NEWSFLASH: I'm doing another blog entry! This one will cover May, the month in which I turned totally old (or 37, as it's otherwise known) - but not as old as some people...

Because the month actually started with Bénédicte's 40th birthday party in Tuscany. I flew down to Pisa with Janie, and after a quick peek at the Leaning Tower (which really does lean at an alarming angle) we picked up Franck from the airport and headed down together in my hire car to the Agriturismo hotel outside Volterra that Béné had picked as a venue.

The Friday night (the last night of April) was dedicated to the Queen of the Netherlands, it being Koninginnedag (Queen's Day) and there being lots of Dutch at Béné's party: friends from the years that she spent working in Amsterdam. We all dressed up accordingly in orange and had lots & lots to drink & eat, first at the side of the pool, then in the delicious hotel restaurant, and then on into the night back at our apartment building (on its own hill - fabulous!).

The first day of May was similar, to be honest, minus the orange clothing. We started with a fabulous breakfast, went on to spend most of the day at the pool. In the afternoon we had a quick sightseeing stroll around Volterra, then we headed back and enjoyed a barbecue & lots more to drink. The party went on until 4am, at which point I had to drive back to Pisa airport for my flight back to Munich at stupid o'clock in the morning.

Because that afternoon I absolutely definitely had to be at a choir rehearsal. It was almost time for our performances of Bernstein's "Mass", which we were doing in conjunction with an orchestra and several solo singer/dancers in the newly reopened St Mark's Church in Schwabing. The rehearsals were much trickier now that we were having to memorise all the music and learn moves to go along with the singing.

The final dress rehearsal was on Thursday 6th, but we rehearsed on Monday night & Wednesday night as well. What with three performances on the next three nights, it felt like all I existed for was Mass! In fact, it was very bizarre NOT singing for three whole evenings before the final performance the following Thursday night!

Just as I came out of my choral phase, I had the pleasure of Rich visiting me from New York for a few days (en route to a conference in Prague). We had a great time in Munich (for instance at the Löwenbräukeller, and later at Barysphär bar with Béné, Bezi, Marie-Laure & Janie) and outside town (with a day-trip out to the monastery & beergarden at Andechs with Harry, Dieter & Bernhard).

And the following week it was time for me to get OLD. The weather was disgusting, which helped. But some twenty or thirty people braved the cold & rain to join me at Nockherberg and commiserate the passing of another year. That was the night that Hugh & Lee arrived from Paris on the train

We had a cracking long weekend with them in & around Munich. Highlights included a bit of culture at the Pinakothek der Moderne (I can highly recommend the painter Neo Rauch, by the way); a visit to Chiemsee and Mad King Ludwig's castle on the Herrenchiemsee island; a memorable night in Carmen's disco; a proper picnic in the Wienerplatz Biergarten; and a slap-up dinner at Béné's place.

The weather at LAST started turning a bit nicer, so we had a day out at Starnberg with Michaela, Lisa & the boys, and then I rounded off the month with a monster English roast dinner at my place for Béné, Marie-Laure, Bernhard, Anja, Uli & Heidrun. There was Pimm's & lemonade as an apéritif, I did a prawn cocktail starter, roast beef & all the trimmings for main, and a huge trifle for dessert. Followed up, of course, by a selection of British cheeses. YUM!!

Voilà a whole month, condensed into a bite-size snack of an overview - well, bite-size for me anyway!