Munich, Germany

"The city of Monks" means next stop: Munich, Germany! #1 most liveable city according to Mike. I will be quoting this guy a lot because he gave us (the Bus2Alps group) the BEST way to tour Munich. He has/is Mike's Bike Tours (http://www.mikesbiketours.com/1.html) all over Europe and we had the original, unique tour by the man himself.  I had a tricked out cruiser that matched my outfit. Meant to be! Mike took us all around and showed us his favorite red trees. Also gave us a history of Munich and its former leaders while riding. Not only fun but educational! There were surfers, a piece of the wall of Berlin, and the IceBach in the Isar River. Here is where we jumped into the river while it was 50 degrees outside and felt about 10 inside. YES...we jumped in! Mike made us! HA! Amazing as he said it would be. Refer to video and pictures for details. We continued riding to the Chinesischer Turm which was a beer garden for lunch and famous brew. Afterwards we carried on through the Englischer Garten which is a 1000 acre park. There are supposedly nude beaches but we were the only ones with nude in the park. Oops! After the tour we had a few beers with Mike himself. He left and we headed towards the famous Hofbrauhaus. Basically a beer hall where it is produced for over 100 years. Madness everywhere and food. Who's complaining? We stumbled to the hostel and met up with some Puerto Rican girls studying abroad in Spain and Germany. Love meeting my peoples from the island. While all the guys passed out I went out with them to Fruhlingsfest (Spring Festival). It is like a carnival (rides, cotton candy, & games) with a twist of two beer gardens. We did a little bit of everything than headed back home. Next day was a trip to Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. A part of Germany's history that had to be seen and experienced. Mostly a slave labour camp but about 43,000 still died. R.I.P! Museum and video were graphic yet informative. On the way back we caught the 11 minutes of the Glockenspiel ring and mechanical jousting match. After this overrated site we went to eat at Augustiner which is one of Munich's oldest pubs. Had some Pork Knuckle which is delicious. After that we went to Spring Fest again to do all the things I missed before. Sunday before we departed, we went to the Olympiazentrum where the 1972 Olympics was held and the tragedy of 17 Israeli deaths were. On a lighter note, the park, venues, stadium, and lakes were remarkable. Had lunch on one of the main, popular, young streets and than we were off on the bus home....

Photos can be seen at:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2571595&id=1915685&l=e8721f7a31