München

münchen.

i remarked to kev how if feels like we finally made it to our destination. here at the start of our 'extended' (5-dayish) stay in münchen, the previous couple weeks seem like we've been in transit. it's all just anticipation for a slower paced next several days.

as for the previous few cities, hamburg and leipzig lived fully up to the expectations i had for them. the weather was a bit cold and dreary in hamburg, but otherwise it was a real nice town.

we all wished we could have spent another day there to see more of the city, but there were other towns to be visited. like leipzig. we had about 4 days there so slowed things down a bit. enough for liesurely activities like a game of football, cooking a meal ourselves, and canoeing. speaking of which, 'canoeing' seems to be kayaking over here, we found out as we got in the boats. not as fun, but the river was certainly nice. mike and i perfected floating with the current.

then köln. köln is fucking amazing. we had the perfect introduction - stepping out of the train station to the foot of the kölner dom. the dom is the greatest man-made structure i have ever seen. and my theory is that such a magnificent cathedral towering always over a city has to have an awesome impact on it. because köln is just about perfect. remnants of medieval and even roman towers and gates all over the city, striking cathedrals, inventive modern architecture. i certainly had a splendid time anyway.



then down the rhein to bacharach. what an amazing follow-up. medieval castles speckled among quaint cities and vineyard-covered mountain sides. all on a gorgeous river so rich with history. biking alongside it was breathtaking (well, until it started raining).



so it's münchen now. and after a pair of nights this city looks like it has everything.

oh, we did stop in dortmund for several hours before köln. and, if anyone is ever thinking of going to dormund, talk to one of us for suggestions on what to do. like don't go there.