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Published: November 30th 2010
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Mittenwald, Germany
The other side of The Alps from Austria and the start of my
Bavarian route. Video 1: The Latinos above were jamming at The Tent and then in the evening around the fire pit.
Video 2: There are buskers worldwide but note the quality at the Marienplatz
Video 3: Fun Fair portion of Octoberfest Europe by Bicycle: Part VI
Germany
From Austria
(see previous blog: Europe by Bicycle: Part V) I arrived in Mittenwald, my first town in the German state of Barvaria.
Mittenwald is a traditionally styled Bavarian town surrounded by scenic mountains.
Many tourists use the outdoors for hiking, biking and climbing in the area.
From here I found the bicycle route along the Isar River which led to Munich; the Isarradweg.
A map of the Isarradweg is available on the website , " Bayernnetz für Radler "
Heading north along the river there's a Toll Route along a beautifully scenic nature reserve, but it's free for bicyclists.
It's a comfortable bike path going through Bad Tölz
and on to Munich.
While riding, I was looking for a place to set up a tent and heard some
strange sounds coming my way. It was two fellows on horseback looking like
they were off
a cowboy set. They stopped to talk and told me they were
following the Isar River to its source. I said I wanted to take a picture and
show people there were German cowboys. see photo.
Click on any photo to enlarge Arriving in Munich
The suburbs of Munich start a long way from the city centre. My rear wheel was
giving me spoke trouble because of some shearing done by my chain. I had broken
a couple of spokes in the last few days and as I was riding into the city I heard
another terrible "ping!". I checked it out then just kept on riding. I had already
decided to leave my bike in Europe. If the wheel became too warped I would
fix it but the bike was old and had had a full life.
It's funny that for the next couple of weeks I had no more problems with the bike.
It was as if the bike was trying to put on a good show.
First I needed accommodation in the city.
I went to "The Tent" about 7 km from the Hauptbahnhof.
This was more basic
Lidl Discount Grocery Store
The German discount grocery stores Lidl and Aldi offer bargains making Europe a lot cheaper. These stores are quicly expanding internationally. than hostels in the city and housed more than 600 people
at its fullest, during Octoberfest. It had a camp ground, if you had your own tent,
bunkbeds in a couple of tents and floor space in another. Setting up your own tent
was about the same price as the large accommodation but wool
blankets were available only in their tents. It was cold at night and people had up to
five blankets sometimes with their own sleeping bag to pass the night.
see: http://www.the-tent.com The location wasn't a problem if you had a bicycle but for the
people having to take public transport it could be a little expensive over a few days. Even though like a lot
of the city transportation systems in Europe this was on an honour system. If you were caught with no ticket it was a 40 €uro fine.
payable on the spot or some 50%!m(MISSING)ore if they had to deal otherwise.
It was interesting how obedient the pedestrians and bicyclists were at the traffic lights until I found out that
jay-walking or riding a bicycle through a red light resulted in an on-the-spot 40 Euro fine. No excuses.
Trinkenwasser
Often there are public drinking fountains along the route "You Vill Pay The Fine Or Vee Vill Deal Vit You!!"
The main reason I travelled north to Munich was to get a flight.
It wasn't as easy to get a one way flight back to Toronto as it was to get a one way flight to Europe.
By phoning Air Transat in Amsterdam I manage to get a one way flight at a premium price. Air Transat's European
website offers only return flights.
Another reason I wanted to get to Munich was because I had Deutsche Marks from
ten years before and needed to convert them to €uros. It can only be done in the Germany's
Bundesbank which isn't in every city. The strange thing is that even though the change occurred 10 years ago
there was a line up! first to change the coins then another line up to change the bills.
People had Deutsche marks from 10 years ago? I wouldn't think there would be more than one
person every now and then.
Octoberfest
This was the 200th anniversary of the Oktoberfest. The other notable fact was tOhat a no-smoking in bars
and restaurants law had just been put into place within the last
Sunset on the Isar
Free Camping can be much more rewarding than camping in an official campground.
Click To Enlarge year. Drunks without their cigarettes. Oooh! Painful!
The prices of everything was at least double for Octoberfest.
Tent-city was full and the first day of Octoberfest was the first day that the backpackers
got up before sun rise at tent city. The reason was that they planned to stand in line at the drinking
tents to get a seat. They would get there at 7am and the tent would open at 10am when they could start
drinking. Most backpackers had gone to the considerable expense (100 €uros and up) to lederhosen-clad
the guys and dirndl-clad (think Bavarian bar maids) the gals.
A one litre stein of beer at Octoberfest costs €8.80 , rounded up to €10 to include the tip. That's almost $14 a litre of beer,
of which foam constituted a good portion.
(At a grocery store you can buy 2 cans of 500ml German beer for under $1.)
Octoberfest is noted for the drinking tents but also consists of a funfair. Lots of extreme rides.
see video Dachau Concentration Camp: It was a lot further by bicycle than I thought but entrance was free.
There is a
movie in various languages throughout the day and lots of tour guides.
Interesting tours offered lots of info. How many classifications of
executed inmates there were. Hereditary conditions, mental patients, TB patients,
Polish priests, Spanish Civil War veterans, Gypsies, Jews, homosexuals,
Jehovah Witnesses, asocials, professional criminals. Every group had their
own coloured badge to identify them.
BMW Plant: Bavarian Motor Werks:
One display featured the Spicup Auto (see photo):
The name Spicup is a combination of the terms "Spider" and "Coupé".
This vehicle was first exhibited as a show car a the Geneva Motor Show in 1969.
Production volume 1 !!
It's based on the BMW 2800
For decades, this one-of-a-kind vehicle was considered lost, then it was discovered in a barn in 2008 and painstakingly restored.
It is on loan from Paul Koot of the Netherlands
(info from BMW plaque). My last day in Europe: I bought an all day public transport pass but felt as if I should pass the time with
my bicycle who had been with me on so many trips over the last 20 years.
I knew this would be our last day together.
German cowboys
These guys were following the River Isar from its beginning in
Germany to its source in Austria by horseback. I had planned to leave her in Europe.
This would be her last trip with me.
It was a full day. We rode to the Central Station where I bought my all day transit pass.
Then up to Olympic Village and on to the BMW plant then through the English Gardens
where nudes abound in the warmer weather.
We returned to The Tent at sunset and it was if the bike was just holding
on until then. It broke a spoke and got its final flat,
in the Bell-brand rear tire. I took some parts off the bike, left my bike
helmet in the Lost and Found, said good-bye and headed off to the airport.
PHOTOS of my last day in Munich are on the next page
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Graciela
non-member comment
beers
Hw many beers did you have? hahaha. The tent with so many people staying there, a very good idea. I have been to Munich but I only remember the main square.