Day 28- Rest Day Munich

After the day yesterday it was good to have a rest day to dry out and enjoy the sights of Munich.

Before getting on to today’s adventure, I want to tell you about the issues I had with my credit cards yesterday evening . It all started when I went down to the hostel laundry to do the washing… Rather than a normal coin laundry this one required me to log into an App to link to the washing machine and dryer….all simple but in testing the payment process for 1 cent it caused the credit card company to believe I was being scammed and a block was put on my card! We tried to do it with Steve’s card and it seemed to be ok but do you think we could get the machines to work…. No!

So it was back to the old fashioned way of finding a local laundry where we could use coins…. And yes it worked thankfully!

We managed to find a coffee and cake spot to sort out my Visa card but unfortunately I couldn’t contact them in Australia as it was out of normal business hours. So I had to wait until the next day!

I tried to use my Amex card and unfortunately I had forgotten the PIN….and after a few tries to sort that out the Amex card was blocked as well!!!! Grrrrrrr!

As I was having a bad day I thought it best to go to bed and sort it out the next morning….

So here we are with today’s story.

I was awake early at about 5.00 am and quietly went to the reception area at the hostel to sort out the cards…

The Visa card process was really quite complicated and took about an hour and a half with communications via Australia to call centres somewhere in the world… anyway I managed to solve the problem and my card now works….

Amex on the other hand was delight to deal with and it was quickly sorted with Sarah who was most interested in my travels and wished me well on the adventure.

After sorting out these issues the other 2 were now awake and after showers and dressing we went off for breakfast of croissants and coffee…. Paid with my credit card!

After breakfast I went off to Decathlon to get my bike checked as the chain deraluer was giving me some trouble yesterday… it was easy fixed thankfully.

As we had to move accommodation after packing bags we relocated to The Elephant Hotel which was a short ride. After storing our bikes and luggage ahead of check in we booked ourselves into a bid bus tour of Munich. It was good to see the city highlights in about 4 hours. Munich has a wonderful array of art galleries and museums it seems together with a plethora of sporting venues which are largely a legacy of the 1972 Olympic Games. I remember being here in 1976 on a Contiki Tour and seeing some of this but it certainly has developed since then.

We had lunch in a cafe and after the tour went on a walk to Marienplatz to see some of the historic buildings and have a beer. Some of you might be aware that I have been using these bike trips as alcohol free time so this was the first beer in about a month… must say I didn’t finish it and I have not missed having a drink! I also feel a bit fitter and have lost a bit of weight!

However to visit Munich and not have a beer would be a shame!

Walking back to the Elephant we were now able to check in and sort ourselves out for the next period of riding which sees us heading west towards Stuttgart and on to Strasburg then into France.

Tonight we will eat in house with a light dinner and an early night.

The photos today are:

The route to Decathlon and the Elephant

The BMW building near the Olympic Complex

The town hall at Marienplatz

Having a beer with Steve!

The Elephant Hotel … quite comfortable