Birthday in Munich & birthday present

It was my birthday on Monday. I was in Munich for work but we were not successful in our negotiations and lost the deal :( The only positive aspect of this failure (therefore finishing early) is that instead of spending all of my birthday in a meeting room, we had time (with our German distributor) to go into town and visit the Neue Pinakothek, which I wanted to visit during my last stay in Munich, when I took a few days holidays. It had been really hot and sunny during the entire week beforehand, during which I was working. On my first day of 'freedom' in Munich, it started hailing and snowing. So that museum visits became a necessity to avoid boredom. Except all museums were closed on Mondays... Ggrrr... So I am glad I saw the Pinakothek this time!

I left the UK on Sunday afternoon and came back home a few minutes before the end of my birthday, when Trave was waiting for me with a great present: the last CD produced by Ali Farka Touré (he died in March 2006).



I had heard of him and read about him quite a lot but did not actually know his music, which I am listening to right now. I like it very much. African blues, if you want to know the style. Fantastic.

My only frustration compared to, say... Amadou & Mariam, is that I do not understand the words, but the CD leaflet offers a summary of each song subject in English.

Right, actually, the song I am listening to now, "Savane", is in French, so forget what I wrote above!