Day 57: Munich, Germany

Today we started at the Bavarian Residence, the palace where Bavarian royalty lived for centuries. It was interesting at parts, but going through 96 rooms can start to drag on, so we sped up as we went.

Then we headed back to Mike's Bike Tour so we could rent bikes for a self-guided ride around Munich. They gave us bikes, a map, and we were on our way.

We essentially had three major stops. First we rode west to the Summer Palace (not sure on the German translation), which reminded us of a less extravagant Vienna Schonbrunn Palace (but still very expansive and cool). We didn't go inside, however, just found a bench to relax on.

Our second stop was Olympic Park, which was about as hilly as flat Munich gets. Again, pretty much just rode until we found a bench suitable for soaking up the area.

Our third stop was the English Gardens. After a few hours of riding we decided to try a new beer garden in the park. We grabbed a picnic table at the Sea Haus, which serves Paulaner and sits on a lake. The bees chased us away after one mug, and we went back to the garden from yesterday.

Back at the garden, we split up. Kevin got the beer, while Brooke got some food. Brooke's task proved more difficult. She approached the vender, the only person in line, and pointed at a strawberry dessert type plate (the only food he served) and asked for one (raising one finger).

Universal language right? Wrong.

The German vendor went on a rant (in English) about Americans visiting without knowing the language. Now, not only did he work as a vendor in tourist central, but we still have no idea what the name of the food that he was serving is called in any language and he spoke fluent English. Anyway, as mad as we were at the jerk vendor, he sold the most delicious strawberry dessert thing (still don't know the name) ever.

After the rude vender, we spent 2 hours trying to plan out our trip up the romantic road (complicated by our car rental). So we were kind of bummed at this point. Then we go for dinner, and while we're looking at the menu, a nice woman eating with her family leaned over and offered to help us with the menu.

It didn't take much, just this little offer, to bring us back to a good mood. It reminded us that the vast, vast majority of people in Munich and all over Europe have been extremely nice and helpful in the past 8 weeks.

Tomorrow we're going to rent a car and drive up the romantic road to Rothenburg...should be interesting.