Dearest childhood friends...

Another ordinary day, another ordinary routine of checking my mails when suddenly I spied upon a mail, amidst all the spams that had clogged my mailbox recently, from a very dear friend of mine. And what good news it held! Congratulations Ong! I wish I could be there in person to tell you this and give you my warmest hug! But since I am stuck here and without any superpowers to magically transport me back home, I could only do this. But I do it with the utmost sincerity and with all my heart. Hugs and kisses.



My childhood friends, all grown up and are no longer the girls I remember them as. Sure they are still the same persons that I had known them as but life experiences and time had changed them subtly and not so subtly. We had grown apart through distance, with everybody in different places now but we had kept in touch through the years, quite remarkably, if I may say so given that I had known some of these girls since I was a baby!



I planned the London-Munich trip, in part to see the places and also for another, more important reason, which was to see my friends again. I had gone home for Christmas for the past two years now and I had met up with the rest back home. I had not seen these three girls in years and was missing out on quite a bit of their lives. Emails and Facebook (!) can only do so much and nothing can quite replace the joy of seeing them in person. I remembered when Radhi and Raghu came to visit Kyoto last year and how much I had been looking forward to seeing her!



When you are apart for so long, you tend to be apprehensive when the reunion happens. The biggest fear is that, when you had finished catching up on each other's lives, will there be prolonged moments of silence when each is trying to rack her brains to figure out something to say to the other? Will the flow of the conversation be interrupted by those uncomfortable moments? Will you find yourself trying to escape those awkward times?



But all those thoughts just went flying away when I first saw each of them at the train stations. The first hug after so many years felt so good. I did not realised how much I had missed them, their company and their friendship, until I had seen them again. We had so much fun, reminiscing about the good ol' days, erupting in roaring laughters that scared poor Marvin into tears. Ah guys, it was truly a great time! My only wish was that the rest of us could have been there too.



Hopefully, I will be going home for this Christmas. And meeting up with all of you guys again back home for Sha's wedding! Till then, take care! Lots of hugs, kisses and love.

Theatinerkirche

A part of Italy in Munich. This was one of the times when I was glad to have my wide angle lens with me. I bought it just for moments like this and was rewarded many times over.



Never having been to Italy, this was my first introduction to Italian high-baroque style and I was suitably impressed. The interior was rich with stucco ornaments, which stood out more because of the stark whiteness of the walls.



The atmosphere was respectfully silent; we were in a church after all and the priest and fellow worshipers were getting ready to celebrate mass. The tourists, including myself, were trying their best to enjoy the view without disturbing the congregation.



I left the church when the priest began the mass to meet my friends who were waiting outside for me. The facade of the church was under construction and was covered by this amusing huge advertisement sponsored by Nike for Bayern Munich with the caption "Bavaria has a King again". I am not a huge fan of football but I am assuming that the player who was dressed as a king must have been really good (Franck Ribéry). But it was really strange to see a church and a big commercial company hand in hand.



So while I was waiting for the mass the end, I went strolling in Hofgarten which was nearby. The weather was excellent, the sky was bright blue and everybody was walking about happily, enjoying the warmth of a sunny day.



At the center of the garden was a pavilion for the goddess Diana where street musicians will perform. I love the light and shadows that were cast upon its floor by the afternoon sunlight.



The Residenz was also connected to this garden.



After walking for a bit, I decided to head back to the church to take a closer look at the altar and the surrounding area. Impressive, isn't it? High above was the dome lit by the afternoon sun.



Prayers, hopes and wishes flickering away in this little corner of the church. It was beautiful and somehow calming. After having looked my fill, I left the striking yellow church and continued on my journey down Ludwigstrasse.

Odeonsplatz

This is where you will find the Field Marshall's Hall (Feldherrnhalle), the Theatiner Church (Theatinerkirche) and the Hofgarten.



In the first two pictures, the two Bayern lions guards the entrance the to Field Marshall's Hall. I love the lions, they were very impressive.



This is the full view of the Feldherrnhalle. On the right, the yellow building, is the Theatinerkirche.



The square leads to the Ludwigstrasse, a nice street for strolling. Walked past the famous Ludwig-Maximilian University and the beautiful Ludwigskirche (St. Ludwig’s Church). The interior of the church was really beautiful, in rich deep green, blue and gold hues. Plenty of cafes and high end boutiques line the street.



I will post about the Theatinerkirche and the Hofgarten in the next few post. Have been lagging lately in posting. Sorry!