Rosenheim & Munich 29 and 30 July 2013

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Rosenheim & Munich 29 and 30 July 2013

After leaving Salzburg we drove through more beautiful countryside even though it was along the A8 motorway. We settled into Kampingplatz Erlensee only 9 kms from Rosenheim. After dropping off the camper to the Fiat Service Centre, we road out bikes into the town. This took 10 minutes.

What a beaut little place. It was very easy to get around this orderly German town on our bikes. It had separate lanes for bikes and pedestrians. One time I was riding on the footpath for pedestrians and was told by the parking inspector to get off as this was only for “passengers” was the word she used. Germans always follow rules – that is why everything is so organized and orderly – it is good in many ways.

We found the Tourist Information Centre very easily and got a map which had descriptions of all the historic landmarks. I went off shopping (yes for those who know me, this is very unusual because I hate shopping) and then had my hair cut (14 Euro and an excellent job), while Tom did his own thing. We met for a very late lunch and after visiting the Lokschuppen (a former locomotive shed, now exhibition centre) which has the Alexander the Great exhibition in it. We didn’t go in and see the exhibition as we have seen the full exhibition in Sydney.

We then roads our bikes back to the Fiat Service Centre to pick up our camper for the night. We knew the work was going to take 2 days because parts had to be ordered. We then camped at Campingplatz Wallberg which was 10 kms due north of Rosenheim.

The next morning after dropping off the camper for the remainder of the work required (including the repair of the hole in the muffler, a wheel alignment, rear brakes, new horn, lubricated the gear linkages and replaced 5 wheel nuts) we road our bikes to the train station and went into Munich which took 45 minutes.

Again it was 2002 that was the last time we were in Munich. When we got off the train a person holding a “City Walking Tour” sign attracted our attention. For 12 Euros each, we joined her tour. It was an easy and very interesting way to walk around. Claire the guide was from the UK and had been living in Munich for 4 years with her German boyfriend. She spoke very good German also.

During the tour we visited the Hofgarten which was very organized and symmetrical, as well as the English Garden which was more in a forest style. Through the English Garden ran a very fast flowing channel of water. Near one of the bridges the water rushed over concrete which created big, continuous waves. There were a dozen wet-suited guys surfing on the waves. Apparently they do this all year round – including when there is snow around!! They were pretty good.

We also visited Michael Jackson’s memorial – ho hum!!!

The tour ended at the Brauhaus which was the drinking hall that is famous with tourists and was the one that we and my sister Sheryl visited the last time we were in Munich in 2002.

After the tour, we had lunch – Tom had 5 different types of local sausages and I had goulash soup – we caught the Metro to the site of the 1972 Olympic Village and stadium and the BMW Museum and administrative site. These were next to each other. Unfortunately the Stadium didn’t have any grass on it as they were preparing for a big football match. Non-the less, the structures of the complex were pretty amazing.

At the BMW Centre, we sat on a few of the best motorbikes and looked at several Rolls Royce which BMW of course own. The Centre was pretty impressive also.

We then found our way back to Munich Central and caught the train back to Rosenheim again. We picked up our camper finding everything was completed. It was tuned beautifully, the gearbox was easier, the muffler was quiet, and it drove really well. Tom was very pleased. As it was 6.00pm by the time we left the Service Centre, we only drove 60km to our camping site for the night, which was towards Innsbruck. We will be pleased when all the European kids go back to school because we took the last camping pitch at Campingplatz Wallberg at the town of Weissbach which is on a lake and at the foot of the Bavarian Alps – magnificent!!! It’s distinctively cooler at night in this area.

One interesting bit of information – the people of this part of Germany refer to themselves as Bavarian 1^st and German 2^nd. They are very proud to be Bavarian we are told – it’s great to see.

So tomorrow we are off to the Innsbruck area.

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