SSR Confidential

My definition of "MCU" includes the tv shows (that I've seen). With this in mind, in no particular order:

1) Agatha Harkness & "Teen" ( spoilery identity is spoilery )

, Agatha All Along: I adored this show in 2024 when it was released and I still adore it, and have rewatched it three times already. There are many reasons why, but the relationship between these two characters is most definitely one of them. It has different layers, not least because the characters are both holding back information about each other and their true reason for the show's quest for a considerable time, and yet they bond in a very real way even before the various reveals. It ends up as mentor/protegé, with a sideline of odd couple and sort of, kind of, family. And I really hope that whatever the MCU future brings, we will see these two together again.

2) Jessica Jones & Matt Murdoch, (The Defenders): speaking of combinations I hope to see again - The big crossover miniseries of the Netflix Marvel shows was flawed in several ways, but the various combinations of characters were all gold, and I loved the Mattt & Jess combo most of all. To put it as unspoilery as possible: their different ways of reaching the top of a building had me in stitches. And the serious character scenes were fantastic. That neither of them was sexually interested in the other might have been why they got along so well, given both characters have a really messy love- and sex life.

3) Tony Stark & Bruce Banner, (The Avengers): their scenes were such an unexpected delight. Very differnet personalities, and yet a meeting of the minds, so to speak, and great chemistry to boot. We hardly saw them in the same room again after Age of Ultron, which I regretted, but given the ensembles grew larger and larger, it was probably inevitable. (Also, the writing for Bruce Banner changed a lot.)

4) Yelena Belova & Alexei Shostakov, (Black Widow, Thunderbolts): I was torn between this and Yelena & Natasha, and Yelena & Kate Bishop, but Alexei wins with a combination of the relationship being showcased in two different movies and the way we see it change through said movies. Also: Alexei may have been a deadbeat (spy) dad, but he can make Yelena smile (intentionally, I mean, not just when he's being goofy) in an incredibly touching way. Again in both movies.

5) Nebula & Gamora (both of them), Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Infinity Wars and Avengers: Endgame: pace Yelena & Natasha, but these are my favourite sisters in the MCU. They get introduced as a seemingly straightforward rendition of bad girl and good bad girl, the evil and the heroic sister - and then it gets complicated. Given their incredibly screwed up childhood and youth (Thanos trying his best to win the worst Dad competition in the MCU), it's a miracle they had non-hostile feelings for each other to begin with, and yet they do. The moment in Guardians 2 when we find out what Thanos did each time Gamora beat Nebula in a match is absolutely gut wrenching. And when we see them connect and change through sevearl movies, it is both touching and absolutely cheerworthy.


6) Mark Spector & Steven Grant, Moon Knight: that they're both played by Oscar Isaacs is the least of it. The miniseries was so clever in the way it introduced us to them which turns certain tropes on their head because ( it gets spoilery )The result is a sort of "unknown and seemingly very different brothers find each other" tale which also manages to be self exploration and offers moments of grace, support and love in the last three episodes that still make me reach for my hankerchief upon rewatch.


Not included: Peggy Carter & Dottie Underwood (Agent Carter), because the subtext is barely sub, and I definitely ship them, which makes them disqualified for a list of platonic relationships (which I want to remain platonic). But they definitely had "my best enemy" potential in that show. And fantastic chemistry.


The other days

Well, it depends of course both on your physical fitness, time at had and whether you define "around Munich" as "within the city itself and its immediate surrounding era" , or whether an hour away from the city in the direction of the Alps also counts. I shall therefore start with the easy ones and go f or a grand climax of a mountain tour. ;)

Within the city of Munich, nice to walk even if your knee or foot should still trouble you:

1) Nymphenburger Park. The park surrounding Nymphenburg Palace. In addition to being a nice park, it has four tiny little mini cottage-palaces within, all Rokoko, and they're open in later spring, summer and early autumn. (The central palace itself isn't half bad, either, but that wasn't asked.) There's both a reasonably good coffee shop and an actual restaurant for the hungry and exhausted. One can reach the park via streetcar.


2) Der Englische Garten / The English Garden . Largest park in Munich, and I do mean large. Offers something both for easy strollers and people wanting to exhaust themselves. One of the modern attractions, the surfing wave of one of the rivers, is currently gone and the cause of much acrimony between the city administration and the surfers. Another attraction reliably shocking or enticing a certain brand of tourist is the fact that in summer time, a lot of Bavarians come here topless to sun themselves on the lawn. Architecture-wise, there is a nice "Chinese Tower" around one of the most popular beer gardens exists, and a Japanese Tea House, but mostly, like a park should be, it's trees, trees, trees, and large lawns. One can take both short and loooooong walks, depending on the time. Because of the size of the park, there are several entrance points close to subway stations available.

3) Olympiapark : what it says on the label. Originally created for the 1972 Olympic Games. Still very very popular to walk or jog through. The arena within it is very popular for concerts (I saw both Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen there.) Offers, among other things, a nice view over the city and to the Alps from one point. One of the starting points for hiking can be reached via subway.


Still within Munich, but incorporating the suburbs:

4) Isarauen/ Isar shore. From where I live in Munich, cutting through the Englischer Garten to the Isar shore means you can then turn left or right and in either case can do some really nice and lengthy hiking. If you go left, you eventually end up in Freimann near the arena where our football (soccer to Americans) club Bayern München plays, i.e. a place of much ire and admiration, depending how you feel about that club; due to the arena, there is of course a subway connection, so what I do is walk along the Isar to the arena and then go home by tube. Conversely, if you go right, you first walk in the general direction of the city centre and can see our Bavarian parliament building on the other side of the river, then in the middle of the river the Deutsches Museum (one of Germany's foremost science museums), then if you walk on you're leaving the centre behind and head towards the belt area. Most of the way is an appealing mixture of (mostly) trees and architecture. Though if Itake a really long hike, I take the Isar shore road from the opposite direction, i.e. I take the subway to Thalkirchen, where the Munich zoo is, and walk back from there in the direction of the centre. Hardcore hikers and bikers can go even further by S-Bahn and walk or drive back from Wolfratshausen.

Both Isar walks are something for when you have half a day or longer to spare.


Far Over The Misty Mountains:

5) One of my absolute favouriite hiking spots from all time is reached via train from Munich. One takes the train to Schliersee (that's about an hour), then hikes from Schliersee to the Gindelalm, from the Gindelalm to the Neureuth Alm, and from there it's possible to go down to either Tegernsee (town) or Gmund (also located at the Tegernsee lake). They both have a train station and you can take the train back to Munich, which again takes an hour. Now you don't need to be a hardcore Alpine sportswoman or -man to do this - it's not that difficult a way, upwards and downwards - but it does take at least two hours, usually more, to reach the first Alm. So this is only an option if you have the entire day to spare.

The other days

Eleven / Kathryn Janeway: Why? She's his type. Unlike many another version of the Doctor, he's good at endearing himself to competent authoritative women. Depending on when in their respective timelines this meeting occurs, he might also impress her by bringing his very own nurse (Rory) along, which given that Voyager is desperate enough for nurses to let their own Doctor draft Tom Paris will definitely be a plus.


Five / Benjamin Sisko: Why? Mutual bonding over argumentative companions and cricket vs baseball. Five would be charmed by the Ben and Jake father/son relationship (and depending on whether this is before or after Adric dies also melancholic), and wouldn't ruffle Sisko's feathers the way some other Doctors might.


Nine / Jean-Luc Picard: Why? Picard would respect Nine's chip on the shoulder and not wanting to talk about any personal issues (and vice versa). (Though Deanna Troi, sensing Nine's emotional state, wilil try to corner him, but that's another issue.) Depending on the situation they're in when they meet, there might be some prickliness at first, but I think generally they'd find it easy to ally against the menace of the day and maybe share clipped yet meaningful conversation over some tea and/or bond over Dickens once that's done before Nine takes off again.


Fifteen/ Michael Burnham : Why? Much of her personal arc is going from repressing it all stoicism to openly emotional behavior, accepting your past grief and guilt and continuing to do better (and helping others) in the present - that's what he's practically the embodiment of for the Doctor! They would work well as allies, and there would definitely be dancing at some point. Also, she'd make him promise to visit Zora now and then as he travels through time.


Three / Saru (who was a Starfleet Captain, too): Why? Three can come across as incredibly high handed on first impressions, but Saru is a masterful diplomat, would spot Three is actually knowledgable and competent beneath the bluster and would lintrigue him as a Kelpian so any initial problems would be quickly moved aside in favour of teaming up. 'They would also bond over Buddhism.


Thirteen/ James T. Kirk: Why? No, not because he'd hit on her. (TOS Kirk, not AOS Kirk, i.e. he's not his pop cultural stereotype.) She'd consider him fun to have an adventure with, he'd be curious and charmed and very amused once she inadvertendly outs Scotty's inflated time estimations, whereas with male versions of the Doctor he might feel initially one-upped.


Twelve/ Christopher Pike: Why? Even if it's early Twelve at his prickliest, Pike's general relaxedness and experienced diplomacy would help smoothing things over. Conversely, Twelve could empathize with the whole "knowing your eventual awful fate" part without insisting on talking about it the way some other Doctors might. I predict at least one meal cooked by Pike while Twelve plays guitar before the Doctor leaves again.


Unfortunately, I can't think of any version of the Doctor who'd get along really well with Captain Archer because Archer would, depending on the point of his timeline, suspect the Doctor of being a tool of the Vulcan High Command, the Admiralty or the Xindi, while the Doctor, any of them, might like Porthos but would find Archer incredibly annoying, and that's before they find out about certain episodes involving slavery or torture.


Therefore, you get a bonus pairing:

Seven/ Gabriel Lorca (no, not the one we never met, I do mean the season 1 of Discovery guy) : Why? Mutual mindgames! Who manipulates whom best? Who sets a trap for whom while pretending to be their harmless facade? Who figures out the truth about the the other guy first? Might there be conversations with increasingly disturbing subtext about mentoring young women with a chip on their shoulder and tremendous guilt and anger issues? One thing is sure: it would be incredibly entertaining.


The other days

I'll have you know it's really hard to limit myself to only five. And of course this is highly subjective. For an entertaining alternative choice with two per German Bundesland (i.e. federal state), check out the two most recent episodes of History of the Germans here.


Aaaanyway, pondering deeply, this is what I have come up with from the depths of my Teutonic yet Southern Wessi German soul:

1.) The Rhine between, say, Düsseldorf and Koblenz. You can either go by boat on the river itself or take the train, but this is a combination of landscape, architecture and history which is both aesthetically pleasing and incredibly historically and contemporarily relevant. Parts of it are ridiculously romantic. Other parts visibly suffer from climate change.

2.) Berlin. I am the opposite of a Berlinerin, but it's the capital, and talk about being relevant for German history (though not beyond the last two hundred and fifty years or so) and present. If you don't visit in Winter, take a boat trip on the Spree as well.

3.) Munich. Was bombed as much as Berlin, did a better job at reconstruction, is the South to Berlin's North (and only three hours away from Italy via Autobahn or train), with the Alps next door. Offers Baroque splendour to Berlin's 19th century classicism. Speaking of German history of the 20th century: if you haven't visited the Jewish Museum in Berlin with its section devoted to the Holocaust, visit the NS Doku centre and the Jewish museum in Munich. (Don't visit the Dachau concentration camp if you're in a hurry, but do visit it if you have much more time, and don't do anything else on that day. It's stomach turning and it ought to do be. You can't do that in the morning and then hop over to the art collection at the Alte Pinakothek in the afternoon.)

4.) Lake Constance, aka der Bodensee. Most parts of this gigantic lake are either in the German state Baden(-Württemberg) or in Switzerland, but there's a Bavarian section as well, oh, and a Rhine connection. The individual cities located on the lake and the islands in it offer early medieval castles and Zeppelins (they were first built here, and if you have a lot of cash, you can still board one), 19th century German poets and prehistoric settlements, and lots and lots of vegetables and gardening and great food throughout the year. Oh yeah, and the Romans were there, too. And a famous Church Council featuring in opera and historical novels. (Have a pic spam.)


5.) Bamberg. Hamburg. Was bombed to smithereens, did a reasonable job at reconstruction, offers a legendary harbor which you can take a two hours boat trip to visit, two great towers to have a view from, an early morning fish market, an immigration museum, stylish nineteenth century villas, quite expensive shops, some good art musuems and the Reeperbahn. Look, it was as important in shaping the Beatles as Liverpool was, and so the world owes it a visit for this alone, okay? Also: three hours train ride to some spectacular northern sea beaches from there.

The other days