Bike Tour of Munich in the Rain and Another Road Trip

Monday July 21st

The trip was not going exactly as planned at this point. The late flight, missed concert, midnight walk home. Now we started to deal with weather. For our bike ride and tour of Munich the forecast was for 100% rain for most of the day. Due to the activity level and late night from the day before we pushed back our bike tour for a later start.

After parking this time at Oberschleissheim and taking the S1 to Marienplatz in Munich we met our guide at the Old Town Hall building. It was already raining but our spirits were still high.

Our guide got us loosened up with a recreation of a dance done in the Marienplatz square. Everyone was looking at us like we were crazy, but that was okay. He gave us a little history and told us what to expect for the day and we were off......on foot......walking........again. 

We stopped by the Hofbrauhaus, where we ate the night before, and got a little more history. We then proceeded to the bike shop to get water and ponchos. We then continued to walk to where we could actually pick up bicycles. 

After everyone got fitted and adjusted it was time to start riding. The problem was the rain was getting worse. Below is a rough path, in purple, showing the ground that we covered on this day. 

We had planned on taking a break from the bikes to tour the Residenz Palace in Munich. This option was debated since it would waste valuable time from the bike tour. Due to the amount of rain, and the hopes that it would clear off later we decided to go ahead and dry off inside the palace and tour around. 

This is one of the first rooms on the tour, and I think the best one. 

For me this is one of the most impressive palaces that I have seen. It is so large and every room is over the top finished out. It is a shame to find out that almost all of it has been recreated since the end of WWII. 

We had to check our bags and coats at the Residenz. Gary and I got to see some of the finest German hospitality on display for this process. Dropping off was okay, trying to get our stuff back was not. We had coat check tickets that we gave to her. She went one by one for a little while, then just tore the rest of them up and moved on to the next person. We were able to persist and annoy her enough to finally get most of our stuff back. We were only missing a couple of throw away ponchos, not worth going back for at this point.

After the Residenz the rain was not letting up. We got back on the bikes and kept going. Next stop was Odeonsplatz on the map. We did the local tradition of rubbing the lions heads (not the one in this picture), saw the bronze cobblestone memorial street, and walked into the church.

At this point we had to make a decision. It was raining, we were hungry, and our cherry outlook was a little dreary at this point. We made the long ride into the English Garden in the driving rain and found some shelter at this small restaurant. By the time we made it we were all soaked, Katherine had all kinds of mud and debris on her from being on the trailer bike behind me. The rocky paths of the park were not made for rainy days on a trailer bike. The place did not have too much food available and they did not expect much traffic in the middle of the park on a day like today. The staff was nice and they brought us a selection of various foods and drink. We made the decision to spend some time here and get the guide to fill us in on what we rode past and/or missed due to the rain. At this point we were happy for food and shelter and he was not going to get us to leave anytime soon.

At one point he asked me about the plan. I told him we were leaving the bikes here and heading home. I am not sure I was joking at the time. Near the end of our scheduled time for the bike tour we put the wet rain gear back on, got on the bikes and saw a couple of more sites on the way back. We did see more than this post reflects, we were just trying to keep the electronics and cameras dry. 

We still managed to have a few laughs and see some sites, but the day was lost to the rain. We even skipped our dinner reservations after eating lunch so late and just wanting to get home and get dry. I think that night is when we ordered pizza and pasta for delivery. We had a great evening at the house and were able to get a little rest before the next day's road trip.

Tuesday July 22nd:

Several days before the family arrived and leading up to this week the weather forecast was showing rain for several days starting yesterday. I had not been too concerned since our weather forecast shows rain just about everyday. Usually there is nothing or a passing gentle rain. Not so much this time around. We narrowly escaped rain at Neuschwanstein on Sunday, Monday was a wash out, and now Tuesday in Bavaria was looking the same. Before leaving the house we did a little swan dance as a group to try and get our mojo changed. It took a while to kick in, but maybe it helped. We again took the train to Munich Central Station to meet our bus. This was a different tour guide and we had a smaller bus this time. Unlike Mike, this guide wanted us to tell him where to go and did not have much other input. That was fine because we wanted to see the Eagle's Nest and King's Lake in the area southeast of Munich. It was about two hours on the bus to get to the Eagle's Nest. 

Meme caught a small break in the clouds to get this shot. We had to park our bus at the bottom of the hill and purchase tickets for the special tram that went to the top. This is such a steep road that they need special vehicles to make the trip. This road was pretty amazing in that it was built with only one switchback. They almost went straight up this mountain to get to this building. The tram system was run amazingly efficient. Upon arriving our guide ran over to the window to book our return time back down the hill. At this point in the journey you can look up and see the building still pretty far above you. You then walk through this long tunnel to get to an elevator that takes you the rest of the way.

It is a bronze elevator with Venetian mirrors. Going up it was very busy, coming back down I was able to get some good pictures of it. 

Above is our guide. He was showing us this board to let us know what we would be seeing if there was not a dense fog and rain all around us.

Below is the Eagle's Nest, you see it? It is right there.

Okay, how about now? So obviously we did not have the spectacular views of the Bavarian Alps but we did see the actual building.

We went inside for a little bit. This fireplace was a gift from Benito Mussolini. We learned that it was more ornate and larger. For a long time people and troops were knocking off bits and pieces of it to keep.

This was about the time that things started looking up. After leaving the Eagle's nest we made our way through the picturesque town of Berchtesgaden to the parking area near the King's lake. This is a beautiful area full of hotels, shops and restaurants. The rain was letting up and the clouds were starting to lift.

We had a great lunch at a hotel restaurant near the lake and the boat launch area.

Above is the view as you leave the boat launch area.

I just love coming to this lake. It is said the be the cleanest and one of the deepest lakes in Germany. It is 190 meters, or about 620 feet deep. The water is drinking water clean. The story is that they only allow electric boats on the lake to keep the pollution down. This was ruined for us a bit as we saw a gas powered boat going back and forth a couple of times. Not sure what that was about. 

The clouds at this point added to the drama of the event. The place is so quiet, the clouds obscuring what is coming was pretty cool. Eventually, below, you start to see something in the distance.

There is a guy on the boat giving some facts about the area in German. This time he was reading cards in English too, which was nice. Before we get to the stopping point the low hum of the electric engine stops and the boat slows to a stop. He pulls out a bugle and does this. 

I just love that part. Pardon the editing of the audio. The cell phone does not pick up the subtleties of the echo so I had to crank up the db. Live and in person the echo is loud and very cool.

After a 25 minute ride and the music show we arrive at St. Barthlomew's Church. At this point I wished the coulds would have lifted so we could see the dramatic mountains that surround this lake a little better. We still got some really good pictures and family shots though. 

I edited out the guys waiving in front of the church but left their reflection in the water. Did anyone notice?

Another great pic by Meme

One of my favorites here of my sister and nephew. The look superimposed on the background. 

Very artsy shot by Meme. I love it.

We had a great time in the area and I really love the pictures. The rain was gone and the day was fabulous. We made it back to Munich and were dropped off in front of our restaurant where we had reservations. It was the Augistiner Keller near the central train station. Augistiner is the most popular beer among the locals. The restaurant was an experience. We all got to experience the lack of customer service that the Ferguson Four have seen over our time here. This time it was extreme. We were tired again from the full day of activity, she immediately yelled at us for spreading out too much at the large table. We were sat in the middle of the beer hall, it was hot and crowded. My sister was ready to walk out right then. She does not take kindly to rudeness. We stuck it out and took abuse from the waitress while ordering food and drink. At one point I had to ask her if she was okay, such an angry person. She got the hint I think and started yelling at other people around her instead of us. She messed up the order for Katherine and Lauren and would not accept the mistake for a while, but finally realized her error. 

Tipping is not a requirement in Germany because the employees make a full wage already. People will give the change or tip up to 10% if the service is good. This time I made her wait while I counted out exact change. At least the beer and food was good.

We successfully navigated our way back to the house with no problems. The next day was scheduled to be a train ride to Nuremberg for the day. This trip was now being referred to as X-Games Germany 2014 by some of the group. I guess they thought there was a little bit too much physical activity at times. We had several full days already with many more back to back action packed days planned. Maybe it is time to make a change in plans. 

Next time we will wrap up phase one in Germany.