House hunting in Munich

So we got back from camping over the Easter weekend and flew that same night to Munich. Luckily we are the Worlds Most Organised Couple, so there was no stress.
Not sure if I've mentioned it here yet, but we are moving to Munich next, not Zurich anymore. We are due to move in July, so we needed to go and find a house, hence the trip.
We looked at about 10 houses in total and Benedikt's parents had looked at 10 more the previous week on our behalf. Its VERY hard to find decent houses in Munich in general, never mind one that met all our requirements. Which were: it had to be outside of the city and more in the country, but close enough to Benedikt's work, it had to have a garden for the dogs, it had to be close to a forest for my sanity. We needed space for kids, bikes, cars, guests and my office. It had to be in a nice village or town, preferably one with a train link to the city. And we really wanted one that had a view of the Alps! (we were looking mostly in the south of Munich) It had to have a modern heating system, external roller blinds, good bathrooms and a garage or car port. And it had to be available as soon as possible. And the right price of course. Wow, housing is EXPENSIVE in Shermany!

So we made our choice on day 4 of the trip. It was quite an easy choice in the end as the house we chose stood out above the rest. Its 2 main downsides are that its on a semi-busy road (one where a car passes at least once every 4 mins) and that it has a small garden. But the latter we quickly learnt was not really an option. Garden space is just not common and is darn expensive. Its also a semi detached house. Which will also take some getting used to. Even for Benedikt as he has lived outside of Germany for 8 years now and has grown used to having SPACE! After choosing our house, we spent our remaining days choosing a kitchen, a bed, cupboards, tiles, cellar floor and bedroom floor, bathroom fittings, doors, door handles, taps, electrical points, skirting, some basic layout options and so much more! We'd leave the house at 8am and only be back at 8pm. It was EXHAUSTING. I'd rather spend 12 hours working! But we both agreed it was a great way to get all those decisions over and done with. Some people take a year to decided on what we did in 4 days! Nico in the meantime went to go and stay with Oma and Opa. Which was a good thing as it would have been a nightmare having him around. In and out all of those shops, and sitting through all of those meetings would have just been impossible. We stayed with Benedikt's sister, Nina, who lives in the north of Munich. They have just finished building their house which is just beautiful and makes us really appreciate what they've been through the last 2 years with all the decisions and processes. We did manage to get a spot of shopping done in between the house stuff. And even met up with a school friend of mine in Munich which was very cool.

Easter camping in Pilansburg

So we went camping next to the Pilansburg game reserve over the long Easter weekend with my sister and Collin and a friend of theirs, Caroline. Boz and Collin have all the gear for 'luxury' camping so all we did is pitch up on the Friday and there was our campsite. A kitchen, dining room and 3 tents. Now THAT is how to do it.
We had to drive home MADLY from that sundowner session in the bird hive as our gate closed at 6:30 and we were there until like 6:15! They are very strict in these parks so we gunned it. So much so that we drove into a herd of elephants. And Pilansburg is RENOWNED for its aggressive bulls. Luckily we narrowly missed them and managed to get past. We got to the gate at 6:45pm and got away with a stern warning from a high waisted strict ranger lady. PHEW. What fun though!

It was mine and Benedikt's birthday that weekend too. Actually, I should have run the Two Oceans Ultra marathon on my birthday - when I did it last time it was on my birthday (I think 6 years ago) they gave me an AWESOME Nike present - a backpack FULL of goodies. ACTUALLY, I couldn't think of a worse way to spend ones birthday! My how I have changed :)

The evening of my birthday involved lots of games and alcohol. Of course. What else would you expect from the Wielopolski sisters? I won't mention my sister running to the campsite next door and rolling 'in the mud' and squealing like a pig on the ground or anything.

The campsite was great really. Its just next door to the Game Reserve. And only took us 2.5 hours to get there. Nico loves an animal app that I've installed on my iphone - he loves the noises all the various animals make and he knows exactly how to swipe his finger to get to the next one! So very useful entertainment for car journeys.

Now the obligatory Nico photos. He LOVED the camp site. And loved our tent. It was his 3rd time camping in his short little life but I think the first time he really knew what was going on. He woke up during both nights in his cot next to us so we let him sleep between us on the mattress. SO cute! I LOVE sleeping next to him.

Triathlon in Debban and other things

So Benedikt is now into his triathlons. I would be too, if I didn't have a silly fear of swimming in open water surrounded by people kicking and pushing and of choking in the choppy water! But I am enjoying his training as I often join him in the pool (we use a 25m heater indoor pool at a school nearby) for 5000 lengths and he now joins me more often on my runs.
Benedikt is very funny though - he won't do ANYTHING with sub standard equipment. So he has recently bought nearly all of the equipment necessary, including a snazzy new tri bike which is just beautiful. So last weekend we drove down to Durban for the Suncoast Triathlon.
So my significantly more relaxed exercise program these days entails one (easy) hour of something every morning. At the crack of dawn. Literally. 5:30am stuff! We've got a great park and dam just 2.5kms away so its perfect. I run there with the dogs and let them run wild which is what they love best. Our landlord's daughter lives in the flat above our house and she often joins me on my runs which is cool.
Then I do my ashtanga yoga self practice once or twice a week, go swimming once a week and cycling once a week. The cycling is usually a 2.5 hour FAST ride - Benoni World Champs every Saturday! I DIE. And get dropped of course. But usually one of the guys waits for me... sometimes my lovely husband even pushes me back into the (enormous) bunch.
My yoga I'm just maintaining. There is no ashtanga studio nearby so once a week I try to get to Love and Yoga in Melville. I've made friends with a great guy there who helps me with my practice. But I miss Oriane a LOT!

Otherwise home life is ticking over nicely. We are very happy in this house, it has plenty of space and a great garden and pool. And my dad living with us is working out SO well. As soon as Nico goes down at 7pm, Benedikt and I can easily go for dinner, or in the mornings when we go off exercising, my dad keeps his ears open for Nico. And when I am slaving away in the kitchen making supper my dad often keeps an eye on the monkey for me. He is a total pain the kitchen otherwise, pulling out every utensil and pan and strewing pasta all over the floor!
Nico that is, not the father.
So on that topic I've been cooking much more these days! Benedikt is amazed! Well, actually not really cooking, quite the opposite - I am making loads of RAW food. Which means no nutrients are lost via cooking, so its much healthier all round. I even went on a dehydrating course on Saturday with Raw works. It was excellent learning about such an ideal way to eat raw foods - so much flavour and texture.
Lately I've been making my own almond milk too. And that's what Nico drinks before bed. It tastes good! I sweeten it a bit with dried figs.

I will post more goodies as I make them... I feel like I'm embarking a new adventure with this way of eating, and I'm finding out about lots of amazing foods, its exciting!
And its almost 2 years since I became a vegan now :) I'm still loving it.