Thursday, July 14, 2011

Bike Tour Around Munich!!

 We are ready to Roll!!!!
 I had a pastry from the Hotel Lobby cafe.
 Waiting for Anja and her Dad to arrive.
 The New Town Hall Building again.

  We arrived in time to see the Glockenspiel perform along with ALOT of other tourists!!According to Rick Steve's this is Munich's #1 tourist attraction!!
 They danced about and told a little story!!
 Then there is a battle and this guy gets stabbed with a sword and Falls off his Horse and the Crowd erupts in cheers!!!!He never wins, poor guy!!
 The clock towers again

 The Mariensaule is a column located in the center of the Square, it was built in 1638 to celebrate the end of the Swedish occupation. At each of the four corners is a statue of a Putto.
 A Putto is a figure of a human baby or toddler. Each statue is fighting a different beast.
 Time to meet our Tour Guide from MIKE'S BIKE TOURS!!These guys were both Americans and so funny!!!He told us we had to rub our heads and jump to see if we were capable of riding and controlling a bike!!!
 Let's go!!
 MY favorite thing was the BELL!!!I came right home and got a basket and a bell for my bike!!!I loved ringing that bell!!!
 The church during bright sunlight!!!Today was a bright sunny day!!!
 Listening to the story about the Pet Lions!!!
 Apparently rubbing the Brass on this statue of the LION brings good luck, so everyone was doing it!!We were NOT going to be left out!!

 He fist pumped the Lion!!
 Me too!!
 And we got to go inside the palace square today.
 Celebrating our 35th Anniversary on this trip!!!We did that on our cruise ship, but why not kiss as often as you can!!!!
 Back inside the Cathedral, since Mass was going on the night before, I wanted to go back in and get some good pics!!

 The only Non-White in there is the Black pulpit.
 Where the King and his wife are entombed.

 Off to ride through that Large English Garden!!!
 Bavarian State Chancellery is a Large Government building. You can see the damage done to the Pillars by Allied forces during WWII.
 See the damage???
 Our tour guide giving us some history lessons about WWII. I was snapping pictures and waving at my beautiful daughter!!!
 Anja and her Dad!!Even though her Dad spoke very little English, we communicated easily with him. It is interesting how much in common we really are. The love and pride you have for your family is spoken Loud and Clear.
 Riding through the section of the garden where Nudity is legal. I had whispered to Anja, "if you see any naked people ring your bell", all of a sudden she was ringing away!!!Most of them were discreet, just laying on a blanket sunbathing on this beautiful sunny day. However, as we came around a bend in the road, there Stood a full Naked Man right there in front of us. She did not even need to ring her bell!!!!
 I caught my hubby looking!!!hehe
 Oh there is probably some laying out in this pic!!!
 The Chinesischer Turm in the Beer garden. This is one of Germany's Largest beer gardens. It was Packed today, probably because the weather was so nice and there was a small circus type event going on there. This tower built to resemble the Great Pagoda burned down in 1944 due to heavy bombing. They continue the tradition of Octoberfest type music playing everyday!!The band played some of our favorites songs from the beer Garden at Epcot where our daughter is a Manager.
 We rode all the way here in all that traffic, bike traffic and people in our way and we survived!!
 I loved the old carousel at the Garden.
 The circus event for all the kids.
 Off to finish our tour, this tour takes about 4 hours, so it was a nice break!!!
At the mouth of the artificial stream that runs through the English Garden, there is a standing wave that is produced by the water pumping mechanism. Surfers attempt to surf on this wave for as long as they can. The signage states that surfing should only be done by expert surfers.I have seen this on the travel channel and to witness this in person was amazing!!!These surfers are really good!!!The width of this stream is not that wide!!

 That water was freezing!!
  The local rivers in the area are  Isar  and the Wurm Rivers. There is a river on each side of this walkway.
Almost done, what a great way to see and smell the city!!I love experiencing a city by getting out and about, walking and biking are two great ways to do this. It really gives you a sense of the place.

4 comments:

Buttercup said...

So enjoying your pictures. I've never been to Munich, so I am seeing it with you!

Debbie said...

I am so glad you did the Mikes Bikes tour! Wasn't it amazing?! You saw everything we did. Loved watching the surfers...and the nudies. I think that same man was standing in the same spot. Our guide says they pay him everyday to stand there. :))

Chatty Crone said...

Happy anniversary - so who all went on this trip - I recognize one daughter.

Stacie Gibbs said...

I'm soooo glad we could all be together in Munich! I had so much fun there with you guys, too bad I can't see you everyday!! LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!