The end again, in Munich

Wow, four months pedaling from Corfu to Munich. That’s my longest bicycle tour in a decade. By the time we arrived in Munich, Corfu and Greece certainly seemed like a long ways away. The last couple days of riding from Füssen to Munich were flat. It’s easy to remember the few flat sections of whole tour — the Dukagjin Plain, the SW edge of the large Hungarian plain, and the Friuli Plain. That’s it — perhaps about 10 days of flat riding in four months.

IMG_20220729_113324 by bryandkeith on flickr

Every time I go to Germany, I am more and more impressed with the cities and the sights. This was my first time in Bavaria, and, well, the scenery’s pretty good as well.

IMG_20220729_124938 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220729_124917 by bryandkeith on flickr
Steingaden
IMG_20220729_130454 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220730_110052 by bryandkeith on flickr

On the same Gökova tour where we met Sven who sent us to Neuschwanstein Castle, we also met Manuel. Hoping to see him we added Weilheim in Oberbayern, his hometown, to our route, but Manuel was in Finland when we passed through. It was another lively downtown.

IMG_20220730_112150 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220730_160149 by bryandkeith on flickr

We ended our trip with a fun five days in Munich. On the first day Wiltrud took us on a tour of downtown. We first met Wiltrud in Geyikbayırı, perhaps five years ago. During university she spent her summers taking tourists on tours of downtown Munich in a bicycle rickshaw. For our visit she managed to get a hold of one of these rickshaws and was excited to give the tour again after many years. However, she was hobbling around on crutches when we were in Munich so I drove the thing. All three of us really enjoyed the day.

We started with a traditional Bavarian breakfast — white sausage, mustard, pretzels, and beer.

Wiltrud, Ferda by bryandkeith on flickr

That was in Marienplatz, next to Munich’s rather impressive town hall.

IMG_20220802_155544 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220731_113604 by bryandkeith on flickr

It’s a lousy photo, but this seems to be the only I have of the rickshaw.

IMG_20220731_132545 by bryandkeith on flickr

For our lunch stop Wiltrud took Ferda and me to our first biergarten, the one at the Chinese Pagoda in the English Garden.

IMG_20220731_160128 by bryandkeith on flickr
IMG_20220731_150305 by bryandkeith on flickr

Thanks for the great tour, Wiltrud!

On other days Ferda and I further explored downtown and the English Garden. We also pedaled around the city quite a bit, (mostly) failing to find the bicycle accessories that we were sure would be easy to find at shops in Munich. We did, however, find a bit of the Berlin Wall.

a little bit of the Berlin Wall in Munich by bryandkeith on flickr

There are biergarten everywhere. We stopped at this one in a community garden area on the way back from Bavaria’s largest bicycle shop, a ways north of the city center.

IMG_20220802_144322 by bryandkeith on flickr

Packing up bicycles and touring gear for a flight and getting everything to the airport is always a logistical challenge. In Munich we contacted a North American couple (via warmshowers), Jennifer and Ralph, who helped tremendously with these logistics. The boxes were at their house, waiting for us, and Ralph offered his tools and time to get everything packed. The biggest support was the next day when Ralph helped us carry everything to a train (U Bahn), got on the train with us, and together we made the transfer at Marienplatz for another train (S Bahn) to the airport. We could not have managed all that on our own. Thank you so much, Ralph and Jennifer.

After our bicycles were ready for the airport, the four of us enjoyed dinner at a biergarten just a short walk from their house.

Ralph, Ferda, Jennifer by bryandkeith on flickr

Then, guess what? On our last morning in Munich Jennifer and Ralph treated us to a traditional breakfast — white sausage, mustard, and pretzels.

IMG_20220805_094151 by bryandkeith on flickr

We forwent the beer that time — guess we’re not real Bavarians!

Red is 2022.  Blue is previous tours. by bryandkeith on flickr
Red is this year. Blue is previous tours.
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3 Responses to The end again, in Munich

  1. Jeffrey Anderson says:

    What a great àdventure that you brought to life in your posts!

    Warm wishes from BoCO!

  2. Jasper says:

    Beautiful! I want to eat that pretzel!

  3. Mike Painter says:

    Munich is a great city. I was there for the first time just before the 72 Olympics, which then later turned into a disaster.

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