Last Day and a Half

Here is a recap of my last day and a half in Munich Germany.

Monday morning I had to go back to the show to make sure everything got out as scheduled. I had planned out my day the night before by finding the closest Harley dealership and wrote out instructions on how to get there. My directions were right on and I made it to the House of Flames early in the afternoon. This dealership was stellar. It was the smallest I've ever seen but had more bikes than most I've been to. They had plenty of stock bikes but also had tons of custom bikes. I picked up a t-shirt for myself and my bro-in-law. It was the one souvenir I looked forward to getting.

Tuesday was my last day in town so I decided to sight see a bit. I took the train into town at about 10am and had an hour and a half before the bike tour I was going on started. I wandered about the platz and the markets until it was time to meet up with the tour.

This is the famous Glockenspiel. I didn't see the performance of the wooden figures on the balcony. From what I understand I didn't miss much. Our tour guide referred to it as "eleven minutes of your life you'll never get back."

I took the bike tour through Mike's Bike Tour. Our guide for the day was Rod who was from Sidney Australia. He was a fun guy who kept the tour interesting and enjoyable. On the tour with me were two nursing students from Ireland and a young couple from San Diego. The five of us connected well and had some good laughs.

This photo shows us going through the English Garden which is reported to be a third larger than Central Park in NY. The one word of caution we received when entering the park was about the nudists. They weren't lying. We saw a couple dudes without their knickers as the Irish put it. Yikes, I didn't need that sight on my trip.

This was a man-made river that flowed through the English Garden and was fed by the Isah River that flows through Munich. I guess these guys can't read German, can you? They would toss their boards in the river and jump on them like they were skateboards. It was quite impressive. The water must have been about 4 degrees Celsius.

After the ride through the park we stopped at the Chinese Bier Garden for lunch. Here I stuffed myself with sausage, sauerkraut, dumplings and a beer the size of my head. The food was delicious everywhere I went. We laughed about eating sauerkraut and how it wasn't good for the guy in the back of the bike tour. The guy in the back is referred to as "The Assman" and guess who it was on this tour. Yep, me. I'm the assman. It was my duty to make sure nobody was left behind.

By the end of the bike tour we had had so much fun together we decided to keep going as a group. Neville, from San Diego, knew the way to a couple of the popular brew houses in the area so off we went. We started at this one which was at a large fairground where we played carnival games but skipped the rides. The band was a blast. They played mostly American songs by Niel Diamond, John Denver and the like. We raised our glasses and sang along as the locals got up to dance on the tables. It was quite a scene.

After the fun here we walked to the famous Hofbrauhaus downtown to finish off our evening. We didn't stay too long as I had to get up in the morning for my flight home and the Irish girls had just flown in that morning and were starting to fade.

Overall I had a good time but wouldn't choose Munich as a vacation destination. The experience of a foreign city is always challenging but I managed very well. The first three days I had my co-worker with me who spoke the language but once he left I was on my own. I was pleased to find that most Germans speak some English. My German was limited to common phrases like yes and no.

Show's Done

Yesterday afternoon we wrapped up the show after a long slow day. It was family day so most people were outside enjoying the sun and the huge equipment on display that the kids enjoy. These companies put on rock shows for the crowd. The bring in these huge pieces of equipment with big sound systems and large monitors to put on a show. It is impressive. One company, Liebherr, was reported to have spent 50 to 80 million Euros on their outdoor display. They brought in their own buildings and had to put in water, waste and electric lines to support them. When they leave they have to pull it all out.

After the show we packed everything up and headed to the apartment to clean up for dinner. For dinner we headed for downtown Munich to find a restaurant. We ended up at a place that is over 100 years old and sat outside on the sidewalk. The waitress was my favorite of the trip so far. She was feisty.

When we came by the restaurant we picked up a menu and my coworker began translating. The waitress overheard and offered us a menu in English. We accepted. After sitting down I told her that my coworker spoke German and if she wanted she could speak with him. She refused, she wanted to speak English with us. After dinner we ordered dessert. My first inclination was to order chocolate ice cream but after she told us there was a cheese cake roll I decided on that, my coworker ordered the ice cream. Upon delivering the dessert she handed me mine and said "here is your flavorful sweet." and then she turned to my coworker, handing him his ice cream she said "here is your boring ice cream." We laughed. She was like this the whole meal. We both agreed that she liked me better because I was out of my element trying new things and she liked that I helped her with her English.

By the way, the beer of the night was Hacker-Pschorr's Dark White Beer.


On our walk back to the underground we came across this. It is a memorial for Michael Jackson. Candles were still being lit and flowers looked as if they were recently placed. A couple local ladies were there looking at it and laughing. I told them that he must be missed more here than in the States because I didn't see anything like this there. They said they knew he was big here but not that big. They didn't like the memorial.

This was a random shot I took of the typical street downtown Munich. I can't imagine driving here let alone parking.

That's all for now. Miss you all at home.

Sprechen Sie Englisch

At the end of the month I'll be in Munich Germany for a week. I'm going to help out at a trade show for a weekend and to pack it up when it's over. This is one of the largest, if not the largest, trade shows in the world. It is very important for us and could really help the companies presence in Europe.

I don't speak a lick of German. Fortunately my co-worker does. Unfortunately he leaves three days before I do. This will be a test for me, one I've passed before in Japan and Mexico. Although I do understand Spanish and speak a tad so Mexico was less a test than Japan was.

The other test I'll have is endurance. My plane lands at 7:50am and I head straight to the show for a full day of smiles and pleasant conversation. I hope their English is good. I plan to pack a few 5-hour energy shots for this, I know I'll need them. The jet-lag is going to be brutal.

For work I've had the privileged of travelling to Mexico, Japan, Australia and Texas. These foreign trips are fun even though I'm going to hang out in their garbage for days on end. The fun I have is trying new things and seeing new places. This mostly happens during meal times and sleep times. In Australia I was able to rent a car which afforded me the experience of driving on the other side of the road from the other side of the car. Japan, oh boy, I could tell stories all night about that trip but if you search back in this blog you can just read them.

While in Germany I am hoping to have a day or two to site see and explore. I found a bicycle tour that I'd like to take on my last day there. It is four hours long and looks to be a great way to see the city. Of course bier is on the menu. Bier and coffee are my two favorite beverages and since Munich is not known for their coffee I'll settle for the bier.

I will post pics and stories from there for sure. I'm nervous and excited, or I have a nervous excitement about this trip.

The Girls Are Off

My ladies are traveling right now to Russia on a short term missions trip.  They left Portland bright and early this morning and will change planes in Washington DC to get to Moscow.

You can follow their adventures here.

Kathi's mom is also on the trip so there are three generations serving the Lord together on this little adventure.

Alex and I will take off to Rhode Island on Wednesday evening and you can follow us here and on Facebook.  I hope to post many photo's of our travels together as father and son.