Cheers and Best Wishes!

One of the great things about living in Munich is the plethora of parks and stately avenues that dot the city. It's not all beer gardens and bike paths as you may have been led to believe by my previous posts. We find that spending time outdoors is one of our more favorite pastimes and I believe the reason lies in the fact that the outdoors is made so accessable to us. The building to the left is the Residence and it marks the beginning of the English Gardens that is Munichs' version of Central Park. The next photo shows the procession of trees that lead to the park's entrance. Steve and I took Jaci to the restaurant that sits next to the Garden and I shot these photos frome their outdoor patio.

We had a leisurely afternoon enjoying the sunshine and listening to music that was being played by wandering minstrels. It was a perfect afternoon and we all immersed ourselves in the view.

Steve and his mum are discussing the menu choices here at our favorite Italian Trattoria that just happens to be about a quarter of a mile from our home. It was Uncle Fred's last night in Munich and we celebrated his upcoming birthday. The offerings were either in Italian or German so we all had to engage our waiter in our usual pantomine in order to understand what it was that was being offered. It wouldn't have mattered, everything was delicious.

Here is a photo of my dish, "Linguine with White Truffles." It was melt in your mouth delicious. It was our first time at this restaurant, but it certainly won't be our last. I have a feeling we will become regulars. It is small, but friendly and the restaurant has an outdoor eating area that faces the small street in Pasing. Many locals eat there and it is always bustling with activity. Jac and Fred were happy with our choice and we had great fun toasting to Fred's upcoming birthday.

Since moving to Germany, I have decided to keep a list of the wines we try and rate them in the hopes that when we return to the states, I can fill our container with wine. It was a good idea, except the government puts a restricition on how much wine you can take out of the country. So, I guess we'll have to do our share of sampling the local wines for our friends and family back in the states. You are all welcome to reap the benefits of my research. Here is Steve with a huge grin on his face as we open a bottle of white wine. All I can tell you is that it won the highest rating of any of the wines we have tried. It is Italian and it is called Cavalchina Custoza (2005). It was highly recommended by our waiter and three of us at the table shared two bottles. You might be able to find it at your local wine shop. I promise you won't be sorry.