Tuesday, 30 January 2007
Munich, Day 1
Munich is lovely. The skyscraper to cow ratio leans heavily in the bovine direction and I get the feeling that people like it that way. The staff at the Munich office are, much like London's staff, friendly, warm, good-humoured and enthusiastic.
We had a buffet lunch at the local Italian (where Holger was at pains to find something even a little bit vegetarian for me) and the bill came to a shocking six euros each. It's easy to forget how expensive London is if you live there.
After a vigorous discussion about work and the training ahead, Jose and I headed for the All You Can Eat 'Running Sushi' (because 'Conveyer Belt' is such an unappetising phrase) from whence the photo comes. Just when I thought I could well and truly dispose of my stereotypes about Germans, a lovely leather-clad couple with the better part of a slinky stitched into their faces sat down across the way.
Between our collective Portuguese, French, English and Afrikaans, we eventually muddled our way through the ordering and paying with touristy giggles. It still tickles me to see a Japanese woman rattling off in German or French. Our bill once again came to a total that would buy you a breadstick and bowl of olives in Soho.
The cigarette vending machines hang outside buildings where you would expect telephones to be and the houses and apartment blocks look like giant pastel-coloured lego blocks. Everyone looks German in a way that seems oddly familiar - probably because Cape Town, where I lived for eight years, is something of a Berlin-by-the-sea.
Sunday, 28 January 2007
Blue Steel
Dave is never short of attitude but occasionally it hits you between the temples like a triple espresso. This photo captures such a moment - reminiscent of the infamous Blue Steel (Zoolander), the coiffe, pursed lips and assymetric, narrowed eyes conspire to disdain where no man has disdained before.
It was supposedly a solemn occasion - the last time I will see Dave before he returns to SA for a few months. Solemnity was scarce, though, and inversely proportional to the amount of Jack Daniels consumed.
The merriment threatened to overtake more practical concerns exemplified by the three hours it took to mash some potatoes. We did however manage to prepare and enjoy four courses including a lemon garlic prawns (eaten with sticky fingers) and one of Dave's pear desserts (the kind that requires an entire plantation of cinnamon to produce).
Kimpton, where our dinner took place, is one of those postcard-pretty English villages, replete with rolling green hills, the occasional copse and a healthy population of horses, chickens, dogs and Mercedes driving retirees.