Boise’s simple, but functional airport is a nice way to begin.
I left my house at 1:30 pm on Saturday. I landed in Munich at 1:10 pm on Sunday. I never sleep on airplanes, especially not on the first leg of a journey. Jetliners lack the rhythmic clacking and/or rocking of car, bus, or train travel, all of which put me to sleep despite my best efforts to see the sights.
Cousin Dirk was eagerly awaiting my arrival. Somehow I had miscommunicated with him so this was his second trip to pick me up. Less than an hour’s drive later we pulled into the driveway of Dirk and Delia’s new home on the outskirts of a small, but booming bedroom community north of Munich.
The back yard, where we ate most meals
Beyond Delia’s vegetable garden is the rooftop garden over the garage with continually blooming ground covers.
A quick change of clothes and off we went on bikes. In anticipation of my visit, Dirk had diligently lubed and maintained the bike of his six-foot+ son. He dropped the seat as low as it would go. As long as I kept moving, all was well, but I prayed for no quick stops. I had to stand on tippy toes to avoid the cross-bar, lurking like a bad dream.
We pedaled about 16 round trip miles on small local roads and bike paths, through villages, to a lovely lake, where we swam for about an hour. There are many such lakes in the area, often created from reclaimed gravel pits. In Germany, property owners may not prevent the public from accessing and using lakes and forests, unless the lake is part of a drinking water system. It seems ironic that in America, the land of the free, we bitterly argue over land use and must fight to keep federal lands open to the public.
We biked through stretches of dark, dense forest, scored by melodious and sometimes raucous birdsong, all of which offset the 95º weather. Back at the house we had just enough time to enjoy some delicious cakes from the local pastry shop, another quick change of clothes and then off to Dirk and Delia’s weekly dancing lesson.
By now it was around 7 pm. Although sitting on the sidelines and watching eight couples from the ages of 30 to 70 perfecting their ballroom dancing maneuvers was interesting, my eyelids were getting mighty heavy.
View from my bedroom window.
After the lesson, we returned to the house for a home cooked meal and conversation till 11:30, when finally the travel, the exercise, and the wine seized me and I stumbled off to bed. This was the first of five busy days with my dear cousin and his wife.
Rangewriter 
Linda, have a wonderful trip. BTG
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Gosh you must have been dead on your feet. That whole “land of the free” thing is a crock as you know. Can’t wait to hear more about your adventures …
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Yup Sybil, and I kind of enjoy rubbing it under people’s noses. However, I think most of the folks who read my blog already understand the “land of the free” irony.
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Can’t wait to hear more about your trip, Linda. The photos of Delia’s gardens and the lake are awesome. You packed a lot of fun in your first day!
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And in the days that followed!
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It’s so nice to read about your journey to Germany. It was a day full of action. Love to read more, soon. 🙂
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Ja, aber wenn ich auf Deutsch schrieben, niemand kann es nicht versehen. I tried to speak my lousy German while I was there, but everyone speaks English so well and so easily that we always slipped into the default language. I never improve.
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You certainly are getting about this summer. I look forward to reading more on Germany, as my in house artist and partner, Angelica (Westerhoff), is German and lived in Munich for a time. Her father lives there still.
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I thought of you while I was in Germany and France. I thought about how hot you told me your area of Spain gets in the summer. As I wallowed in sweat-drenched misery, I reminded myself that you must be even more miserable! (It was only weather misery…the rest of the trip was fabulous.)
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Munich is a very interesting and friendly city – and the Bavarians are a very special “nation”. I hope you have a great time there.
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Thanks Cat. Bavarians remind me of Texans. 😉 My relatives kept me busy, as you will see from future posts. But aside from the airport, we spent our time outside of Munich this time. It is a fun city though. You are right about that. So much to do and see.
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A “booming bedroom community”?
Your pictures give a good impression about their life-style in outer Munich.
You say that in Germany, property owners may not prevent the public from accessing and using lakes and forests, unless the lake is part of a drinking water system. I think this is truly remarkable! 🙂
In October 2012 we travelled from Berlin to Munich for my cousin’s funeral.
We went ‘Criss-Cross-Through-the-Country’. Travelling time was about nine hours. We just had to change trains frequently. That way we were able to travel at a much reduced price. For the two nights in Munich we stayed with my cousin’s family. We love this family. They are such friendly people. Even though it was a very sad occasion to meet them, we still had a good time with them.
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I love European train travel. In the states, unless you happen to live near one of 2 or 3 main cross country lines, trains are simply not an option.
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