Mike's Bike Tour

It has been exactly one week since I landed in Munich! At this time last week, I was waiting to meet my fellow students and on the way to the reception kick-off for the program. Who knew at the time that the week would have been so full of excitment, laughs, lots of beer (and ouzo - man, that stuff has kick), and that I would have added another country to the passport! Okay, maybe not added to the passport literally ... Austria doesn't care who you are, as long as you traveled from within the EU. If you have followed this blog all along, what I have feared has come true. Late nights, little sleep, falling behind in the school work ... but, it has all been quite worth it. I am actually taking today off to catch up on reading and brainstorm on what I'll be writing my papers on. It is such an icky day outside, rain and chill, with absolutely no sunshine. A good day to stay in and add another post. I was hoping to explore my neighborhood a little more and maybe find a laundromat, but no, everything is closed on Sundays. Next Sunday at this time I'll be on my way to another reception to meet everyone new that will be joining the program for the second session. The time is flying by!

Above is the English Garden and a favorite place to study. I wanted to go running in the Garden this morning, but too much rain. Maybe tomorrow night. The Garden is a great place to ride through on a bike, it is so large. I was able to do a little of that on Wednesday, as the school set up a bike tour through Mike's Bikes.

Here we are, on the bike tour! Most of us were a little wobbly on the bikes at first as we made our way through the narrow streets and cars. In fact, at this point on our tour, we were already a man down. No worries, she lived, thanks to James the Assman (no joke, he was appointed to bring up the "rear" and ensure that no one was left "behind" - haha).

Our first stop was just outside the royal residence and opera house. I have mentioned before that our classes are on the grounds of the palace of Ludwig I, and thanks to Tony the Tourguide, I now know a little more of the history. Napolean was going to confiscate all of Maximillian's lands in Bavaria, and most likely do away with Maximillian himself. But smart Max set his daughter up with Napolean's step-son and not only avoided execution, but was deemed the first King of Bavaria by Napolean himself. Napolean still took all the land, but Max kept his life. It was Max's grandson, Ludwig II, that built the famous castle Neuschwanstein that Walt Disney used for his famous trademark.

Here's me getting ready to continue on from the residence to the plaza and church. The plaza/church, which are only about two blocks from the spot I am standing, is where Hitler, in his first attempt to take Munich, waged the battle that landed him in jail. After he was released and made Chancellor, he built a monument at the plaza in the form of a large swastica. Two guards were posted on either side, 24 hours a day. This monument symbolized where he first failed at his ambitions to take Germany. If you went through the plaza and past this monument, you had to do the Heil Hitler salute. If you didn't ... you simply disappeared. Of course many were not particularily excited that Hitler was in power, so to avoid passing the monument, they ducked through an alleyway.

The monument has been removed, and it is illegal in Germany to speak of Hitler and the Riech and do the salute.

Moving on to a much less depressing subject - BEER GARDENS! Above is the famous Chinese Beer garden in the English Garden. After riding our bike's around some more, we entered the English Garden and had dinner and beer here. Drinking and biking, everyone must try it : ).

Here is what I had at the Garden that night ... and many times since : ). Bratwurstl and potatoes, with a nice big beer!! This beer is a Weise beer (wheat and yummy!). After dinner, we traveled on through the English Garden and found the Isar River where the surfers were riding the waves. It was dark by then and we had to travel back before we got caught and all received citations for riding our bikes without a light! I have many more stories and pictures to come ... but not enough time ... stay tuned!