Guest Writer -- The One and ONLY Dr. Erin Drew, Live from Munich

All of the above pictures are from our Saturday at Neuschwanstein Castle near Fussen, Germany. Erin is writing about Sunday, our bike trip to Andechs brewery, monostary and beer garden! :)

Wow--me??? What you want me on your blog? After falling over from the shock of being asked, I had to start thinking--what would--should I write. And in the midst of my thinking, I confidently followed the wrong direction home and ended up realizing we were going the wrong way on the wrong side of the tracks. And then Amanda fell over on the bike and ended up on the ground...we needed to get home but I had never been in this area of town...it was getting dark and it had been a long day...

We rode and rode our bikes. Old bikes and all, stopping periodically to pump air in our leaking tires, we managed to travel through biking trails, down roads and strenuously walked ourselves and our bikes up the bumpy hiking path to the old monastary. That's right foks, those German monks were fasting, but beer didnt count as food, so they were able to work on their brew to the perfection it is now. But despite it all we had great views, great food, good times, but most importantly (as the Bavarians say) great beer!

The forecast was thunder and lightening for the whole afternoon and evening--but that wasnt going to stop us. We had a plan, a map book and and picnic packed. So we donned our raincoats and headed out for better or for worse. We headed down to the S-bahn train and travelled to the small village Weissling, just outside of Munich (no Stewart, not "weebling"--its "viessling"). We headed for Amersee, which is one of the biggest lakes nearby. On the way we passed lots of big houses and great lake views, the wind blew, but the rains stayed away. We took a round about route to get to the monastary at the top of a hill which is called Andechs. Stewart made some friends along the way by saying "Ich bin Kanada", which literally translates into "I am Canada" while extending a friendly hand to these surprised and taken aback normally reserved Germans. But, in Stewarts great way, despite the greeting diferences, had a way with the locals and ended charming them over.

We met up with some of my friends who were surprised to find Amanda and Stewart with their old bikes at the top of the mountain. I think It was actually utter disbelief that they had made it. Stewart made a comment that after this the bikes are going to geriatric ward. It was going to be their best last effort.

Yesterday we made another journey up to Neuschwanstein. It was a realized fantasy of the mad Bavarian King Ludwig II. As beautiful as it was it was hard to not feel like herded cattle going into locked gates at certain times for a certain language tour. And then fighting through the tonnes of Asian and American tourists who were frantically taking the pictures of themselves with the castle in the background to show their friends and families at home. It was amazing but also quite tacky despite the stunning scenery and the extravagance of the finished rooms. We met a Korean girl at the bus stop who came along with us in a taxi to get from the train station to the castle, who Amanda loved talking to about her experience there. And the taxi driver was a very Americanized, very funny German who made killer cash driving mainly Japanese tourists up and down the hill to the castle. It made me and Amanda wonder if we went into the right line of work.

So it has been a very full tiering but exhilirating weekend. I have loved having Amanda and Stewart here for so long. They are wonderful friends and I will think findly of our getting lost, the old bikes and the great food we enjoyed together.