Two Months in Deutschland

So today marks the end of my second month in Munich! This time two months ago, I'd just landed.

Living in Germany, has taken quite a lot of getting used to. Moving to a new place is strange enough, but moving somewhere where I barely speak the language is another thing entirely!  My German has quickly improved (though I don't think I'd be able to have a real conversation) and I can actually find my way around the strange German supermarkets now. And of course, I've drank plenty of brilliant German beer!

I've made some great friends already - both through my internship and through things like knitting.  Munich has even started to feel a little bit like home, though I still miss England and Durham.  

There's always going to be a few language based misunderstandings!

I've been exploring  Munich and a few other German cities. Heidelberg, Bamberg and Nuremberg were all beautiful - next I need to visit the Bavarian alps and lakes.

Today we went on the slides in the TUM Maths department. I've missed playgrounds :P

The two slides go from the 3rd to the ground floor and are in the shape of parabolas - but really they're just brilliant fun and a good excuse to regress! If only the Physics department had one between my office and the lab.

 V x

I'm listening to: Yet more Laura Marling plus a dash of Johnny Flynn and Elbow :)

Going on a Bear Hunt (aka I'm off for a Bike Ride)

A German bank holiday meant a trip out of Munich - I needed to see more countryside and trees (even though Munich *is* very green). I took myself on a bike ride along the Isar, up to Freising and back. I went to see a monastery (Freising Dom) and ate awesome ice cream!

Alex, my (not so) trusty German bike! Armed with the rucksack I made over Easter

The track along the Isar

Picnicking on a river beach

Paddling in the Isar

Prettiness in Freising Dom - it was such a wonderful place and so peaceful

There were lots of these painted bears dotted around Freising! There was even one wearing lipstick!

Lavender ice-cream. Nom nom nom.

And later in the week, a white mocha at work ^ ^

V x

I'm listening to: Laura Marling's new album 'Once I was an Eagle'

Woolly Munich Adventures

Today I visited the wonderful Wollmeise just outside of Munich with some lovely ladies that I've met at an English speaking knitting group here. Wollmeise is amazing! All of the wool is hand dyed with the most beautiful, vibrant colours - I was in wool heaven!

It was so difficult choosing which wool to buy - and anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm completely useless at making any decisions at all. During this past week I've been trying to decide which pattern to do next so that I could buy wool accordingly - I decided on a cowl, as, by the time I finish my current project, it'll probably be winter. So with much deliberation, I decided on Cassis DK (for the cowl) which is a variegated red and purple, some lovely green DK (Oh Tannenbaum) and a little skein of a semi-solid grey (Maus jung).  I'm not sure what I'll do with the green or grey yet, but I couldn't resist them. I was rather restrained though, originally I had about 10 skeins in my bag!

My Lauriel cardigan is finally a go! It took forever to find the right wool, but I finally settled on Artesano DK Brazil, which is so soft and squidgy!  So far I've done the yolk and started the shaping between the yoke and underarms (1 and a bit balls used so far :) ). I'm loving it, but progress is slow as I never seem to have time to knit except at the knitting group.

As you may have guessed, I'm currently living in Munich (or rather a Munich suburb). I'm doing a research internship in the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics (basically I play with really high powered and scary lasers!). I've been here for a month and a bit now and am loving it. moving to Germany has been a bit of an experience and a challenge, but I'll talk about the fun of living in a new country another day.

V x

I'm listening to: British Sea Power, Johnny Flynn and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros