After a relaxing morning, we set off in the local neighbourhood of the east side of Munich.  We found ourselves at the Maximiliansanlagen park. Here we are just in front of the Angel of Peace statue. By just turning around on the same spot, we have this fountain and a look towards the center of the city. For lunch I picked up this Bavaran sandwich from Rischart's, a chain of the most wonderful pastries and sandwiches!

Mariette and I took a bus tour to the Neuschwanstein Castle on Tues, July 7.  It was to be an hour and a half ride in a very comfortable  Mercedes coach.  There were only 10 of us in a 57 passenger bus.  Unfortunately there was a traffic accident that delayed us on a narrow country road for an hour.  Once on site we had time for lunch. We both had a salad with cheese dumplings. There were several ways to get up to the castle level: horse drawn carriage, coach or walking.  We chose to walk. Our tour of the interior was at 4:20 pm.  We were not allowed pictures inside, but here are some from different observation points. The photo above shows an area of the castle where Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was filmed. This other castle was king Ludwig's parents place.

We arrived at our apartment on the east side of Munich yesterday. It is a beautiful area on the 3rd floor in a residential complex.  We both had a chance to do some laundry today. We went for a 3 hour architectural tour this morning in the Marianplatz area.  We were a small group, but the tour guide, an architect himself, had a well planned presentation and lead us on a trail of examples in classic, gothic, renaissance, baroque, and neo-classical buildings. We found this courtyard interesting as we were searching for the meeting place with our tour  We stumbled on to the Frauenkirche cathedral by asking a guide inside.  He proceeded to tell us about the devil's footprint and other legends of the craftiness of the principal architect. There is story about the architect incorporating sculptures of the craftsmen at the top of the columns near the arches.  You can see some here and in the photo below. You may know that...

We ended up taking 5 trains to reach Munich from Strasbourg today. Train delays in Germany turned our ICE (inter city express) train from Karlsruhe to Munich, into two trains: one to Stuttgart and then another to Munich central, and the last one to Munich east.  Our very first train from Strasbourg to Offenburg was super packed, but it was an occasion to meet a musician travelling this summer to play in orchestras. The is the main station in Munich, with about 15 tracks of ICE trains that stop in the station. Tonight we are at our Air B&B where we will stay till Thursday.

We took a taxi this morning to Hôtel Diane Dauphine after saying our goodbyes to friends on the Olympia.  They held our baggages while we went off for another walking tour of the city. Here you can see our travellers framed by the details of the Cathedral of Strasbourg. Our heroes taking any photo opportunity they can get. Sampling wheat beer and a lemonade at 'La Corde à Linge'.

Our last cycling day, Friday July 3rd began cool enough to warrant the merino wool T-shirt shirt.  It was a short ride of 24 km, but we managed to clock 36 km due to some uncertainties with the mooring location.  We rode through gravel roads and some well shaded patches similar to those of our provincial parks. The ride took us on the French side of the Rhine from Gambsheim to Strasbourg.  It was great to have signage that you could read without using Google translate. We had plenty of time to relax in the afternoon.  Here are all the bikes stored away for the next group on Saturday afternoon. At 8 pm some of us took a tour bus to the old city of Strasbourg.  It has an interesting history.  Founded in 200 bc by nomadic tribes, it was a city ruled by the Roman Empire till the 1200s.  In more modern times, it has changed hands from being German to French and back 4 times. Here we are following our enthusiastic guide. H...