VICTORIAN HOUSE AND VIKTUALIENMARKT

I decided that I would begin my official expat life yesterday and took the plunge. Some of the women who are fortunate enough to come here with their husbands, boyfriends, or significant-others and not have to work, do lunch once a week. They call themselves LOAHF
or the "League of Accidental Hausfraus." There are no set venues and the group seems to change from week to week. This week it was at the Victorian House which is an honest-to-goodness, true-blue, tea house that makes the most delicious scones with jam and clotted cream. Here is a photo of the gals doing tea.




As you can see, everyone is in deep conversation and enjoying their afternoon tea.


Above is a photo of another part of the room. It is very tastefully decorated in period style furniture that lends itself to an authentic British tea room. It was a wonderful afternoon and I met many new friends.


I decided to walk through the Viktualienmarkt on my way back to the train station. It was a chilly afternoon, but the sun was out and there were so many sights to see.
















Fall is in full swing and you can see by the variety of flowers that Munich is not lacking in color or texture. The fall plant beds and gardens are still as vibrant as ever.

It isn't only the gardens that are providing richness of palatte to the eye, these autumn vegetables are in a spectacular hue of orange, green, and yellow.

Beautiful pink artichokes were for sale and I could just imagine a display of them on my dining room table!

Colorful flower arrangements in every conceivable color were on display.

Not everyone in the market was a shopper. This gal had been festooned with flowers, though. Probably by a male admirer.

And then I arrived home to this lovely scene along the pathway to my front door. How beautiful is fall?

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Today is a Day For....

Today is a day especially designed for a hot cuppa and a good book. Luckily, I have both. The weather in Munich is unseasonably cold and terribly windy, so I have decided not to brave the elements and to coco0n instead.

I pulled out the toasty blanket throw and nestled in while savoring every word of my new novel: The Devil in the White City: Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, by Erik Larson. It promises to be a great read about two men, Daniel H.Burnham, a key architect in the building of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the other, H.H. Holmes, a serial killer. It is a true story and the writer is particularly talented making the novel appear all the more imaginative. This is all I need to fill a chilly spring day.

Pictured above, to help me enjoy this read, is my single purchase from last weekend's "Theresienwiese," or Spring Festival. It is "Honig aus Deutschland," or Honey of Germany. Munich has a month of fairs and festivities beginning with the Strong Beer season in spring and goes through the start of summer, April - May, annually. It is different from our county fairs in that the Germans include the ubiquitous beer tents and gardens and include plenty of activities and playground equipment for all of the children. So, it truly is a family-centered event.

The honey I chose was "Akazienhonig" that translates to "Acacia Honey." It is delicious in tea, on toast, or in a desert recipe.




To make an otherwise bleak day even brighter, I set these blooms in water and put them in the kitchen window. It worked! How could you not walk into this room, view these vivid colors and not react positively? It's electrifying what they can do for your spirits. These are a particularly aromatic bunch lending an air of beauty and romance to the room.

I must be in a sentimental mood, as I'm writing about my day, I'm listening to "Tonight We Love," by Tony Martin. This is a song that peaked on the Billboard as #1 in 1946! Way, way before I was born. I read that the Platters revived it in 1960, but I was too busy playing tiddlywinks way back then to notice this song.

Some of you reading this probably remember this song well. As for me, I've just discovered it.

Here are some of the lyrics that just happen to fit my mood today:

A rose must remain with the sun and the rain

Or its lovely promise won't come true

To each his own, to each his own,

And my own is you.

What good is a song if the words just don't belong?

And a dream must be a dream for two

No good alone, to each his own

For me there's you

CHORUS

If a flame is to grow there must be a glow

To open each door there's a key

I need you, I know, I can't let you go

Your touch means too much to me

Two lips must insist on two more to be kissed

Or they'll never know what love can do

To each his own, I've found my own

One and only you

Beautiful lyrics, sentimental melody and a smokey saxaphone solo.

Yeah, it's been that kind of day.

But now, reality is calling and the pile of ironing is saying, "If you don't iron me, who will?"

Enough lounging and dreaming.

On to to the next task at hand. And that, folks, is life!