All about Phil...

The creative process

So for anyone who knows both Phil and I, you'll know that I am not the creative one.

I really love writing a blog when we travel because - apart from a convenient place to share my travels and record adventures for myself - I find it sharpens my own observations when travelling. I look at things in more detail, try to find the humour in any situation and generally think about things through a story-telling lens.

While the blog is my project, Phil has a couple of his own. One of them is learning Indonesian, which means up to several hours a day of speaking aloud into a program that repeats the pronunciation back to you - he's getting really good and I'm hoping some of it is sinking into my brain...

For those who know his love of photography, it will not surprise you to know that another project he has started is this Tumblr page where he's posting photos from the trip. Not happy snaps of us, but images that catch his eye while walking around. He takes some really cool and interesting shots. You should check it out!!

Personally, I'm hoping he's discovered as a photography savant so he can sell his work for millions and I can finally begin my true destiny as a Chloe-walking*, cocktail-drinking, first-class travelling socialite.

A short story
You may also be aware that Phil has a love for shorts. A deep and abiding love that means even in sub zero temperatures (literally, it snowed several times on our walk today), he eschews pants for a pair of knee length shorts.

This is just not the done thing in Bavaria. There are rules!! You simply do not wear shorts in March. You wear a down jacket and long pants whether it's 16 degrees and sunny or 2 degrees and snowing. Phil has been insisting that he has been getting weird looks from people since we arrived in Munich. But he's used to it. And so am I. I barely register the shorts anymore - the nice thing about Melbourne is you can wear them pretty much anywhere that isn't the workplace.

Anyway, we got up this morning to find the streets looking like this:




After nearly being brained by falling trees in high winds yesterday, we decided that it would be a great idea to go for a long walk...

Actually, (not to ruin the suspense) but it was a lovely day for a walk. Our aim was to visit Schloss Nyphemburg, a lovely palace about 11km walk, but we didn't actually make it.



Schloss Nymphenburg

We walked there "via" another cute castle, Schloss Butenburg and discovered that it was not in fact on the way to Nymphenburg at all.



Schloss Butenburg - not quite as grand, but still nice and there were swans, so I was happy!

Anyway, I digress. I realised on our walk that I was doing my usual custom of nodding slightly and smiling at the people walking towards us on paths. Just so people know we're friendly walkers and not psychopaths.

Lots of the people wandering through the parks and gardens and on pedestrian paths are elderly, so I thought it was particularly important to make a small gesture of acknowledgement.

I've been doing this for a couple of weeks in Munich now and some people slightly nod back or smile, and others don't, but today I was getting absolutely nothing back. After one old guy grimaced at me in mild disgust, the following exchange took place

Me: Why will no one smile back?

P: They're not friendly to outsiders in Bavaria.

Me: How could they possibly know that we're outsiders?

P: Some dumbass is wearing shorts...

And there it was. Some dumbass is wearing shorts and sacrificing our anonymity as native Bavarians in exchange for feeling a cool breeze on his lower legs...

I cannot understand how nude sunbaking pensioners on the shore of the river on a sunny day is ok while bearing one's lower legs on a cold day is not, but there you go. The world doesn't always make sense...

A GOMP Moment

Finally, a brief GOMP moment recap. Today on our walk, we encounter one of the loveliest dogs I've ever seen. A big tan and white collie who bounded over to us for pats and hugs, eyes full of joy and love. I badly wanted to kidnap him and make him our travel companion....

Phil had a short chat to the owner (who incidentally told him that his wearing of shorts was making her cold) and I realised that my limited German vocab did not include saying "you have a lovely dog".

So a few minutes later, I asked Phil to teach me the polite way to say to someone "your dog is really cute". I practised and practised and perfected the phrase. Because there are people walking their gorgeous dogs everywhere, an opportunity to put the phrase into action presented itself not long after.

Before we could even get close enough to the owner to say it, Phil aka the GOMP - who really doesn't like engaging with strangers - turns to me and says, don't tell that man that you think his dog is cute - he's holding a (used) dog poo bag.

What?? I said, in utter disbelief. Are you really suggesting that he's going to fling faecal matter at us if we tell him his dog is cute... like some goddamn animal?? Of course, I know it's just because he doesn't want me to say my one German line, leaving him to chat to the complete stranger when my German vocab is exhausted. But I want to hear him say it!!

Without hesitation, the answer was "yes". We walked on by...


* I miss you Chloe... Look at that face...


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