Day 4: Biking through München/ Jacob & Bridget

Jacob:

June 6th 2016

Today the GAPP group indulged in a beautiful bike tour by the Mike's Bike Tour München company, we saw national monuments and palaces that were built a long time ago. Although most of these buildings were destroyed in WWII, they were reconstructed in all their former glory. The rest of the day we were allowed to run-amuck in Marienplatz, for shopping and lots of food.

Bridget: 
Monday morning did not feel particularly rushed as we got ready to explore, both on foot and on bike, the city of München. When we reached Marienplatz, the sun had most decidedly returned. We took an hour to look around and shop now that more stores were open, unlike the previous day. 

We met at the end of the hour to begin the bike tour. The tour lasted a number of hours as we biked for a few minutes at a time before stopping to learn about a popular or historical area. The bike tour included sites of German history from the Old Regime to the first unification to the Second World War, as well as more locations, such as a part of the river used to practice surfing. The longest stop was at a beer garden that offered a variety of foods. The beer garden was not only popular among humans but also among corvids, who seemed to possess no fear of people as they swooped down to prey upon crumbs and leftovers.

As we moved into the afternoon, we were given more time to shop. The area of Marienplatz and nearby includes a large toy store which includes puzzles/games/etc. and an even larger music, film, and electronics store. Many clothes and souvenir shops also lined the streets, which were by this time crowded, mostly with tourists and street performers, including two living statues. 

The day closed out when we were led around town following dinner, having no idea where we were headed. Eventually we reached the top of the Olympic tower, which came with quite the view. Although we accomplished much, everyone seemed overjoyed to finally return to the hostel to sleep.