Spanish Wine in Munich

The loveliest Spanish wine shop with the loveliest Spanish owner, and just what I needed at this point in my Munich-life, was discovered through a cava-tasting evening posted to Internations. I absolutely loved it and had a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Thanks to Julia Grune for arranging it!

With things I love this much, I like to share here on the blog so maybe I can assist in the promotion of the shop a little bit, and help others in Munich who might share my passion for wines. Camino del Vino is the name - check it out!

Without further ado, you can find it here:

Baaderstrasse 32, 80469, Munich

The evening was arranged through Internations  - this is an expat social network that is particularly useful if you are new to a place and it has most corners of the World covered. You can sign up for free but to have access to the events you usually need to pay a small monthly membership fee. I think it is worth it.

The website is coming soon but here is the facebook page to Camino del Vino.  

Some highlights:

• The owner is really knowledgable and welcoming - she definitely knows her stuff
• I discovered a fantastic little wine shop
• Whole host of wines and cavas as well as some smaller Spanish delicacies such as olive pastes
• Enjoyed 6 cavas, while also learning a lot about the fermentation process of cava, what to look for on the bottles etc.
• Terrific tapas served alongside to compliment the cavas
• Came away with a fantastic bottle of cava - see photos below
• I found out there is another wine-tasting here (Internations only) on 17th September so I get to do it all over again with 3 red wines and 3 white wines from Spain!
• And here are the photos of what we tried... (with a link to the vineyard website)

 http://www.juveycamps.com/

http://www.paresbalta.com/

http://www.raventos.com/en

http://janeventura.com/?lang=en

The wine I came away with - top price at 25.-EUR per bottle but wow it tastes good!

Trail Half Marathon: My first experience

Cheddar Gorge Challenge medal collection

Six weeks ago in my blog post 'Run light like...' I explained how my recent involvement in the Relish Running Races Cheddar Gorge Challenge had rekindled my passion for running and allowed me to discover the delights (and pains!) of trail running.

Well, I did it! 16th August marked my first trail half marathon and I picked up my last piece of metal to complete the Cheddar Gorge Challenge. Not only did I complete it but I came 10th overall!!! I am absolutely over the moon and ecstatic. I thoroughly enjoyed it and many thanks to Relish Running Races organisers for the fantastic job they did at all three races I attended.

Lindsay & I on the finish line

What can I tell you? It was bloody difficult! But then? That is what you want. That is what makes it interesting. I was doing ok but I got a great burst when I saw Hell's steps for the last time. I went bounding past four others as I was determined to give my all at this point in the race. As my friend Lindsay had told me in training, "Don't see them as hills. See them as mounds of opportunity!" By the end, as I approached the finish line, my legs were like jelly. I had definitely gone as hard and as far as I could. Great feeling.

Hills are mounds of opportunity

Everybody has their own demons. Everybody has their own challenges. This was mine and even if I missed the odd training session here or there, I know that in the end, I did the best I could during that trail half marathon. I had everything to be proud of and I was.

In the last 8 months I have given up smoking (-something I should have never started but I do - or did - enjoy it!). I have started running again at a respectable fitness level. I have achieved better than I could have imagined in the Cheddar Gorge Half Marathon and well... since I have got this far, after 2 years of saying it, I have finally committed to the Munich marathon on 11th October 2015. 

Champagne celebrations

Another great challenge, Munich is a city I hold close to my heart for a number of reasons and I felt a connection to this city long before I came to live here (for inexplicable reasons), so I have always wanted to earn THAT medal; that of the Munich Marathon. I ran the Phuket Marathon in 2011 and said, "I will never run another marathon again" but even then, I gave myself the exception that I would do another marathon if it was in a cooler climate such as that of Europe "just so I can compare my race time". So here I am.

Final weeks of training in progress. A fresh bottle of cava is awaiting in the fridge (thanks to a wonderful Cava Tasting evening I recently attended at Camino del Vino in Munich - worthy of another blog post!). And well, as always, watch this space..............!