Dave covering Friday, August 20th. We’re in the end now. Really freaky that it’s coming to a close. Getting back into the normal life groove will now be a significant adjustment!
Today was a gorgeous day in Munich. The weather here reminds me a ton of Seattle weather. It also has a similar look and feel with all the green. And, like Seattle, when the weather is nice here there are few places in the world that can compete.
After all the fun we had on the bike tour, we decided to rent bikes for the day and ride around Munich on our own. Munich is super friendly to bikers. The best part is most roads have extra-wide sidewalks with a bike specific lane. Pedestrians standing or walking in them get bells rung at them and nasty sounding German words muttered at them. For a family on a bike tour, it’s heaven because you’re completely separated from traffic. The city is flat just about everywhere, too, so you can cover distance without killing yourself.
We got out to Mike’s bike tours and rented bikes from them. We went with them mainly because we did the tour with them and felt good about the organization, and their shop is near Marienplatz where the Hayley and Dillon were meeting their friends in the afternoon. They gave us our first good map of the city with a really long ride sketched out (and suggestions on how to abbreviate it), so we got bikes and took off.
The first leg of the ride had us head across the city near the Schloß Nymphenburg. We’d toured that already, so we first hung a left and went down to the Hirschgarten (another huge Biergarten). We all had lunch there and loved it. It’s my favorite biergarten (despite the proximity and fame of the Chinesischer Turn biergarten right by our apartment). The food was great, and the layout and atmosphere when we were there was summer picnic. It could have been the weather was spot on and I was just hungry, but sitting in the garden in the sun enjoying ribs and some sweet bread thing was a top moment of the day (and the trip) for me.
After a long and leisurely lunch, we headed out again. First, we circled around the Schloß Nymphenburg. The grounds are great, and it’s easier to see on a bike. We then followed a great bicycle trail to the Olympic park. The trail wound next to a river and was a street that seemed to be bicycle priority. Cars could drive down it, but they had to give way to the bikes (so there weren’t a ton of cars). The Olympic park is big and green and great for riding, too. We let Mali take over leading and guide us around the park. After that we targeted the Englischer Garten.
We decided to not follow the route at this point since it took us down Leopold Straße in Schwabing which is our neighborhood. I tried to navigate us across to enter the gardens higher up. We got lost for a little bit, but ended up riding through Luitpold Park, which was a pretty detour. We quickly found our way and got back on track. For some reason, I can’t navigate Munich very well. I get turned around all the time. Paris I had down quickly, but I never seem to know where I am in Munich.
Once we hit the gardens, we let Dillon take the lead for a while. I don’t know if this was his intention or not, but he took us straight to the nudist section of the gardens. The gardens are huge, and there are a few parts approved for full nudity, and we hit it dead on. Once again, the kids got to see more than they ever expected on this trip. However, this nudist colony was not the kind they show in raunchy teenage comedies. It was more like the locker room at the 50+ workout center, so we got out of there as quickly as possible.
The gardens are easy to get lost in, and we managed it. We headed in one direction along a small river and it eventually took us out. We wound over by where the surfers surf the river (really fun part of Munich) and dropped back into the bike rental place after getting a little lost in the city. We turned the bikes in and got to Marienplatz just in time.
Hayley and Dillon’s friends are kids they met at church who all have some connection to Seattle. There were about 6 or 7 of them in total. One of the kids, Becca Loveless, was in preschool with Hayley (and they were good friends). I think Hayley and Dillon were also just flat out ecstatic to have kids around their age. Wendy and I have been their main point of contact this whole trip, and hanging out with mom and dad just isn’t the same. We sent the two of them off with the group with some cash and wished them well.
Mali had been in a less than happy mood at the end of the bike trip, so we all went home after leaving the kids. Wendy and I went out shopping for souvenirs and other necessities. With Lost gone out of our entertainment lineup and the kindle broken, we decided to get Mali a couple books for entertainment in our last few days and on the plane. It was nice to be out and walk around in the sunny weather, too.
Wendy then went home and I went out for dinner. Mali couldn’t decide between donner kebab and pizza, so we got some of both. The Pizza Hut is right down the street from our apartment, but I don’t think they like take out. Both times I’ve gone they’ve told me 10 minutes wait and it ends up being 40. This time they forgot me because the guy who does speak English took my order, but the guy who doesn’t asked me to come in and sit down to wait. So, I didn’t make it back to the apartment until after 9. We ate, put Mali to bed, and blogged (exciting night life, huh?)
Hayley and Dillon ended up seeing Inception with their friends, so they didn’t get back to the apartment until 11pm. They were buzzed from the movie and from having some social interaction outside their immediate family. Definitely a great experience for those two!
All in all it was a great day. I’m glad the weather has turned nice so we leave Munich on a high note. Getting out on the bikes will be a good memory of mine for a long time. The end is coming up fast. I’m starting to think about things I will be excited about when I get back (showers that aren’t 10 feet off the ground and have more than a tiny glass to block the splash, water heaters that heat water and deliver it consistently, my own bed, my own towel, eating home made food, people I know, and lot of other things…). The trip has been great, but it’s time to get back to real life.
The sun is out!
Some sights on our ride to the biergarten.
Good food and sun at the Hirschgarten.
Some deer we saw on the way out. One had giant antlers (not in the picture).
Riding around the Schloß Nymphenburg.
Bike trail on the way to the Olympic garden.
Some sights in central Munich while we shopped.
