Munich, Germany. The city I currently call home.
We have been living in Germany since 2015, and while our deutsche is nicht so gut, our love of the city is unwavering. Except in the middle of winter when the prospect of going outside is just as distant as our longing, melancholic dreams of a summer that will never arrive.
We left Sydney in the summer, and arrived into Munich just before the first snowfall. Now, we have been skiing a few times, so snow is not alien to us sunburnt Aussies, but we have never lived in a truly seasonal city.
Winter is an indoor affair for the most part here. Autumn is signified by Starkbierfest, a beer festival where they serve a strong, dark beer which is slightly stronger than the normal beer (Helles). Summer is characterised by long, warm weekends sitting in the biergartens, a perfect pastime. Spring hosts Fruhlingsfest, another beer oriented festival... And winter, is spent huddling inside our local bar... there could be a festival, I don't know I am to scared to go outside.
Beer festivals and winter-fear aside, I love exploring the city after a good snow fall. The English Garden is the perfect antidote to European city life, just like Central Park it gives you the sense you are well and truly away from the city when in fact you are just 5 minutes away from the busy streets.
The snow gives a solemn sense of loneliness in a city filled with people, but it also brings out the playful child in everyone.
The trees are bare but not dead, just like the empty footpaths which line the wide streets which have seen more than they are willing to show at first glance.
But that's another story. For now, unlike my body in the below-zero temperatures, the city does not shutdown, and life continues.
The snow is so white it almost hurts to look at, but the view isn't.
My favourite place to sit and take photos is the Eisbach Surfers. A standing river wave seemingly pours out from under a row of buildingsThe bridge above the surfers is a perfect viewing point for one of the most popular non-beer related attractions in town, though there is a biergarten not 100 metres away so the thirsty are not left high-and-dry.
Even in the shade, in minus temperatures, there is always at least one person on the wave. Even when I have to give up taking photos, because my fingers sting because of the cold, there is a surfer casually sitting in the almost freezing water, quietly waiting for his turn.
