(Hallbergmoos, Germany to Munich, about 5 miles south of downtown)
View 2008-05-09 Hallbergmoos to Munich, Germany in a larger map
Highlights: getting started, beautiful spring weather, riding on many bike paths, Munich's Englischer Garten & large downtown pedestrian area, eating a Bratwurst sandwich
Easy start along the River Isar (southwest of Hallbergmoos)
Lunch hour in Englischer Garten (Munich)
Nice day for a boat ride (Englischer Garten, Munich)
Tons of bicyclists enjoying the weather...and not working (Englischer Garten, Munich)
In the heart of Munich at Marienplatz
Journal: Got a late start today. After meeting Joe for an early 6:30 breakfast I quickly went back to sleep for another three hours to recover from jet lag. By the time I finally checked out & loaded my bike, it was noon before I began pedaling away. The first four miles were on the sidewalks & bike paths from the small town of Hallbergmoos (pop. 10,000) to the River Isar. From there is was easy pedaling along the gravel/dirt river path (similar to Maryland's C&O Canal Towpath, but without the muddy parts) all the way to the wonderful Englischer Garten in downtown Munich. Once there, I spotted hundreds of Munchens (my word) in the park enjoying themselves in the perfect spring weather. Many had bicycles with them, and no one seemed to have work or school to attend to. No wonder Monocle magazine picked Munich last year as the most liveable city in the world! And from my initial impressions of the city, I would have a hard time disagreeing.
Of immediate note is the way bicyclists behave & ride in Germany compared with the United States. On the one hand, the roads in the Munich area are not terribly bike friendly (traffic whizzes by & the roads are quite narrow with no shoulder). On the other hand, there are TONS of sidewalks or bike paths for cyclists to choose from (even in the heart of busy central Munich). The net result is a LARGE segment of the population (of all ages) using a bicycle for their trips & errands. Perhaps this is why nobody said "Halo" to me while riding...there are simply too many bikers out there to say hello to everyone. Interestingly, NOONE wear helmets in Germany (not even the children). So in retrospect, my own helmet probably made me look very American (which may or may not have been why nobody said hi to me?).
By the time I reached downtown Munich I was quite famished. However, it was getting late and I had an errand to run, so I nixed the idea of having a drink in the beer garden and rode over to Karlsplatz to purchase some bicycle maps of southern Bavaria. With help from the bookstore staff I was able to find what I needed, along with a compact English-German dictionary (so I won't accidentally order liver soup again). I then walked along the packed pedestrian-only street towards Marienplatz (with its famous glockenspiel tower). Saw lots of street vendors along the way, many of whom were selling "spargel" (a root vegetable of some sort). Wasn't sure if it could be eaten raw (but it didn't look terribly appetizing if it could) so I didn't buy any, but for any spargel fans out there the best deal I could find was two kilos for 8 Euros. Eventually made it the food market area around 4 pm, where I was able to sit down and have a bite to eat (Rostbratwurst sandwich with mustard & some fresh cherries).
Now that I had new bike maps I could figure out where to stay for the night. Since I wasn't sure when the sun sets around here, I picked the nearest campground to the south (only five miles away as it turned out) and found it without too much hassle. The campground is very nice (quiet, safe clean & comfortable), but I will save comparisons with U.S. counterparts until after I have had a few more experiences here in Europe.
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