Wednesday, July 16, 2014

European Road Trip 2014 - Second Stop Munich, Germany (June 12 - 14, 2014)

After another 7 hours in the car, we finally arrived in Munich! Safe and sound ... and happy to boot

 We even got to meet up with our old friend Jesse!

 Then, after a nice night's sleep, it was time for a day of fun and our first beer garden!!





 This is "English Garden" which is the central park of Munich and is absolutely stunningly beautiful and amazing. It has rivers running through it that you can swim in, ponds, animals, forests, paths, it is so green, and there are beer gardens scattered throughout the park as well

 Oh, and did we mention that pretty much every beer garden has a kid's playground? Because Lily loved the beer gardens as much as her parents



 Then it was off to continue our walk through the beautiful park.



We came across this awesome trick of the water. The way this bridge was built ages ago makes a natural standing wave that is there all year round but changes shape depending on the water flow. We watched for quite a while. It looked like a ton of fun.

Then we went for a nice walk down to the river for some playtime

 In European style, Lily was quickly down to her underwear and chilling in the river.

 Then dad and Jesse joined in. We went for a nice walk upstream, then jumped in the river and floated downstream to meet back up with the girls

 We all had a BLAST at the park and wanted to stay forever





 Then, you know, you pass old famous things on your way home from the park - no big deal

... and then once we got home, Lily asked for her favorite song "apple jean please!" and we danced and danced (with world cup soccer on in the background)

 ... and we had a killer sunset view from our penthouse apartment we rented - though there must always be a crane! haha

 After another awesome night of sleep (the girls slept perfectly all trip long), we all woke up with a nice vacation glow and started off the day with a big breakfast

Lily ate up a storm as well, and had fun while doing it

... and of course we caught up on some political news

 Then it was off to explore the city. Pretty much every main street had a split sidewalk where half was for biking and half was for walking. Munich is an amazing city. They even have this GPS rent-a-bike thing that is amazing. You sign up, and you go into an app on your smartphone that shows you every locked rent-a-bike in the city (and they are everywhere). You walk up to any of these bikes on the sidewalk, punch in the code on your phone and it gives you an unlock code. You type that in on the bike and it unlocks. You ride the bike as long as you want, wherever you want, and when you get off you just lock up the bike and you get billed by the amount of time the bike was unlocked. So if you ride it to a store and lock it up, you aren't paying for it while you are inside (though anyone can come by and grab the bike and take off). Jesse gave me a ride on a rent-a-bike around town to find a place that rented bikes with baby seats on them.

 Oh you know, just more famous ancient structures as you walk around town


 ... and cute little shopping streets

... and gothic cathedrals

 ... and then we had lunch at the Hofbräuhaus, just a royal brewery owned by the government that was founded in 1589 ... no big deal, just the bar at the corner

Then, the next day, which was my favorite day by far ... Jesse, Lily and I took off for a day of beer gardens and play grounds. Like LOVED it. We would pull up to a playground and she would have a blast and her dad would have a beer. Then I would ask, "Lily, do you want to go for a bike ride?!" and she would go, "YEAH!" I definitely need to get her on a bike more often.


 Just some delicious beer and sausage at the English Garden pond. Lily got to feed the ducks.

... and she LOVED the sausages

 Oh man, that was just an AMAZING day. We had the greatest time. Some day we'll go back!




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