Day 14 – Morning in Munich, Dinner in Frankfurt

We were able to sleep in this morning and have breakfast at our leisure as we didn’t have to meet until 9 a.m.   Breakfast was the same as yesterday but just as good.  The roads were dry, the sky overcast, but no rain and the temperature about 55 degrees.  This meant Mike’s Bike Tour of Munich was on.  We quickly checked out of Hotel Europa, loaded the bus and headed back to downtown Munich.  By the time we reached the meeting point for our bike tour, the sun had come out and the sky a welcome blue. 

Our guides were Rob from New York and Elliot from England.  At 10 a.m. they had the group doing the traditional Bavarian dance of the barrel makers.  We also learned that monks founded the city and built a monastery (St. Peters, 12^th Century), a bridge so they could cross the Isar river, and started making beer. 

Then it was off to pick up our actual bikes, we were split into two groups, and started our two wheel adventure.  Along the way we stopped at Maximillan plaza, where the Bavarian State Opera House and

Royal Place

are located.  The Palace takes up one city block, yet only housed Maximillan’s family.  We learned other interesting facts about the city as we peddled through the streets, dodging automobiles, pedestrians, and other cyclists.  As our guide said, “You must dominate the road.”



Do we look like we are ready to dominate?


After about an hour, the sky had darkened and large, cold, rain drops began to fall.  We were at a great spot to leave the bikes and go inside the Theatinerkirche (Theatine Church, 1675), the first baroque style church build outside Rome. We had about five minutes to wonder around the church and get a little warm before hoping back on the bikes.  The rain had let up and the sun peaked from behind the dark clouds.

Theatinerkirche

Then we were off to the Englischer Garten for our lunch stop.  The park is three times the size of New York’s central park and is the seventh largest city park in the world.  The river flows through it with many tree lined paths with large green meadows in between.  Our guide was quick to point out the there was a specific meadow were anyone is allowed to go au-natural if they so choose.  No climpes were had as it was too cool and wet to have even the bravest nudist sunbathing.

Before we knew it we were at the Chinese temple.  This is the location of the biergarten in the park.  It can hold about 6,000 people.  Only a few hundred were out braving the weather today.  Once again we had the opportunity to purchase typical German fare for lunch.  We had about 40 minutes for lunch and a little relaxation.  At one point it started to rain again and the temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.  Good thing we were all smart enough to move under the cover of the tower when we felt the first few drops.

At 12:45 p.m. it was back in the saddle and off to finish the tour.  Before leaving the park our guides told us pull over to the side near the river and pull out our cameras.  Much to our surprise and delight, there were individuals surfing the river.  It was like one of those water parks with a wave pool but this was an actual river.  There were a number of surfers enjoying the river so we got to see surfers in action.  Very cool!  



Surfing in Munich



An American engineer working for BMW, in 1972 figured out how to place ropes across the river to create this realistic wave.  

Our guides had to pull the group away as we needed to get back.   After another 15 minutes of peddling through the wind and ever increasing rain, we were back.   We said good-bye and thank you to Rob and Elliot for the entertaining, fact filled, bike tour of Munich. 



Team Elliot



Team Rob

We quickly walked to our waiting bus to begin the long bus ride (410 km) to our last stop, Frankfurt, Germany.  It was now 1:30 p.m.  The bus quickly quieted as we began to warm up and lulling motion of the bus to most of the group to sleep.  

We arrived at the NH Hotel in downtown Frankfurt at 8:45 p.m. after a seven hour bus ride.  This was a little longer than anticipated as we ran into Friday afternoon traffic of people trying to escape the city early..  Very similar to what we experience in the states, like traffic on a Friday afternoon to the Cape.

We did make two rest stops along the way to stretch our legs and give our bus driver his required breaks.  Then, as we approached Frankfurt, we took a little unplanned detour around the countryside surrounding Frankfurt.  Okay, we got a little lost.  GPS are not always perfect.  But our tour guide, Elena got it straightened out and we found the hotel without further delay. 

After finding our rooms and having 30 minutes to relax, shower, unpack, we met for our final group dinner at the hotel restaurant. Diner included a wonderful cream of celery soup (better than the one in Munich), rolls, roast veal in a mushroom cream sauce over a bed of fresh peas, and fancy potatoes.  For dessert we had a rich, extremely chocolaty mouse. 

We are looking forward to tomorrow morning to explore Frankfurt and attend the USA vs. Columbia match.  Stay tuned.