We had a brilliant time in Munich, mostly because we know someone there. We were lucky enough to be invited to the house of a friend of Rob's from work. So we got to spend most of a day with a great family in their house south of Munich in the countryside near the Alps. We ate loads of food, drank a lot of wine and all got to know each other. A great time was had by all. We even had a designated driver (thanks Martin). We also got to meet some more of Rob's friends and they went out of there way to make sure we had a good time. They introduced us to beer gardens (a great idea) and german beer (excellent) and food. We were even taken to the Andechs brewery by Sabine, a friend of Rob's, and her mother and treated to some dunkle (dark) beer and cheese all of which was made on the premises. It was delicious.
I spent a day in the Deuches museum, but I really needed more. There is so much to see there if you are interested in science. We also drove down to see the Neuschwanstein castle. This is the castle that Walt Disney based their castle on. It was built for Ludwig I who died a misterious death. The same company that we did a walking tour in Berlin with offer one in Munich so we gave it a try. It was not as good as the Berlin tour but still worth doing.
After Munich we drove to Venice. We are now driving a Citreon ZX, estate 1.9 Diesel since returning the Opel in Munich. After parking the car we went through the usual song and dance trying to find a place to stay. We ended up at an interesting place called 'Archie's Place'. Archie has several degrees and a Phd. He is quick to tell you that his wife is in charge and has many kids and a dog running around. John liked it here as he got to sleep in the same room as two Swedish girls!
We spent one full day looking around Venice. It is a romantic place and idealy I would have liked to have been there with a woman. Instead I had John! It is easy to get lost in Venice and we did several times. We looked around St. Marco's square, but we could not go inside the Basilica because we were wearing shorts! We then walked over to Scuola Grande di san Rocco to see some brilliant paintings by Tintoretto. Murano (an island, there are 118 of then) is know for its glass so we hoped on a ferry and watched someone glass blowing. Finally we visited the magnificent huge brick church of San Zanipolo.
John and I have decided we need a break from city hopping so we are going to head somewhere quiet for a few days.
Rupert
Barcelona