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The Seebock has arrived here in Potsdam, and so have the new jib, bag and persenning. We've found a berth at the Potsdamer Seglerverein on the other side of Templiner See. There's a lot less space to move around and the wind is stronger, so we'll really get to know the boat. On Easter Monday we went out in wetsuits, as the weather was mild. But on Sunday, these were just right.

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The chestnut tree outside the window has been a dear, silent companion these past 10 years. I've lived next to it for longer than any other but the magnolia that stood in front of our house in A street. Goodbye, tree.

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We went to visit Rudolf Mooshammer's grave this afternoon, walking home from downtown. Munich is incredible that way, everything is so close and nice to walk to. Anyway, the tailor and "Munich original" is buried next to his mother, who he started Carnaval de Venise, his famous and flamboyant men's shop, up with. He grew up without the support of his father, who was unhappy and an alcoholic. That's why Mooshammer became a supporter and benefactor to alcoholics and street people here. When he was murdered by a male prostitute in 2005, Munich's high society stayed away, but the rest of the city came to his funeral.
This cemetery is full of life. People come to take care of the flowers and visit their deceased relatives and friends. In this Roman Catholic town, the dead are very present in the lives of their survivors.
Some of the dead have nearly been forgotten. The Minister President of Bavaria Kurt Eisner, murdered in 1919, was cremated here. His urn was buried at the foot of a monument to the "Dead of the Revolution", which the NSDAP destroyed in 1933. Eisner's urn was removed to the Jewish cemetary, where it still lies. The monument itself was rebuilt after the war. Or: 17 dissidents killed during the "Röhmputsch" were cremated here, including journalist Fritz Gerlich. Their ashes were distributed among different urns by the Nazis to wipe out their memory. In the 30s and 40s, many political prisoners murdered in nearby Stammheim were brought here for cremation, as were nearly 4,000 prisoners from the concentration camps Dachau, Auschwitz and Buchenwald, as well as victims of the euthanasia program, "Action T4". After the war, the US Army dropped off the bodies of nine war criminals, including Hermann Göring, under the cover of secrecy, and to prevent any cult of followers from forming, their ashes were strewn into the Isar.

Source: Wikipedia

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The "Feldmüllersiedlung" was built between 1840 and 1845, under the administration King Ludwig I, to redevelop this neighborhood where the poor craftspeople lived. Just off busy Tegernseer Landstraße, you'll find some of the smallest houses in Munich here. Some have been lovingly restored, making the neighborhood attractive. Just recently, the completely dilapidated 55 square meter house at the corner was sold for 200,000 euros, and I bet it'll cost the owners another 1-200,000 to restore the place in accordance with the historic preservation guidelines.

Looking at or into the windows tells you a lot about the mix of people you'll find here in Giesing.

I've been to Kiesstraße 3 several times in the past week, to Jürgen Rehse's furniture restoration workshop http://www.antikmoebel-rehse.de/. He shares the lot with a family of cabinet makers who have been at this location for over a hundred years. The movie "Pumuckl" was filmed in this house http://www.pumucklhomepage.de/pffza.html

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The most beautiful cars in Munich are parked in Giesing. Seen on Walchenseeplatz.

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Our little Isar is a mini Mississippi these days.

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It's such a shame seeing the site of this great institution being turned over to commercial enterprise.

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The old department store on Tegernseer Landstraße has been converted to an arts center for the summer. Before the building is torn down in August, artists and freelancers and the likes of the Chaos Computer Club are setting up shop there – rent-free. Project coordinator Zehra Spindler is also the person behind München852. Parties and events are held to raise the necessary funds, announced on Facebook.
Video with pictures of the neighborhood:

Song posted on the Puerto Giesing FB page at http://www.facebook.com/puertogiesing:

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There's nothing quite like watching a Bayern München game in a Giesing bar. But everyone cheered the arch enemy on against Lyon here in 1860 land. Did we see Ribery's last game for Bayern?

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We're not sure that we will be staying here. Everything is up in the air. At least the seasons come round as they should.

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I'm just your regular working citizen, with deadlines and clients and appointments to keep,  which means I work during the week and can't stay out until all hours of the night on weeknights. So it really frustrates me when concerts are scheduled on a Tuesday and start late, like Shearwater at the 59:1 club on Tuesday, which I was definitely going to go to (yes!), but the friggin' concert doesn't start until 9:30 officially, and we know what that means, and my sweetheart has to get up at 4 am to go to CEBIT, and my friends say it's too late for them, so I'm either going to go on my own and curse my loneliness or sit at home and sulk. Oh, and  I'll be working at 7am the next morning, because I only sleep 5 hours, which isn't be healthy, is it, but I don't care, that's just the way things are. Anyway, if I have to stick it out all by my lonesome on Tuesday, at least I can hook up with Solveig, a friend of mine a week later at Mr B's. Mr B's is so small it's a joke. It's crowded when 20 people come. Mr B doesn't serve you drinks, he decides if you're worthy enough to deserve one. You haven't been there? Go.

11 March, open from 9:00. Singer: Solveig Rögler; Guitar: Florian Perfler; Sax: Ernie Butler

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Deef Pirmasens read from Airen's STROBO, the memoir that Ms Hegemann later used for her book Axolotl Roadkill, tonight in the Niederlassung, accompanied by VJ gently.radicals. Well done. A low-key but appreciative crowd was there. – No two people will take exactly the same trip with this book, but it's a real, believable, authentic memoir that you can get into. When I read I'm always thinking of the writer who gives breath to the narrator. Can well understand that Airen would want to continue writing away from the limelight. – Afterwards Lucy and I had a chance to catch up.

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and the snow melting say spring is just around the corner. Come on come on.

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The Rose cycle was created by Cy Twombly for the Museum Brandthorst in Munich, specifically for this room. Lovely. Very striking the way this museum contrasts Cy Twombly's works with their unique painterly handwriting, and Andy Warhol's decorative surface and serial production ("you can have this print in any color").

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Anne

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Anne

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Mord in Giesing was really fun. Lots of people were abroad in the streets of our neighborhood, some sporting pretty grizzly wounds courtesy of a participating beauty parlor. The moon was out and the night was mild as we explored the 13 participating bars, cafés and venues. My favorite hangout is still the Schau ma moi on Tela (Tegernseer Landstraße), featuring Munich's smallest beergarden, where we heard Friedrich Ani, a local author, reading from his works to a rapt audience. We discovered a few nice places in Untergiesing, like the Lü on Heinz-Mielich-Platz. Closer to home, we now have a new place to go: the Kulturcafé, also on Tela, hosts literary readings on weekends. Across the street, a local home improvement shop specializing in eco-friendly products decorated their shop window in an appropriately macabre fashion. Whodunnit? We think it was the nurse, but frankly, we're not quite sure.

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