I've just realised that September should be pretty quick to blog too. Seeing as it mostly consists of drinking FAR TOO MUCH beer at the Oktoberfest and other similarly alcohol-inspired events...

Lorna came to visit, and we went with Michaela & Russ to the Erdinger Herbstfest, a mini-Oktoberfest in a nearby small town that gives you an idea of what the Oktoberfest was probably like 50 years ago: smaller, less crowded, cheaper, and altogether charming! We headed back into town and ended up drinking monster G&T's at the Pestalozzistraßenfest. And then finishing the night in a VEEERY dodgy bar called Rendezvous.

The baking hot weather was fabulous at weekends. One highlight was a day spent at Feringasee with Bénédicte, Corinne and Eric. We were the only group to have brought a full-on picnic hamper with us; everyone else just had a towel to lie on, but we had apéritif, champagne, wine, and food! (How I love my French friends!)

I had Dietmar & Dirk down for a few days from Leipzig - at last a chance for me to repay the hospitality they always show me when I'm visiting them! And the first weekend of the Oktoberfest was full of activities: brunches, dinners, parties, and of course the big all-day event in the Bräurosl tent on the Sunday. Ouch my head.

For the middle weekend I had Hamish & Duncan visiting from Scotland. And for the last weekend Lorna was back in town! We did a non-beer day on the Saturday, instead lying by the Isar in the baking sun and polishing off two bottles of prosecco and one of aperol!

But I've just realised that that weekend was already in October, so I'd better stop there...

August. In a nutshell. Promise.

The weather finally started perking up. Just in time for Christine's birthday party on the shores of Lake Weßling. Followed later that evening by Anja's exhibition out in Baldham. Although the sun had set by the time I got there. Didn't stop me drinking prosecco though.

Lunch in town, dinner with friends, drinks all over. Beergarden visits - with no rain! A Senegalese jazz evening. Riding my bike along the Isar. More business trips to Stuttgart.

And a fabulous fabulous fabulous week with family in Austria! It was as close to the lazy summer days of my childhood as I can possibly get now: watching my nephews & nieces enjoying splashing about in the river or running around in the fields. Eating & drinking. Spending time together. And feeling the intensity of the bonds of love with my brother & sister and their families. Marvellous.

We did touristy stuff as well as gushy bonding stuff though! Foremost among the things we did was a four-hour archaeology tour of the salt mines at Hallstatt, where we got to see the world's oldest wooden staircase. Yes, as a supposed friend of mine pointed out, Austrians have been burying people underground for thousands of years!

I'll finish on the Weindorf festival in Stuttgart, which was really cute: a cross between the Oktoberfest, a wine festival, and a Christmas market. Followed by grungy beers in a grungy bar in the centre of town with my new Bosch friends. Great!