Finally settled back in after trips. Jersey was great but in truthfulness I was thrilled to get back to Munich. There was a fair amount of gossip and innuendo at home that didn’t sit well with me, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time with my family and some of my close friends. I guess I have changed a little. I just did not want to hear all the negative stuff that was in the air. I like the way things are here. I am not in the middle of the loop so am not privy to every little skirmish, gossip and nastiness that occurs, and guess what, am happy not participating! In Jersey, I relished being Queen Bee, but am so over it! Live and learn….

We had a fun weekend here. Friday afternoon, Liz and I went around the block to the Twisted Bavarian for a few catch-up beers. It was great to see her and she introduced me to her new boyfriend Robert, who I liked very much. He’s a chef and he and I spent at least two hours talking about food and cooking. Perfect. It was like talking about sex. Only better. Chris joined us for a few beers as well and then he and I went off to Tollwood to meet up with a bunch of folks including Brian, Jamie, Steve, Baxter and his friend, Andy, Nicola and her friend, Pete, some guy Rick, Paul and Vikki. It was nice. Lots of gluhwein and chatter. Had to drag Chris out of there as I was freezing. When I woke up on Saturday morning without a hangover, I was really happy I’d had the presence of mind to leave early.

Saturday night, a bunch of us went to see “Der Untergang” which is a movie about Hitler’s final days, and which has generated a fair amount of talk here. Supposedly, the film humanizes Hitler, therefore some controversy has arisen. I didn’t see it that way at all, and if anything, it just strengthened my belief that he was a megalomaniac. To say that I “enjoyed” it would be wrong, but I am glad I saw it. Afterwards we all went to dinner and dissected it. I think we were all on the same page. The movie does not make Hitler at all sympathetic. It humanizes him, but not in any sort of admirable way. After dinner, we all stumbled into Molly Malone’s where Planty and Martina were hanging out. We stayed quite awhile and it gave me and Jen a chance to catch up on Jersey stuff. I also had a great chat with Jo’s mum, who told me she’s seen the Beatles four or five times. It was a fun night and again I managed to keep myself in check drinks wise knowing I had to get up to make a cake to bring to Bev and Gary’s the next day.

Sunday morning up at the crack of dawn to make flourless chocolate cake, which, I am happy to report, was delicious. We, along with Lise and Richard and Jen and Paul, spent the afternoon and evening at Bev and Gary’s eating a huge meal and drinking a lot of wine. It was a really good afternoon. It reminded me of meals at home. Kudos to Bev for a truly memorable feed!