Willkommen in München!!!!!

I took the train from Zagreb to Munich today.  First class baby!  (Because I am an old woman so I don't qualify for 2nd class passes)

I had the entire compartment to myself: six seats and they all could lie flat.  After spending the last couple nights in a stifling hostel with seven guys, one of whom sounds like he is actually sawing logs when he snores: this air conditioned compartment was heaven.

After we crossed into Slovenia, and thus went through my last passport check while in the EU, I took a long nap and awoke in the middle of Austria:

Yup.  That's a castle.  And mountains.  Gorgeous.

I was afraid that I would miss the last bike tour of the day because my train was scheduled to arrive only an hour before the tour left, but HURRAH! when I arrived at the bike office I was told there was space for me "just for you, because Ohioans are nice people."

And wow.  Just wow.  If you are ever in Munich, Mike's Bike Tours is the way to go!

• We saw beautiful architecture and learned crazy stories about the Bavarian royalty and Hitler (how he was basically a psycho even before he ran around committing genocide: he could've been put to death for treason a good ten years before he rose to power but instead only served nine months, during which time he wrote Mein Kamph.)
• When we first entered the park we saw someone carrying a surfboard and a few of us were like "wtf, Munich is landlocked!" Lo and behold: apparently you can surf the Eisbach in Englischer Garten.  Technically it is illegal but Germany basically has a "Common Sense" law where if you get hurt or die doing something stupid it is your own fault, so they don't bother enforcing laws like "don't try to surf where the water from the canal flows into the park."

• We ate dinner and had some beer at the Chinese beer garden.  Yep, even me!
• We rubbed the Odeonsplatz lions for luck and walked down Shirker's Alley.  The guide explained the significance of the bronze stones and the alley only after we'd walked down it, and I was proud to have walked in the footsteps of so many brave people, possibly even people I am distantly related to.

Finally, here is a short video clip I shot while biking.  It's super shakey, especially at the beginning, but you do get to see me nearly collide with two people, soooooooo, yeah.  Typical tourist.