Munich

I arrived in Germany for work with two colleagues, travelling overnight by direct bus from Florence. Arriving in the morning, a friend came to pick us up at the bus station and took us to her flat in the Artists' Quarter. Breakfast, a bit of rest and lunch in an Italian restaurant nearby. In the afternoon a walk to the city centre passing through parks and squares. Visit to the Christmas Market that spreads out in the Cathedral Square and to the Palace that hosted the sadly famous Degenerate Art exhibition during the Nazi period. Surprisingly close to this Palace we saw some boys surfing in a stream. Snack in the historic brewery with a mug of beer and the typical slightly sweet Bavarian bread. The service is also provided by girls in the typical local costume and there's a small orchestra playing. The city at night offers its beautiful Christmas decorations.

During the day we also went to Grasbrunn, where tomorrow we'll inaugurate an exhibition. Back at the flat where we're guests of a friend, we have dinner with her family. The next morning we have breakfast in a café and visit the Olympic Park, going up an artificial hill formed from the debris of the destruction of the city caused by the Allied bombings during the Second World War. From here you can see the Olympic Stadium, partly underground. On foot to near the flat where we stop for lunch in a French restaurant. We go to change at the flat, then our friend takes us to Grasbrunn for the inauguration of the exhibition. From here we return home for dinner and overnight. We stayed two of us because one of my colleagues went back in the evening accompanied by our friend's husband to the bus station directly from Grasbrunn.

The day after we have lunch in the Italian restaurant we discovered two days earlier, where we help our friend who's hosting us with an Italian lesson for a German couple. Then we wander around Munich, returning also to the famous Christmas Market. We're caught by a heavy snowfall which however tends to melt on contact with the surface. In the evening at the flat to say goodbye to those who hosted us, collect our luggage and by public transport reach the bus station. From here, having eaten a kebab, we set off by direct bus to Florence.