Monday May 31st, 2004

We woke to church bells. And rain. Today Gary needs to go towards Munich and we get to ride along. It is about a six hour drive and we are staying 2 nights in a town called Erding.

Germany is so green and beautiful. Very clean, it seems to me. Lots of castles on hills and quaint towns near forrests. LOTS of farmland. And vineyards. Very pretty. The Autobahn had more traffic on it today but we still zipped along at a good clip.

We stopped for lunch in a town called Ulm ... birthplace of Einstein and also the home of the worlds tallest church steeple. We had doner kebaps for lunch ... basically a pita sandwich ... and a beer. Then we toured the church with the tallest spire. The windows of the church were so beautiful ... but many had been damaged by bombs in WWII ... they had been repaired, but the repair was stained glass that seemed to show how the damaged windows looked after damage. Tom has video of it all.

Three hours later we pulled into the Henry Hotel in Erding. What a great room! Big shower, fairly big bed, nice couch, very comfortable room! We settled in then went on a walking tour of Erding and ended up at the Erdinger Restaraunt. The food was German and good. The beer was awesome!! And the waitress had really big boobs which made Tom and Gary happy. I've decided that I really like the Trapists beers ... made by the monks as a meal replacement! It is dark and tasty and strong! Yum!!

We wandered back to the hotel and settled in for the night. Night time darkness is only about 4 or 5 hours long this time of year in Germany. It seems full daylight at 4:30 in the morning ... that is hard to get used to!