First Sightings: Munich

We are on another travel adventure. We decided to start this one in Germany. It was an easy direct flight to Munich from Chicago. Upon arrival we were greeted by Nicolle & Patricia, our friends from Spain that have now moved here. If you followed our earlier posts in Spain you will remember them from several of our mini-weekend excursions. It was great to see friendly faces upon our arrival and a sign welcoming us here.

Random Sightings

Their help in figuring out the train/U-bahn/Bus pass was great as there were more options than my jetlagged brain could sort through. In no time it was clear that anything we wanted to do would be completely accessible with their public transit system. This is one of the things we love most about Europe and really miss when we return to Madison. From the airport we made our way to our flat in about 45 minutes. It's cozy and not the cleanest but sufficient for our needs. We won't be spending much time inside other than sleeping.

First stop for me was a shower. The kids flipped on the TV only to find that they seem to have a different word for everything on their favorite shows and their mouths aren't in sync with their voices. That was most annoying for Maia. While the others took naps and showers, I did a bit of wandering to get to know the area we are staying in. It is nicely located and feels very safe.

Once we were settled in Use & Lara, the other half of the family we hadn't seen yet, came to pick us up. We headed to their flat for dinner. It was a lovely evening with them but we were all pretty exhausted by the time we got back to our place.

Swan Family in Palace Garden

After sleeping in, we got Dean's phone set up and found some great berries at a fruit store on the way. At this point it was almost noon since we had slept in a bit. Dean and the girls took in some German pastries and we headed out to the Nymphenburg Palace.

The gardens were impressive, as much or more so than the inside of the Palace. Maia and I especially enjoyed a family of swans. There were several buildings to visit including the stable that had some old carriages and sleighs that really did look like something right out of Disney. Unfortunately my inside pictures didn't fair so well without the flash.

Look Out Tourist!

So far my cultural tidbit was realizing that the bike lanes, which exist throughout the city, are part of the sidewalk rather than the street. Bikers are often like ragging drivers if you accidentally find yourself walking in their lane. That's a lesson you only need to learn once.

Recent Sightings...

Another primarily photo entry of what we have recently seen/experienced in the area.

Next to Maia is Lara and next to Morgan is her sister Nicole. Nicole and Maia are in the same class. In the middle are Lara and Nicole's cousins. We had spent a rainy evening wondering around Zubiarte, a mall in Bilbao and then discovered an outdoor fair of some sort. 

At the fair there was a BBQ, as well as a variety of tents selling handmade goods and items typical of the region.

 We spent a sunny cool Sunday afternoon in Sopelana at a cervecera. These are locations where you typically go with a group of people, order roasted chicken, french fries, salad and whatever else sounds good at the time. These cerveceras typically have both indoor and outdoor seating and lots of land with a park, soccer field, and in this case a swimming pool that opens in the summer.

We ran into some friends there unexpectedly. Great opportunity for Maia and Morgan to play for a while.

More playing in some local parks with Morgan's classmates Denise and Eugenia.

Morgan with her friend Eugenia can never have enough fun at the beach. In this case we had our bikes. After playing and picnic at the beach we rode to the Puente Colgante and then back home. It's a nice ride on a bike path along río Ibaizabal.