So, I’m now twenty one. Picked Colm up from the airport on Friday evening, with several bags of presents etc - cards and cash from a few people, all much appreciated. Mitts & scarf from Teresa, a “key” from Colm & Jacqui, a Newbridge picture frame from mum & dad, and a gorgeous heart-shaped chocolate cake - thanks mum!

We went straight in to the concert hall from the airport, and wandered around a bit before the concert. There was “random Mozart” being created, wherein two big foam dice were rolled to choose what to play - Colm was a bit upset that they were using two 6-sided dice to pick a number between (presumably!) two and twelve (it’s just occurred to me that I think they may have had music for when someone rolled a 1 too)… Of course, when I went up to do it, 6 came up, four out of eight times! I got a print-out of my “composition” too, which was nice.

The concert was fabulous, although Loussier didn’t seem to move an inch while he was playing, which was a bit odd. I got a CD afterwards, and had it signed, which was nice

Saturday, we got up reasonably early and headed to Hauptbahnhof for the train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We got some bread for the journey, and passed it pleasantly. In Garmisch, we dropped by Lidl for some drinks, and then got the Zugspitzbahn to Grainau, At Grainau, the train ends - it can’t manage the slope from there up, so we changed to the cog-wheel train as far as Eibsee. At Eibsee, we got out and went for the gondola, up to the top of Zugspitze. I’ve never heard as serious a death threat as when the gondola went over the first pylon, and started swaying - Colm was not happy! The second gondola, from Zugspitzgipfel (2962m) down to Zugspitzplatt (c. 2650m) went a little better - it was shorter, and had no rocky bits.

We met the igloo guides and our fellow guests in the SonnAlpin hotel, which is situated on top of the gondola station. We then decamped to the igloo, about ten minutes walk away, past a little chapel of remembrance of the people who died in an avalanche, when the place was a luxury holiday resort.

It was almost all candle-lit - it was interesting how easy it was to lose track of time, with no natural light (or darkness). There were strip-LED-lights in the floor to light the way tho. Some of the ice-sculptures around the niches in the walls where the candles were had been a bit melted, but overall they were well maintained. It’s pretty cold, so a single candle isn’t gonna melt much!

The passageways down to the regular rooms looked fairly cramped, but for the romantic rooms, there was just a doorway of reasonable(ish) height, and a curtain over it. The loos were absolutely amazing - buckets of chemicals, buried in snow thrones!

The welcome-Gluhwein was very welcome, and the cheese fondue was absolutely divine - I was cold and hungry by the time it came, but it was well worth the wait!

We went for a little Nachtwanderung later - it was amazingly still and peaceful, and the stars were incredibly bright. Back at the igloo, we could see the lights from Innsbruck, but didn’t go for the whirlpool - which was outdoors! It was too dark out, and we didn’t have torches, so I fell and bruised my bum

The decor in the igloo was just incredible - ice carvings everywhere. Sleeping space was comfortable, but with only about 18″ between you and the roof, you wouldn’t want to sit up suddenly when you woke up! Tea was served in bed in the morning (bright and early!), and breakfast was a generous Continental, up at Zugspitzgipfel.

We made our way down the mountain the next morning, and headed back to Munich. The traditional dinner in the Hard Rock Cafe followed, and then a tearful parting at the airport

On Monday, I had my maths exam, which I’d been terrified about for a while. When I got the paper, I thought it was mostly do-able, although I did run out of time a bit. I was reasonably confident by the end that I had passed tho - and got a fantastic email from the girl who corrects our stuff this morning, to say I’d done really well I’m absolutely thrilled!

I am, however, dying of a cold, so it’s a quiet night in tonight - tomorrow I’m off to Swarovski, to spend my birthday money on a beautiful charm bracelet Go me!

Pictures of the igloo weekend are at http://gallery.nerdchic.net/munich/igloo/ - but please bear in mind that these are entirely unsorted, and include some rubbish! Taking photos in the snow was tricky!