Munich Diaries: What's on in December?!

The thing I hear most about December is that 'it's party season'. While this may be true for those of us who work in big offices with a trillion acquaintances, I feel like in Munich it's Glühwein season. Us Germans love to get wrapped up in our favourite scarves and hats and huddle together at one of the many many food stands of the world's best Christmas Markets to drink substantial amounts of mulled wine. However, during this jolly time of year, Munich definitely as a lot more to offer. Here's a short guide of what's on in December: 

To watch:  Paddington. Christmas time is the perfect time so spend with your family, so take the little ones, and the old ones, to see the revival of Britain's most loved bear. He's still kitted out with his blue duffle coat and eating marmalade by the jarful, playing jokes and causing trouble wherever he goes. It's a delight for the whole family. 

To listen: Pentatonix. The a capella vocal sensations are dominating charts with their Christmas album 'That's Christmas To Me', which features carols and pop songs alike. The live versions of their songs on YouTube are incredible and for a fresh take on old classics,  this Christmas Album is a must have this holiday season. 

To read: Comediennes. Two books to perhaps put on your Christmas Wishlist: Lena Dunham's Not That Kind of Girl and Amy Poehler's Yes Please. The essays by two well-loved comediennes honestly cover issues that most young women have to deal with and promise to make you think as much as they make you laugh. 

To see: Tollwood Festival's "Weltsalon". As part of the annual Munich festival, the world-salon tent features exhibitions in twelve cleverly staged rooms, which invite the visitor to experience and reflect. An amazing interactive exhibit is a huge blackboard, titled 'Before I die, I want to...', which gives people the opportunity to scribble down thoughts and dreams. This year, it also hosts the amazing anniversary exhibition '125 years National Geographic', with some of the best nature photographs, that have featured in the legendary magazine. 

Austrian Girls in this year's Ski Circus

Ever since their fantastic start in Sölden, the Austrian Ski-girls have proven that snow is in their blood. The Austrian women’s national team is made up of ten skiers. They have a further eight girls in the A-team and still 16 more in the B-Team, some of which are already competing in the FIS Ski World Cup. Over the past few years, most of the national team have earned starting places in the top 30, if not the top ten at international races so it comes to no surprise that they end up doing very well in overall standings. 

Nicole Hosp (middle) & Kathrin Zettel (right) at the Slalom in Aspen (c)SPIESS

The best example is probably Kathrin Zettel, one of the oldest and most experienced girls on the team. Although we’re not very far into the season, Zettel has enjoyed a place on the podium at almost every single race so far (at Sölden, she placed 4th). She’s comfortable on every terrain and course, be it Austria, Finland or North America. 

Eva-Maria Brem, who is very well established in the European Cup, has also been on a roll in the World Cup this season. In terrific conditions, she earned her maiden World Cup victory at the Giant Slalom in Aspen (USA) last weekend with a time of 2:05.97, which was almost a second faster than Zettel’s run. 

Eva-Maria Brem (c)Agence Zoom

Other outstanding girls were Nicole Hosp, who won the Slalom in Aspen, Michaela Kirchgasser, who made the most of higher bib numbers to finish in the Top Ten and Andrea Fischbacher, who also improved from bib 46 in the Aspen GS to finish 18th. 

Anna Fenninger, who took the overall and Giant Slalom title last Season has held back a little so far but is sure to attack at the upcoming speed events. 

After the retirement of her older sister, everybody is also watching Bernadette Schild, to see if she’ll follow in her sister’s footsteps, who has certainly left big shoes to fill. 

The Austrian National Women’s Team:

BREM, Eva-Maria

FENNINGER, Anna

FISCHBACHER, Andrea

GÖRGL, Elisabeth

HOSP, Nicole

KIRCHGASSER, Michaela

SCHILD, Bernadette

SCHMIDHOFER, Nicole

STERZ, Regina

ZETTEL, Kathrin

All results can be found on www.fis-ski.com

14 Days that made 2014!

2014 was an awesome year! 

It was definitely the year I found motivation again and here are 14 reasons why: 

1. January - First Skiday of the year and I made the most of it at Fellhorn/Kanzelwand. This season bought new skis (Völkl) and ski boots (Lange) I had a Gold Card and raked up a whopping 59.943 vertical metres and used 216 lifts in about 30 Skidays. Never had so much fun being outdoors. 

26. January - FIS Nordic Combined World Cup. Interning at the German Ski Association gave me some awesome privileges. So I took my aunt and uncle to the Nordic Combined World Cup in Oberstdorf. We saw some awesome Ski Jumping and Cross Country Skiing and a German win by Eric Frenzel. Oh and we hung out with Team Germany and met the Head of the German Olympic Committee, Alfons Hörmann. 

25. February - Sotchi! Welcoming back some of the successful German Olympians after Sotchi was a once in a lifetime experience. 

19. March - Meeting Nordic Combined Athlete Johannes Rydzek and interviewing him for a magazine was like a 'career' highlight - if you can call it that. It made me realise even more, that I would love to work in sports journalism. And Johannes was really down to earth, friendly and fun! He showed us how to ski jump and hung out with us for Schnitzel dinner! 

8. June - Thailand. I casually booked a flight to Bangkok 5 days before leaving, which was so crazy but I ended up having the best three weeks of my life, traveling through an amazing country. Not to forget one funny night in Abu Dhabi on the way! 

30. June - My parents' 25th Wedding Anniversary! We got together for a family meal, all 8 of us.  My parents have survived six kids, living in three different countries and I think they are still just as in love as they were on the first day of their marriage. They are the cutest! 

13. July - Germany won the World Cup. Need I say more? 

8. August - I finally made the move to Munich! I worked so hard, so being in my new flat with new furniture and starting a new job was a great moment. I have always loved Munich but discovering it as a new 'local' is really cool. The Hofgarten, Olympic Park and Hofstatt are my favourite places in this wonderful city. I'm excited for the Christmas Market. 

13. September - My aunt, who is also a grandma ;), is definitely the most generous person I know and our whole family got to experience that at her wedding in September (finally!!), while we stuffed our faces with amazing German food and drank a lot of Champagne. 

29. September - I experienced Oktoberfest for the first time. It's the strangest German tradition. And I hardly met any Germans there. The Australians, Americans and English made me laugh the most. You absolutely can't drink anything else except Bavarian brewed beer, from which I gladly abstained, but still had such a laugh and also some very weird experiences.

28. October - First snow of the season! I got into the outdoor spirit this year so wasn't going to say no to a day out with my parents hiking in the German Alps, eating sausages and potato salad and experiencing the first snow of the 2014/15 season! 

15. November - Prague. Being reunited with my "old school besties" is the best feeling in the world. So I wasn't going to turn down an invitation to a Prague Birthday Party! Complete with tasty Trdelnik and Cocktails. The weirdest part of all: seeing someone I know from Germany in a random club, which just reminded me of how great this year has been. 

25. November - Coming home to England after more than 2 years! I can't describe how much I've missed it. My best friends, Southampton, London, shopping in Topshop, walking along the Thames, yes even the English weather! I should've never left. 

Nordic Combined

Winter's just around the corner, which means winter sports are back! Last winter, I got the amazing opportunity to interview Johannes Rydzek, a nordic combined skier, who has found huge success in national and international competitions, including winning 2 olympic medals. Such a down to earth guy, he showed us some dry runs of ski jumping! Here's a little video! 

Follow Johannes on instagram and watch his awesome youtube videos! 

First Snow of the Year!

Since I was little and grew up in a village in Germany's Black Forrest, the first snow of the year has always been special to me. 

As I'm getting older, the perspective has changed a little. I'm no longer in a padded snowsuit, sledding down any hill on my backside or building larger-than-life snowmen in my garden but I still get excited by the first sight of snow-tipped mountains in the autumn. It not only means that I'm getting closer to standing on two planks that have started to mean the world to me but also gives me that feeling of cosiness, warmth and darkness that comes with winter, a feeling that makes me feel at home. 

my love for snow is like this

The autumn is the beautiful time of year that I get to enjoy the last rays of sun and start smelling snow at the same time. Yesterday was one of those days that I'll treasure for a long time. I hired a car (hefty price tag) and headed for the mountains, the Allgäu, a region that I've come to know and love as my second home. A great German tradition is the 'einkehren', which is the best part of hiking - to break and enjoy the best food that the alpine regions have to offer, which made me feel like a spoilt child, sharing that moment with my parents.  

the first snow S14/15

The best days of the season are the ones you wake up to in the morning and everything has been covered in white over night. I love the first day that I can wear my winter boots and go for a stroll in the white countryside. The crisp air makes my soul feel alive. Then there's the click that my ski boots make when I tighten them. It's a sound that gets me excited on a whole other level! Standing at the top of a perfectly prepared piste with the sun shining in my face makes me feel like I'm the luckiest person in the world. Especially when I have my ten-year old brother standing next to me, getting ready to race down the slopes like a little pro! It's my dream to ski on the glaciers of Austria, maybe even in the summer.  

sometimes the weather reports are right, everything got covered in white overnight

Winter 2013/14 definitely changed my life! I spent more time in the snow than I have in more than ten years, had a ski season gold card, taught a bunch of teenagers skiing from the very beginning, trained primary school kids in all kinds of winter sports (though not being able to ski jump or cross country ski myself), became obsessed with the Ski World Cup, got cross-country skiing lessons, worked at one of the biggest Ski Jumping event - the Vierschanzentournee, got to help out at many FIS races and got motivated by the best group of professional athletes at the boarding school I interned at. My love for snow grew to be a lot bigger than I ever imagined. 

It's funny how times change, because the truth is that a few years ago, ten horses wouldn't have been able to drag me up a mountain. 

racing suits can be sexy ;)