Folks, I'm ill. I've been coughing and spluttering since July, actually. Perhaps I've been having just too much fun? I mean, I haven't really sat down since May... Hopefully the latest course of antibiotics will get rid of this lingering bronchitis (so not man-flu then!) and let me return to my usual bouncy busy self. Oh and work.

While I've been hanging around dripping snot and lethargy at home, waiting for the bugs to bugger off, I've managed to get pretty up to date with paperwork etc. in between bouts of exhausted sleep. And now I think it's time to get up to date - or at least more up to date - with my blog too.

So here's August!

I'd barely got back from Lake Garda (two hours delayed, in fact, by the bitter experience of running all the way through Verona station, down steps, through tunnels, and up steps, only to press the door opener button my train at exactly the moment it begins to chug off and pull away - although on the plus side I got to rest stretched out on a marble bench on a deserted platform in the partial shade and the warm, mechanical, enticing smell of the railways) before my next adventure began: Em from Melbourne (and at the time of London) came to see me!

I met her at Hauptbahnhof after work on 1st August and we had a drink in the blazing hot sun before wandering off for a quick kebab, a quick coffee, and a yummy Vietnamese feast at Mama with Christian. And then I noticed a brand new gelato bar just round the corner of my house - which we of course sampled, in honour of Lygon Street in Melbourne.

Over the next few days I had to work, but Em looked after herself in the mornings and afternoons and we met for lunches and dinners: at Haguruma, at Vits, at home with Béné, and at the Nockherberg beergarden, where we picnicked it up in true Munich style.

Em had to leave on Saturday, but I barely had time to get sad because that evening I had a big Stammtisch picnic at Nockherberg with 22 great guys, in honour of a visit to Munich by our mutual friend Alexander from Mainz. We got quite a lot of jealous looks from passers-by, not just for the delicious home-made treats that bowed our tables but for the general mirth and hilarity with which we were consuming them!

The next evening I had the huge pleasure of a Thai dinner at Christoph's place. That man has been to Thailand more times than I've had hot dinners (and I don't mean spicy ones!), and his cooking is absolutely delicious.

Another week, another set of visitors: after many, MANY years of threatening to come, I was finally blessed with a visit from John & Carolyn, my dear dear friends from Leamington Spa. We ate, we drank, we laughed, we debated, we had an altogether most civilised and simultaneously hilarious time. I LOVE THEM!!

The Friday night meal at the Eclipse Israeli bar and grill in Schwabing with Felix & Sebastian was a real highlight. But so was the next day's excursion to Lake Tegernsee with Béné, replete with brewery feast and boat trip, followed by dinner at Béné's place.

I distracted myself from the sorrow of their departure on Sunday by having brunch at Christian's place with Patrick and then heading off to the Flaucher for a spot of sunbathing - which turned into a lovely afternoon and evening with mates I ran into there unexpectedly and who I later joined at the Flaucher beergarden until after the sun had set. A most relaxed weekend - and one that I didn't have to jump on a plane for!

Nothing against planes, though: the following weekend I flew down to Madrid (with the briefest of stopoffs in Geneva; just time for a beer and a sandwich at the lakeside) to spend the weekend with Rich from New York, who had been in Spain on business that week. I had the dubious pleasure of being restaurant chooser and guide for his project boss and colleagues - but I think I got away with it.

Well, the tapas in Madrid are just to die for anyway, and luckily their hotel was slap bang in the middle of a fab street full of food options. The next day I showed the guys around, walking pretty much everywhere, and eating & drinking pretty much everything. We took in the Prado museum too, which I hadn't been to in years and which I'd forgotten is chocabloc with amazing cultural treasures.

After an evening of beers in a range of bars with Rich (the others turned in early because they had planes to catch), the next day was slightly less hectic - but we still managed to walk all over Madrid - and find my all-time favourite Asturian restaurant with off-the-scale delicious squid, a place I've searched for in vain every time I've been to Madrid recently!

The good weather continued after I got back to Munich on the Monday lunchtime, and I hit the "beach" a few times during my lunch break - how I love working directly on the river, and being able to cycle ten minutes to get away from the worst of the crowds to have a stretch of waterfront pretty much to myself!

Selena & Neil and little Christopher were in town, so I caught up with them & Michaela & the boys a few times, including a visit to the Olympiapark on the Sunday, where I took Neil up to the top of the tower. I'd forgotten how good the view is from up there - and it's not even expensive!

It was also a week of birthdays: Felix had a do at his one evening, and on the Saturday Heidrun had her 50th in the church hall where we normally rehearse. Holger gave a fascinating tour of the church's two organs and I was reminded of my amazing visit to the organmaker outside Bremen with Olga a few years back.

The last week of August brought me the joy of meeting my mate (oops, colleague now!) Jo's dad. What a lovely lovely man! We hit it off immediately and the banter was pulsing all evening. I'd only meant to pop by for one, as well...

And then, on 31st August, I flew to Riga for the weekend. A corker! But that I'll leave for my next blog.