So, Friday was pretty much a day to get the place ready so Deb and I could leave on our three day trip to Germany! So, lots of laundry to be done, groceries to be bought, instructions to be left, and one bike to be returned. Once all was done, Deb and I left the house around 7:15 to catch the tram to catch the train to catch the train. :) so, by about 9 pm we were tucked into our middle berths on a sleeping car on our way to Munich! It was a bit cramped, so it was mostly just settling in to read for a bit, and then to sleep. Those silicone ear plugs are a lifesaver. Not the best night of sleep ever, but it could have been much worse. And when we woke up, we were in Germany! First stop off the train? The bakery. YUM!!!! A delicious apple pastry for breakfast, and a cheese roll that I enjoyed later on with some olives and feta that we found in a market. Delicious. Anyway, we went to our hotel to drop our stuff off in storage and get changed for the day. So, we were out on the streets by about 9 and headed down to Marienplatz to start our wandering. We were able to come back and see the glockenspiel go off at 11. Cool to see, not nearly as exciting as you'd like to think. :). Otherwise, we wandered around and looked in the markets, ate our food, looked at a bunch of dirndl stores (how great of a Halloween costume would that be?) and waited (in 90 degree heat) for our bike tour to begin. One thing we did learn is that American bachelor parties have NOTHING on German ones. First, matching t-shirts appear to be mandatory. As does starting well before noon. And having something to sell. One guy was selling tiny bottles of liquor to girls at about 10:55 am. Another guy was dressed in a giant frog suit and was giving piggyback rides. It's a strange crowd, folks. Deb and I were thankful that we were not approached....until a couple of guys headed right for us, then went around us and targeted the girls 5 feet behind us. Then we realized maybe we should be offended... :) Back in may, we had booked with Mike's Bike Tours, an awesome little business that Deb and Paul discovered last fall. The guides are all American or British, so you don't loose stuff in translation. And they are hilarious. We ended up in Eliott's group - he is from York, England. So, he had a fabulously dry sense of humor and was super entertaining. We got to see some of the major royal sites, an alleyway that people used to use to avoid passing the building in front of which they were required to give the nazi salute (amazing how many small forms of resistance there were), the Englisher gardens, the surfers in the river, and much more. Since I didn't have the energy to write this last night, I know I'm missing a ton of the details that I wanted to include, but oh well. I had my first beer in Germany and my first pretzel bigger than my head. Delicious! And we discovered some sort of three cheese blend that they have for dipping pretzels. Amazing. We had some random German guy next to us explaining it all. and to top off the experience, see the dude below. Hahahahaha! After the tour, we dropped our bikes back at the office, which happened to be located quite close to the Hofbrauhaus, so what better to do but head over there for a beer? Even if it is totally over run by tourists, is a cool place. Of course the polka band played for about 2 minutes after we got there and then packed up. Our timing is awesome. :) Then we were back to the hotel to actually get into the room, and take cool showers to cool off. It was crazy hot here yesterday. After a quick nap, we headed back out to one of the local Augustiner places nearby. This is a beer brewed in Munich that doesn't get exported. Deb is obsessed and I have to say the beer didn't disappoint. But, as it was a Saturday night, the outdoor seating was very full. So, some random guy told the waiter to let us sit with him. Enter the man that Deb and I have nicknamed the German Milty. We never did get his name, but he reminded us of what our grandpa would have been like out and about. He chatted us up about everything from how he doesn't like old people to politics to Munich's history to his life as a businessman. He was really nice and it was really a cool night. And the fact that he had 5 or 6 tick marks on his coaster from the waiter probably helped the conversation. :) but of course when we sat down, he tells us he speaks a little bit of English. And then converses in English for 2 hours. I probably got about 80% of what he said, but can you imagine an American welcoming foreigners to their table and conversing in their language? Not in a million... We were going to hit another place but the lightning storm in the sky convinced us otherwise. So, home we headed to some very comfortable beds at the City Hotel. Great first day in Germany!