Another post, another month. Slowly but ... er, no, actually I'm not sure I'm catching up with myself at all really! Still, at least by just typing these words I'm not falling any further behind on telling you all what I've been up to.

But that's what you get when you're just so busy having a good time: there's never a moment to reflect on what's gone by. I think that's a good thing. Well, that and then occasionally writing a few words, just to serve to jog the memory when I'm old and bored and looking back at these photos...

So, to business: July.

It started with breakfast at my place. Harry & Dieter were in town and they swung by at ten for a few hours. The day stuck with the food theme when I had dinner at my nearest Greek restaurant with my mate Oliver.

The following weekend was a bit of a flashback in a way, seeing as it took me to France AGAIN! This time with Bénédicte, Michaela & Russ in the car, to visit Vincent, Hugh, Lee & Steph for a nicely relaxed long weekend in Vincent's family's house near Verdun. The light & sound war memorial show was quite something: looking back at my photos, they all look like a diorama. But in fact they were all live actors, just bizarrely lit so they looked like miniatures.

On the way home we popped in on Pascale & Pepe and their gorgeous twins Daniel & Mateo for a cheeky barbecue. I'd seen them just a few weeks before, at Isa & Andy's party, but we had a bit more time for a proper catch-up this time.

The weather was by now getting really rather lovely in Munich, so now and then I would head up the river at lunchtime from my office and sunbathe. Either alone or with friends: having bumped into my mate Franz once, I subsequently arranged to lie with him on the beach a few times.

There were lunches and dinners, notably with Margit & her boys and her brother Wolfi one evening with Michaela, Russ & the boys in an Italian place just up the road from me. It was really rather pleasant - with a really delicious grappa! Jamie was also in town for meetings so I caught up with him for lunch and dinner one day.

And then I flew to London with Michaela, the boys, and Martha, Hans & their youngest Tobias. The others were all staying for a whole week, but I was just with them for the long weekend. We stayed at Chris & Kate's, went for a walk in Guildford, then spent the next day in Portsmouth (where we saw the Olympic torch from up in the Spinnaker Tower).

On the Sunday night we decamped to London, and on the next day we did a big touristy tour of the city, with a visit to the National Gallery followed by a big tourist bus followed by the London Eye. Pity the weather was so shite really.

Back in Munich the weather was much better again, allowing me to have lunches and dinners again. Our colleague Donal flew over from Cork so Anton, Ronald & I had a fun evening with him. Then Simon came to visit me from Holland. We had a lovely time! I haven't seen him for quite some time, so there was a lot of catching up to do. We were all over Munich, and also had a day out at Tegernsee.

The last weekend of July I caught a train to Italy, so I could spend a long weekend with Michaela, Russ & the boys and Chris, Kate & the girls at Lake Garda. It was SO HOT!! Our hotel was right on the lake. We ate, we drank, we swam, we ate some more. Very much my kind of weekend.

And there you have it: July. It was another action-packed, fun-filled adventure!