cycle ride over to the Westsite building (known affectionately as Westshite to those recently relocated there from my old offices in the centre of town) isn't as bad as all that, once you find a route that avoids the worst of the main roads.

More visitors than I was expecting graced my flat last week: my friend Rasmus from Denmark has been planning to come for some time, but my friend Reto from Switzerland dropped by on very short notice. Thankfully, my flat was big enough for them both to stay. And we had a great evening together, first drinking beer in the airport's onsite microbrewery, then moving on to the Kreuzberger inn in town (where we were met by Christian, Bénédicte and Bezi), having a couple of cocktails in Wassermann, and finally one for the road in a bar the name of which now escapes me just off Gärtnerplatz.

Breakfast on Saturday was delicous (Reto had popped out to the Hofpfisterei to buy bread to bring back with him to Zurich, and he picked up some amazing white rolls which you needed a sledgehammer to crack open they were so crusty & good!) but before long Reto had to drive home again. Rasmus & I walked into town later for coffees, ox sandwiches & other delights, before meeting Béné for a drink in the Hofgarten (where the waitresses were SERIOUSLY stressed owing to the sudden warm sunshine that brought unexpected masses of customers).

Béné invited us to her place for apéritifs and then we headed to Sushi Cent together, where we were met by Christian & Béné's two French friends Frank & Mathieu. Anne-Laure, the French girl who took my place at the EPO, joined us after we had demolished piles of sushi and went with us (minus the two French chaps) to the Unions Bräu, a brewery/restaurant in Haidhausen that I don't think I've ever been to, despite having lived practically next door back in '02. It was a little quiet in there, but to be fair we got there just before closing. I'll have to go back.

We spent Sunday in the glorious autumn sunshine on the shore of the Ammersee, a lake to the west of Munich. Béné kindly drove me, Christian & Rasmus there. In the other car Michaela took the boys. And we met up with Steffi & Tommy - who I haven't seen for AGES! - and their two kids just near the lake. What a lovely afternoon we had together! The kids were playing in the water, we were sitting in the beergarden, it felt like a proper Sunday. Later on that evening Christian, Rasmus & I had piles of paella in the El Espanol restaurant in Haidhausen.

Monday was an even more gloriously sunny day. Rasmus & I made the most of it by catching the S-Bahn to Herrsching and then walking up through the forest to the monastery at Andechs. We rewarded our efforts with beer from the famous monks' brewery and huge hunks of roast pork, before walking down again & catching the train back into town - as well as catching some Z's on board. I dashed over to Kate's house to do some German with her son and then headed back to my place to bring Rasmus to our Stammtisch at the Kloster. His German is much better than I thought!

Tuesday was Rasmus' last full day in Munich. The weather was turning - in fact there were some fat showers that morning just as I popped out to my cheesemongers to stock up - but we still made the most of the day, by eating a good breakfast, then meeting up with Michaela again for coffee & cake, and then spending a couple of hours in the Deutsches Museum, before having a beer on the terrace at the Müllersches Volksbad (catching the last rays of evening sun) and then heading to Christian's flat, where we met up with Matthias & all enjoyed Christian's Käsespätzle.

And then it was time to say goodbye again. But not before introducing Rasmus to two last Munich traditions: a Weißwurst & Weißbier breakfast (at Isarthor, just near Isartor) and a random encounter with a crazy woman (in this case the owner of a funky new coffee bar just behind Isartor). She is seriously loopy! But I'll have to go back, because her coffee was divine and her cooking smelt wonderful. So, after a final coffee near Rosenheimer Platz in the EssBar (another place I'll have to go back to) we headed out to the brewery, had one last beer in the brewery, and parted company.

My mind was taken off the farewells by going to the Kammerspiele that evening with Christian, Sabine & Rudi, first for dinner in the Blaues Haus restaurant and then for the play itself, a modern interpretation of the Greek tragedy Medea which was actually very very well done. Plus it was the first time I'd experienced nudity at the Kammerspiele; apparently every play had some nude dudes back in the '80s when that was groundbreaking, but they've moved on since.

And this evening I've just been out for dinner with my dear friend Veronika. We fancied a walk after dinner so we decided to grab a coffee in another restaurant, and we ended up in a new place just between Faun and Sushi Soul. The food looks tempting there too. So many new places to try!! Life is good.