Munich, Germany, D

Munich, D

Munich is a Mega City. It is a gateway and we used it as such. We stopped here only out of habit. Once you have seen the inner city, once you understand the vibes that run through the place it is a concept you will never forget. Munich is nice but it’s a business town; similar to Frankfurt or Hamburg. We took a hotel on the outskirts and used the train to get to the center. The train service is fantastic in Germany, always on time, always clean and predictable. The train station into the city was a 2 minute walk from the hotel BM Bavaria and so travelling in or around Munich was made easy. It is the best way to go should you ever visit. Use their public transportation system.

We had rain so walking was not much fun; still we visited the downtown area, saw the Glockenspiel again, had some nice German meals, and even took the hour double Decker bus visitor’s tour. But….. we have been here before; we knew a lot of stuff. It was like visiting an old friend. It was comfortable.  I scheduled this stop in Munich to get our bearings after our ride through Eastern Europe. We made a big loop, leaving Heidelberg going east, then all the way south, west and now north again to almost finish. All we have to do is get back to Heidelberg but that is no issue at all. The German road system is fantastic and predictable. We could have made it from Innsbruck in one go. But we needed to stop. 

The Open Air Market In Munich 

I contacted Stefan Knopf and he said, yes he has room for us, is looking forward to seeing us again, but he asked us to not mind him, he is packing, he is short on time, he is preoccupied because he and his family (9 people) are going on a 9 month world trip. Wow! I felt a bit like an intruder, I did not really want to interrupt in his preparations but we had no choice, we have to drop off our bikes at his place in Heidelberg. That is where we store our bikes in Europe. So a bit reluctantly, after sorting ourselves out in Munich, and yes, still with rain, we rode the few hours to Heidelberg.

When we arrived at Stefan’s he had hardly any time to wave to us, he was packing a container with his motorcycles and his truck that he was shipping to South America. He himself would take off going to South Africa first, following his container later. He is and was a busy man, well maybe even too busy. We could only stay one night at his place but due to his trip, there was no breakfast included. Stefan’s place was humming and very busy. We slept in his main house, not in his attached B&B, our bikes, as soon as we arrived were stored in his warehouse, which is a bit further away, in town. I felt rushed. We had just enough time to stow our gear, there was no time to clean our bikes, no time to prep the bikes, change the oil, add fuel additives, etc. Stefan’s was a mad house.  Not only was Stefan preparing for his trip but his oldest son Christopher was setting up for his 19^th birthday party. You cannot image the amount of food, drinks, music and people that were coming to celebrate. Carol and I did not attend that party, we withdrew and slept instead. I was right, we were intruding on Stefan’s good nature, and we did not pick a good time to return to his place, it was too hectic. We rushed around and did what we could with our stuff and luggage and felt rushed to leave. We had really no choice, either; we had to re-deposit our bikes, too. The stop at Stefan’s was needed but not very pleasant, despite the Pizza dinner we were invited to on the day of our arrival. Stefan is a nice guy; it was just us traipsing on his turf when we should not have been there.