Munich

Munich was everything we thought it would be.  It is a city of great beers, sausages, pretzels, and culture.  There were no disappointments.   Our three and a half days were filled with sightseeing, eating and drinking beer.

Our direct flight from Vancouver to Munich took a little over nine hours.  We breezed through Customs and Immigration and after a half hour taxi ride, arrived at the Hotel Mirabell at 3 pm.  The hotel is located in the Middle Eastern immigrant district, an easy walk from the Central Train station and two blocks to the gates of the historic centre of the city. 

The first evening was spent drinking beer, nibbling on pretzels and people watching on the historic Marienplatz at the end of Kaufingerstrasse.  Our goal was to stay awake for as long as we could to acclimatize ourselves to the new time zone.  We finally stumbled (not an exaggeration) into our beds around 1:30 am.

We were up at 9 am the next morning and off to explore the city.  We took at Hop-On-Hop-Off open bus tour (but as usual, we never hopped off).  We started with the city’s historical district and then the surrounding area including the Olympic Park, site of the 1972 Olympics. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon tasting different beers and sausages at the various beer halls in town.  We (the girls) met some traditionally dressed Bayern men at the world famous Hofbrauhaus.

Our second full day was spent touring to the Neuschwanstein Castle area.  Most people know Neuschwanstein as it was the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland.  We booked on to a tour organized by Mike's Bike Tours.  Our guides were South African Brad and Bulgarian Natalia.  (They explained to us that Germans don’t work minimum wage jobs like tour guides.)  It included a two-hour luxury bus ride to the southwest tip of Bavaria.  The manicured farms covered the hillsides as we approached the foothills of the German Alps were well worth the trip alone.  The mountaintops of Austria were visible just past the castle.   

Yellow Castle (Home) - Sleeping Beauty Castle Above

To get a little training in for our cycling the following week, we chose to participate in a bicycle tour of the immediate area surrounding the castle.  This bit of biking was followed with traditional Bavarian food (sausage of course) and more beer. 

We Biked Around Swan Lake

We were second-guessing the lunchtime beers as we began the 500-meter hike up to the castle.  Bavarian King Ludwig II built Neuschwanstein in the 1800’s.  Not that many folks were building medieval castles at that time but Ludwig was a bit of a character and had led a sad life in isolation with his family in the Yellow Castle.  After the death of his parents and the loss of his only sibling to mental illness, Ludwig began building his castle.  It has a fairytale theme.  It took about 14 years to construct but he didn’t get to finish it.  He too was arrested for alleged mental illness and was found dead in a lake along with his psychiatrist under a shroud of mystery.

Our final day was a journey to Dachau.  We hired James our guide at the train station and took a short 20-minute train trip out to the village of Dachau.  After a short bus ride we were at the entrance to Bavaria’s World War II Concentration Camp, Dachau.  Over 42,000 people lost their lives in this place over a 12-year period ending at the close of the war in 1945.  It is not an uplifting story but one that remains important to be told if for no other reason than to shine a light on a horrific example of genocide.  At the time it was homosexuals, mentally handicapped, communists and of course the largest numbers were Jews.  Not necessarily folks practicing the Jewish religion but an entire race of people.  We had a chance to observe the original administration building, the jail within the jail, and two replica prisoner barracks.  The guard towers, gas chambers and crematorium are still standing in their original condition.  It is a somber tour but worth doing.

The Captives Were Met With This Saying On The Gate
"Work Will Set You Free

Off to Europe

It has been a long winter.  It is also the first winter since retirement that we did not get away from the rain, snow and cold.  Of course, our luck, the local winter turned out to be the worst in the last few decades. 

There were many good reasons to stay home but they made it no less distasteful.  We sold our home of the last 31 years and had to stay home to find a new place to live.  That box is now checked and we have until July 22 to vamoose to our new digs.  Of course most folks would stay home to pack up their stuff accumulated over the years but opportunity knocks but once and we are off on a European adventure before we move.  Abby the Cat is away at cousin Charlie’s and Steven will be by to check the house.  Site prep has already begun as the new owner prepares to welcome twenty new families to our sweet little acreage.  I think it will be easier to be away rather than see the trees falling and landscape disturbed.

Good Time To Get Away

We were asked to join a group of friends headed to Italy’s Belvedere Bicycle Hotel to cycle, eat and drink. We will join the usual suspects (Linda, Phil, Nola, Glen, Marci and Keith) in Riccione.  We were there once before and thoroughly enjoyed out stay.  This time I am hopeful that my extra years of riding experience will translate to further rides to some different exotic Italian hill-towns.

After the fitness phase is over we fly to Greece to explore the culture of Athens and then sneak in some beach time and exploring on three different islands.

Not wanting to go for a cycle immediately after getting off the plane, we are leaving early with Diane and Warren.  We fly to Munich today to sip the world’s finest beers, visit some tourist stops, and get over our jet lag before heading to Italy to join the thin people in a few days.

I’ll try to keep in touch through the Blog.

Final Days

We returned our bikes in the morning after the Charlottetown ride.  We said our good byes to the rest of the group as they headed off in their rental van to explore Nova Scotia.  Deborah and I had plans to link up with former colleague and friend Natalie (a former resident of Abbotsford, current resident of Victoria, but a summer resident of PEI, her ancestral home.)

But before meeting Natalie … we received a phone call from our Summerside B&B, I had forgotten my Kobo E-Reader in the B&B back in Summerside.  As we fretted about how we were going to retrieve it, Judy, our Eden Hall host, pulled her car keys out of her pocket and tossed them my way, “away you go, you can’t leave your reader, be back by three pm when I’m off”.  So typical of PEI.

We had a relaxing 45-minute drive, retrieved the reader, bought take out food at Lin’s, sat on the beach, and enjoyed our picnic.

Lin's Take Out Picnic

Summerside Beach

Summerside Lighthouse

Nice Fixer Upper Waiting For A Family

We were back at Eden Hall by the early afternoon just in time to see Natalie pull up to take us to here house in Belfast, Lot #57 on the southeast coast of the island.

Most Of This Point of Land Belonged to the McWilliams

Natalie’s family has lived here since 1805.  The Earl of Selkirk bought the entire Lot #57 Township from the Smith brothers and brought a contingent of Scottish Presbyterian settlers to the shores immediately in front of Natalie and John’s current summer home.  Her great, great + grandfather, Mr. McWilliams was amongst them.

Natalie took us on a tour of her neck of the woods.  You can’t traverse a kilometer without traipsing over property once or currently owned by her family.  We saw the house she was raised in, the school she attended and the various farms and businesses once held by her family.

Natalie’s summer home is next door to her sister (from Chilliwack) and her view also includes homes of her many relatives.

Nat and John's House

Sister Kathy's House

From Natalie's Living Room

We enjoyed a great meal and lots of laughs as we learned even more of the local history of the place.  After too many wines we flopped into bed early the next morning but were up early for our 10:40 flight.

Bad Pic But Good Company

Socks 

Back home now but still enjoying the glow of our new found fitness levels and a new respect for the folks and the lands of Prince Edward Island.