Beer and Bicycles

If Italy is motorbikes weaving through traffic, Germany is bicycles!  Bicycles are a standard form of transportation here.  One can even take a bike on the train.

After a farewell lunch with Marie in Ravello, a scheduled taxi provided a delightful ride over the mountains to the Naples train station.  The driver talked enthustically pointing out his favorite places pizza, local produce, etc.  We even stopped for a picture of Mount Vesuvius (see right).  We slept on a night train and arrived in Munich in the early morning hours.  Nice way to travel! 

Upon arriving in Munich, we were caught up by the Big Soccer Final - Munich versus Chelsea, England.  There was an Invasion by thousands of Chelsea Fans, many without tickets. They were carrying signs saying they were willing to pay 1000 Euros (US equivalent $1,370) for a ticket!  See picture below in slideshow.

We've been following Rick Steves 2012 Germany Guide - so the first thing we viewed by was the famous Glockenspeil Clock Show in Marienplatz, the pedestrial mall in the center of town.  We also took in St Peter's Church and the Viktuallenmarkt, the open air market with the huge maypole.  We had a fun-filled day touring the city.

The next day we caught the 9:30 AM train to Salzburg, Austria - just a short 2-hour ride over the border to Mozart's birthplace.  We thought Salzburg was beautiful - check out Richard's description in the next post.   We took a Sound of Music Tour to many of the places that the movie was filmed.  The best part was the gorgeous lake section located just a short drive outside of the city.

Wow - we were hungry when we arrived back in Munich about 8 PM. What were we thinking?  We reasoned that with everyone watching the Big Soccer Game, we'd could get into the Park Restaurant for a little snack.  When we arrived, it seemed like every Bavarian College Student was there.  They overflowed out onto the Park and were watching and cheering  their team on a big screen tv set up for the occasion.  Beer was only avaible in one size (It looked like a QUART BEER STEIN!)  We decided what could we do but join the fun and found a place to sit on the grass with our food and beer! 

Pictures