Another Busy Week

Last week was a little less busy than the week before but still kept me active enough with a work trip to Munich and what was probably the last time this year that I walked home from Zuffenhausen after work. A special visit to Stuttgart on Saturday will be the subject of my next post.

On Monday (19 October) I worked from home until the late afternoon sun lured me out for my customary walk to Benningen. I changed the route a little bit and took almost exactly 2 hours (as opposed to about 1 hour 45 to 50 minutes), enjoying every step and the autumn colours.

Tuesday (20 October) saw me up very early, taking a local train into Stuttgart at 6:30 in the morning and from there a long-distance train to Munich. Two hours later, I arrived there and caught a tram almost immediately to the location where I was to spend the day at a meeting with other Data Protection Officers (DPOs) in the insurance industry. 

I knew some of the other DPOs, and it was good to catch up with them, as was making new acquaintances. One woman has the same first name as I, spelled the same way; it doesn't happen often that I come across a "name-sister".

The invitation had stated the end of the meeting for about 5:30 pm, and so I reserved a seat on a train back to Stuttgart for 6:50 pm, allowing for enough time to get back from the location to Munich Main Station. To my surprise, we wrapped up the meeting an hour earlier, which gave me ample time to head back into the city centre and have a stroll.

It had been a long time since I last visited Munich "properly" - that was for a wedding anniversary weekend with my late husband, around 20 years ago. 

Munich has some iconic sights and beautiful, if somewhat pompous, buildings. The pedestrian area is large and VERY busy. In fact, I was a bit fed up with the throngs of people milling about, always seeming to stop right in front of where I was going. Also, I was tired after the early start and the discussions and talks with my fellow DPOs, and not in the best mood for a touristy stroll. Still, I had a look round, retreated into two churches for some peace and quiet and eventually made my way to the train station, where my train was already at the platform but had a delayed departure of about 20 minutes. That turned out to be good, though, because it meant that in Stuttgart I managed to catch a local train to Ludwigsburg right away with no waiting time at all. At 9:00 pm I was in my flat, relieved and tired, but satisfied that all had gone well.

Start of the pedestrian area

Inside St. Michael's church

Frauenkirche, one of Munich's landmarks

"New" town hall...

...as opposed to the old townhall

I worked at the office in Weilimdorf on Wednesday (21 October), afterwards going to my Mum's for a chat and a meal. It rained all day, so no walk other than the distances between home, the office, Mum's house and the train stations.

Thursday (22 October) was again spent at the office. The sun came out during the day, inducing me to leave as early as I could (around 4:15 pm), take the train to Zuffenhausen and walk home from there. By that time, it wasn't as sunny as I'd hoped, but still good, and I walked under some marvellous skies.

This walk mattered all the more as I knew that with the setting back of the clocks on Sunday, from now on there won't be enough daylight left after work for this. It will be around six months before I'll next do that particular walk.

The stormy winds reached us on Friday (23 October) but brought rain only in the evening. I worked from home, did a spot of food shopping and my weekly cleaning and got everything ready for my husband joining me for the weekend. He arrived at around 9:30 pm, and we sat down to eat the shakshouka I had prepared a few minutes later.

On Saturday (24 October) we skipped breakfast, only having a biscuit with our first mug of coffee, and left the house shortly before 11:00. A local train and tram took us to Wielandshöhe in Stuttgart. I will tell you more about the day and what we did there in a separate post.

Sunday (25 October) was almost completely wet and VERY windy. I am on pet-caring duty for my neighbours again, and checked on their two rabbits and the cat in the morning. 

Early afternoon, my husband and I walked to a bakery in my area, one of a handful around town that are open on Sundays. We bought an assortment of cakes and carried them all to my Mum's, where the four of us - Mum, sis, O.K. and myself - had coffee and the cakes, all of which were delicious.

A couple of hours later we went home and spent the rest of the afternoon quietly, reading and listening to music until it was time to prepare a salad and pasta with pesto for our evening meal. My husband left a little after 8:00, and I went round the corner to the neighbours' house to make sure all was well with the rabbits and the cat.

Almost full moon, as seen from my kitchen that evening

It was still VERY windy but at least the rain had stopped, and as always when my husband has been here for the weekend, I was relieved when he rang to tell me he had arrived home safely.