Well it's been a few days since I left and to be honest as I sit here, at an espresso bar in Schrannenhalle, I'm already struggling to recall all that has happened. Saying goodbye to Nonna was without doubt the hardest part, I challenge anyone to not get teary when faced with a weeping ninety-six year old woman who's convinced she's saying goodbye to her grand daughter for the last time... and breathe.

The flight over was as good as it possibly could have been, both legs (Melbourne to Dubai and Dubai to Munich) were in massive A380's and on the 14+ hour flight at the beginning I had two window seats to myself on the upper deck which was magic. I spent the nine hour layover in the Emirates business lounge at Dubai airport (mostly trying to sleep but that seemed to be a lost cause for the whole thirty or so hours that I was travelling) and finally I had a window seat on the lower deck on my flight to Munich with a spare seat between myself and a lovely business lady from Taiwan who was heading to her fifth country in 10 days - needless to say I was more than happy for her to stretch out for a nap on the spare seat for most of the flight.

Ralf sent me the simplest but most comprehensive instructions on how to get to his place that when I arrived in Munich it was about as difficult as me trying to get home to a friends place in Sydney completely hungover - because lets face it, when it's really bad all the signs and instructions might as well be in German!

Deleriously tired hardly comes close to describe how I felt when I got to Ralf's but let's go with that for now. After familiarising myself with his stunning apartment (seriously, it's so spacious and beautiful while only being a spit away from Munich Central Station, it's going to be hard not to get too comfortable!) I managed a shower and a few emails before I had to have a quick nap.

Ralf cooked a delicious dinner before taking me out on a bit of a walking night tour of some of the nearby city and we finished it off perfectly with a wiskey cocktail at a gorgeous boutique hotel bar, where the barman and Ralf made fun of my attempts to ask for the bill in German - seriously going to need some practise! When I got home there was just enough energy left to enjoy a cammomile tea (not that I needed any help getting sleepy) and brush my teeth before I crashed into an 11 hour coma.