Today we went off in separate directions. Jerry to visit a motorcycle shop and me to visit the Anne Frank House. It didn't turn out so good for either of us. Jerry went by public transportation. He had the route down and the bus numbers he needed. But the last connectng bus didn't arrive until 15:13 (military time is used all over Europe) it was only 11:15. He wasn't about to stand at the bus stop that long even for a motorcycle. So he returned home. My plan was to walk to the museum. I knew how to get there and I left early enough so the line would not be too long. I was walking confidently down the street as if I lived here, cautiously watching for cars, trams, buses, and bicycles. Suddenly I looked ... read more

Travel day -7 1/2 hours on the train and now we are in Amsterdam. Another home exchange. The owner of the apartment met us at the train station and walked with us to "our new home". Coby is very nice and knows this city well. She plans to take us on a boat ride in a few days around the canals of Amsterdam. We will be here for two weeks. Can't wait to start exploring tomorrow. ... read more

We are obviously not big city people. If we had to live in a city both of us agree it would have been Portland, Oregon. But now that we have seen Munich, Portland has to step aside. Munich is a wonderful city. It is clean, has lots of parks, a wonderful river, lots of arts and museums, a sense of pride, great food, and of course the beer. But that is not to say there are no rules. The other day Jerry tried to order potato salad with his schnitzel. Oh no, that was not allowed, those two do not go together. Then today he thought it would be nice to mow the lawn for the owners. He got about three swipes mowed when a neighbor came over shaking her finger at him. No lawn mowing ... read more

The weather forecast was for thunderstorms (which never materialized) so we chose to use the public transportation system again today to do further exploration of the city. We feel pretty proud of ourselves for figuring out the system (more or less) in such a timely manner. Usually the last day or two in a place is when we finally get it! Our destination --Nymphenburg Palace--not the interior just the outside grounds. We certainly were not expecting what we found. The grounds are enormous--one square mile--with a bathhouse, pagoda, temple gazebo, canals, waterfalls, two lakes, swans, flower gardens, statues, and walking trails through the woods. We spent half the day here wandering around. The Palace was built in 1662 as a summer get away from Munich. The Wittelsbach family still live in one wing of the palace. ... read more

We explored parts of Munich by bicycle today. The owners of the house we are staying in have really nice bikes but then most of Munich own great bikes. They have wonderful bike paths and lanes all over town. But you must be careful and signal to the other riders just like when driving a car. And stay in your lane or you might have a head on collision. First stop was Marienplatz, the town square which had a crowd of people waiting for the 11:00 Glockenspiel chime. While waiting for that chime we went into St Peter's Church which is the oldest church in Munich. It was heavily damaged in the war but through a large donation from one of the beer companies in town and other private donations the church was restored . Next ... read more