Six days in Bavaria

After a fitful night's sleep in a couchette car shared with a nice couple from Korea, we arrived in Munich a bit more jet lagged than anticipated.  Settling in to the apartment was relatively easy, so we headed right into town for a brat and a gawk at the Glockenspiel, then we wandered until we realized what we really needed was an afternoon off to lay about napping, reading and doing laundry.

On a sleeper train, you go to bed looking at beautiful French farmland that is then indistinguishable from the beautiful German farmland you see when you wake. The countrysides are so similar, yet the cities are so different.  From the food to the architecture, Paris is layered and delicate and lacey (even with Hausmann's great sense of structure) while Munich is stout and angled and squared.  Paris is pastries, Munich is meat.  I love them both.

DAY 2 - biking Munich

We joined a biking tour of the city, ate at the English Garden, bought Eleanor a traditional dress, visited the city's biggest toystore, and had a brief visit with a friend of mine, Laura, who moved to Munich eight years ago.

DAY 3 - Neuschwanstein Castle

Joined a bus + bike + hike tour that drove us to the small Bavarian village of Ludwig's famous castle, pedaled us along country roads for great views and a swim in an Alpine lake, and flatfooted us up the backside of the castle's beautiful perch. Then, we toured the castle, which is in theory what we came for but really the rest of the day made the memories.  And we slept hard this night.

DAY 4 - fossils

We rented a car and took to the German highways and small roads. The goal was to hunt fossils in the famous limestone beds that produced archeopteryx. Specifically we stopped at the publicly accessible quarries outside of Titting and Eichstatt. Beautiful countryside which I left largely unphotographed because I was busy enjoying driving like a German.

DAY 5 - Mittenwald

With a "Bayern" day pass we hopped a regional train south to a village known for murals and violins. The day was a nice pace, there and back again without too much agenda.

DAY 6 - Our final day abroad

Today was just the right pace, with a relaxed early morning followed by a lovely visit with Laura, her girls and Carson. Now I have a better picture of her life here. The group of us strolled the Isar, lunched in a biergarten, and then parted paths. We ended the day at the Hofbrau Haus with a band and a bier.  Tomorrow we head west.  Really west.