Since Berlin I've been mostly in Munich, catching up with people for food. Examples: Schnitzels with Harry & Dieter down the road from me; brunch at Michaela's with Montserrat and her kids; crêpes at Béné's made by her goddaughter Tiffany from Nice; a birthday dinner for Fritz at a marvellously lively Greek place where they threw serviettes instead of plates, which was a good thing seeing how many they threw; a belated birthday dinner for me at L'Osteria with my old EPO friends - HUUUUGE pizzas!; and dinner with Lorna & Tomasz.

The exception to this recent Munich rule was a weekend in Austria with Michaela & the boys, catching up with family for food (Tante Martha baked heavenly Guglhupf for us once again) and sunning ourselves on the banks of a nearby lake: yes, there was finally a bit more summer! The drive down and back was blissfully uneventful and stress-free - oh, apart from nearly dying when someone pulled out of the slow lane right into the side of us. The A8 motorway from Munich to Salzburg is usually full of roadworks, but this time it was absolutely clear both ways.

And now it's time for a general observation: This year's weather is just no good. It's not consistently cold & wet, but it's just not what you'd call summer either. We're having to get our sun whenever we can, which in my case includes stopping off on the banks of the Isar for an hour or so on my cycle ride home from work.

Luckily for me, food quality is not affected by ambient temperatures - or at least my consumption of it isn't! I've had some knockout food recently. The first super duper meal of recent weeks was a complete surprise: Christian & I headed out to Feringasee for a spot of dinner at the local Bavarian restaurant there and I really wasn't expecting much, but my grilled fish platter turned out to be divine!

The zander was not too hard, the trout was exquisite and the char was just out of this world! Dessert was a treat too: we drove to Ostbahnhof and found a gelateria with very exciting flavours, then ate our ice creams whilst wandering through a village-style fête that had appeared in front of the station. It was bizarre to see such non-cityfied people in the heart of Munich.

My second meal of note was at the Kloster. Oh my, am I glad we go there most Mondays! The wine list is fab, the company wonderful, and the food is always great and often awesome. On this occasion though, they really outdid themselves: fior di zucca - lightly battered courgette flowers stuffed with ricotta and parmesan. Oh My Gooooooooood they were amazing!!!!!!!!

Just to prove I can write about stuff other than food, here's a mad coincidence that happened to me recently: after about two years of peace on the Underground, they came round checking tickets the other evening on my way home from badminton. And then again, the following morning, on the way to work! Twice in 24 hours! Good job I had a ticket...

And another coincidence: I was just on my way to an Internations party, where I was meeting Bénédicte, and I ended up missing a tram connection and walking through the centre of town, when who should I run into (almost literally) but Karin, on her way home from buying Lebanese groceries in the Landwehrstraße! And it was a double coincidence, since she had just bought me some houmous and was going to give it to me next Stammtisch on Monday. Instead she gave it to me there and then. Which meant I had houmous in my pockets for the party, but what the heck.

Just at the moment it's raining non-stop. The Isar is bursting its banks along the bit where I cycle to work (I managed to avoid an absolute downpour this morning; yesterday I took the U-Bahn cos there was no way I was getting on my bike in THAT weather) and I felt a visceral excitement at the spectacle of the raw power of the floodwaters as they rushed past. At one point I even braved a bridge underpass that was still very much underwater.

It took me back to the time I foolhardily set out to cross a Thames in full spate on my bike back in Oxford in '95. Since I could see the lampposts that edged the cycle path across the flood plain, I thought I might be able to make it. But about 20 metres in I realised that the path was sinking lower and lower into the floodwaters, and I would soon be swept from my bike, so I did the sensible thing and turned around. Sodden in the shoe department but otherwise unharmed.

Anyway, that'll do for now. I'll write again soon, I promise!