river revelry

Spring is here! Say the trees. And the weather is fantastic. Yesterday I pulled my "Isarmat" out of the cabinet (a foam mat to cushion against the notorious pebbles of the isar riverbank), stuffed it into a giant blue Ikea bag along with a blanket, pillow and some reading material, and headed off. Since I live a ten minute walk away from the "Flaucher", the isar's sunbathing and grill paradise, it didnt take long until i was strolling past the tiny beer garden hut and strolling out onto the "Flauchersteg", taking in the view of the river and small scattered islands of trees. The first island was a no-go for me--naked island as i call it, home to the most devoted of FKK sunbathers. The next few sections were mixed, so i picked a spot near a group of teenagers dressed in black and playing jack black on their guitars and spread out my goods.

Not a bad life, having time after work to read and doze... I enjoyed the muffled guitar chords and slept fitfully in the sun, every now and then reading a few pages of my book before drifting back to sleep. The flaucher is one of my favorite spots in munich, such a mix of mega fit joggers, super suntanned nudists, crowds of teenage grillers slugging river-cooled beers, families with small kids splashing about in the puddles, fishers casting into the current, and the occasional kajaker, riding the waves on the isarkanal. A good neighbor, that river.