Stopover Leipzig

Our next permanent residence (after leaving Ireland in January 2009) is going to be Berlin. However, it will not happen before November 2010. In the meanwhile I have a stopover in Leipzig - I am mainly working here so far, while Michaela is still working in Munich.

And I made myself comfortable in Leipzig. I am living in a comfortable place called ´Maison Feuerbach`, I go and get a good Latte Macchiato (best coffee in town) from Fernando at my favorite Italian place ´Bacco 26`...

...and at night I fetch homemade dinner from my friend Tamer at a Turkish restaurant.

The only disadvantage is that over 3 months I commute every weekend from Leipzig to Munich and spend a lot of time on the Autobahn. Our old TT (our car) does a perfect job, however he is not the youngest anymore and is looking forward to have some rest when we are finally in Berlin.

Visitors from USA

Beginning of September we had visitors from Portland in Munich: Patricia, Rick & little Violet (3 years & a quarter). They stayed in our bedroom at the Mittermayrstreet 31 in Schwabing while we made ourselves comfortable on the couch.

Little Violet gave us the direction. She came to Europe to find the princess and according to little American children there are en mas princess in Europe. Therefore every palace, castle, and even old city centers are potential places to spot the princess. And of course we found her sometimes – every couple who got married was prince and princess and little Violet went up to them and talked to them.

Michaela had vacation for the whole 10 day trip so she went to Munich, Regensburg, Prague and Interlaken in Switzerland with our American friends. While they were here they met Michaela´s brother Stephan and kids (Laura & David), Michaela´s brother Markus & her dad and my parents. Thus we were never bored and had a fantastic time – unfortunately it was far too short!

In Love

Michaela and I – we are still in love with Munich. We really have a crush for that city.

Even if there are a lot of prejudices against Munich – especially from people who never lived there – and yes, we were one of them. Ignore them all!

Munich is charming and appealing so it is easy to fall in love with this city. Cosmopolitan, charming, authentic, modern, green, special, traditional, exciting, unique, and adorable.

There are thousands of wonderful spots and we have seen only a small portion of it. One of those spots is our running track from our door step to the Bayern Park to the Luitpolt Park to the wonderful and still breathtaking architecture of the Olympia Park and back. Or the beautiful coffee houses in Schwabing, at the Gärtnerplatz and around the university (Black Bean coffee house and Pain de Quotidien are our favorites). Our favorite bicycle route goes from Schwabing to the English Garden, along the river Isar to the camping spot at Thalkirchen – a green oasis which runs through Munich.

And then there are the restaurants in Schwabing – we were fascinated from their variety from the beginning. So far we have only been to Thai, Mexican, and Greek and Atopian restaurant, however never we were disappointed.

Well, and then there is he cultural aspect of the city. One has the full choices – so you can see the Wildlife Photography of the Year at Nymphenburg Castle or you can go and see our favorite circus ´Cirque du Soleil`. And in case you don´t get a ticket for U2 who played at the Olympic Stadium, you go to the Olympic Park anyway and you can listen to the concert sitting on a hill just outside the Stadium with many other people. Sensational!

Indeed we feel newly in love and that is why it is hard to say good-bye to this fantastic city.

Therefore one thing is clear: Our new city Berlin will have a hard time to convince us…