Day 56: Munich, Germany

We started the day slow by going to the Deutches Museum, which is basically Germany's Air & Space Museum. It was highly recommended by our Sorrento hotel friends. The museum was ok, we spent about an hour or so looking at planes, windmills, solar/nuclear power exhibits before heading to the Marianplatz Glockenspiel (clock). The clock was later described to us by our guide as the most overrated tourist attraction in Europe (we think he should see the clock in Prague if he wants to see overrated).

On to the highlight of the day. We took Mike's Bike Tour, a 4 hour tour around Munich led by our Irish guide, Andy. We basically would ride for about 5-10 minutes, then stop for an explanation of a building, statue, etc.

It's a little weird seeing how Germany handles WWII. There aren't any WWII monuments honoring the Nazis (a good thing), it seems like history stops in 1920 or so. However, there are a few subtle and moving monuments around if you (or your guide) can find them.

For instance, what looks like a path of spilled gold paint in an alleyway is a memorial to people that were caught taking the long route to avoid having to perform the required salute to a Hitler/Nazi plaque. Another was the White Rose monument honoring kids that were executed for printing anti-Nazi flyers. The monument is a big stone block with inscriptions, but also a pile of small stones placed on top by passers-by, which is a nod to the Jewish way of showing you visited a grave (correct me if I'm wrong).

After the history and somber notes, the tour hit the beer garden in the middle of the English Gardens (Munich's Central Park). With a beer and a pretzel in our belly, we rode on along the Isar River. This is where Kevin had an unfortunate run-in with a pole that came out of no where. Fortunately, Kevin made an amazing recovery and rode away unscathed without even falling off the bike. This didn't stop fellow tour members, Brooke, and guide from hearing a loud clang and then laughing (when they clearly should have been heaping praise for the recovery).

A final cool part of the 15-person tour was that 2 members were Marqutte Alums from California. They were in Germany for, get this, an international Segway Polo tournament. They took 2nd place, losing to Barbados.

We ended the day by visiting the large Haufbrau Haus (est. 1659) and the smaller A. After the 4 hour bike ride, it was easy to sample a weiss, a Helles lager, and dunkel weiss (split between us, of course). We made a final stop at the Hard Rock Cafe for soda, chicken fingers, and fries (after the frankfurter in Austria and about 10 pretzels, American food was about all that sounded appetizing).