I’ve been asked to write a couple of blogs about my free time in Munich, so here’s the first :) As I’ve said in other posts, Munich is a great city to live in, especially in the summer months.  Compared to England you can go outside much more, and there are so many outdoor-sy things to do.  For example, on Friday I met some of my course mates in the English Garden.  We walked around the lovely footpaths and stopped off at the Chinese Tower beer garden for some cola (no beer, since we had so much on Thursday night!).  I tried Spezi, which, at first sounded a bit of crazy drink to me, but turns out to be gorgeous!  I’ll be ordering it much more often from now on.  We then went and sat in the sun in the park.  What a life!Saturday was a bit of a rainy day here, but Sunday was nice.   My boyfriend and I got on our bikes and rode along the Isar.  We managed to find a really lovely beer garden called Flaucher (see picture below).  Apparently, Zum Flaucher is a favorite destination for bicyclists and hikers stopping to refuel.  We did just the same on Sunday, stopping for some great fresh fish and beer.  On Sunday evening, a friend from University had arrived in Munich with 5 of her friends.  It was brilliant (and quite strange) to meet her at the Chinese Tower.  We then went to Park Cafe for a meal.  I had Bavarian pork with a potato dumpling and sauerkraut (see photo below).  Yum!  I’m really enjoying Bavarian food now :)

This weekend I’ve definitely noticed that my German has improved so much since I took the Deutsch Akadamie course.  When my friends ask ‘how do you say this in German?’, I actually know now ;).Two of my good friends from home are arriving today, so I’ll write another blog about what we get up too soon.