Day 18 Munich to Lake Constance

Catherines last day today. But don't constantly remind her otherwise she snaps at you. Just wanted to make sure she knew that she's back at work tomorrow while I've got almost another week out here. Pah, women eh?

Next year she's definitely coming out for longer and definitely wants to bring her own bike.

Packed up the kit and spent the day in Munich. It's great. Nearly every other building is amazing. It's full of really pretty ladies too. They cycle around the city looking all dainty and lovely. Not flustered and sweaty. It's the same in Salzburg actually but I'm not in a rush to ever go back there.

Dumped the bike on pavement by an entrance to the main square. Was slightly concerned because, despite been a bit naughty, it was also fully loaded up and the dry sack was only secured with a few bungie cords. It was all cool though when we eventually got back to it. Just try doing that in a major British city.

Had a bit of a wander around then went back to the Hofbrauhaus for lunch. Sat outside in the courtyard beer garden, which was nice. I had a selection of relatively normal looking sausages. Catherine had a couple of boiled white sausages. They looked dreadful but tasted amazing. Definitely recommended. We always drop a tip over here, but if the waiter is slow and cranky and forgets Catherines last beer then he aint getting anything. I don't care how busy he is.

Passed a shop selling t-shirts and can confirm our recently discovered fact that Munich is also known as minger. Although it's spelled Minga.

One final beer in the town hall courtyard then we waved goodbye to Munich. Hopefully not for the last time. Anyone fancy Oktoberfest?

As we left for the airport, Catherine gave me a quick last minute German lesson. I'm not entirely convinced. To get a waiters attention she reckons it's 'here rover'. She also explained the pitfalls of hot and cold. Apparently she told the examiner in her GCSE German exam that she was horny, when she meant warm.
Bit of a panic at the airport. Don't want to suggest that Catherine's disorganised, but perhaps confirming the terminal number and check-in gate when booking a flight could go on her 'good ideas for next time' list. It would help prevent a mad rush on the actual day, after guessing the wrong terminal number and having to ride around the airport at breakneck speed.

With Catherine safely loaded on her flight, I headed down to Lake Constance. I fancy riding back home through the Black Forest. Took the autobahn down to the Austrian border at the eastern end of the lake. Popped over into Austria for a tank of fuel. The one good thing I can say about Austria is the fuel is cheap. When your bike takes 33l it's worth a 2 minute detour.

Filled up and rode west across the top of the lake.

Thought I was going mad when I clocked a brief glimpse of a zeppelin high over the lake. I lost sight of it instantly because i was riding into a low sun and couldn't find it again. Took me a while to remember that there is a zeppelin museum on the lake.

Dropped into a quirky little town in a failed attempt to find a shop. I think it was Uberlingen. It was a bit like a model village. Lots of old brightly painted buildings. There was a big church with droopy clock faces. There was a coach load of tourists walking around so must be a bit of a tourist attraction.

Found a wallet in the road as I went down the B34 west of the lake. A fellow biker - there was his driving licence and registration documents inside. The guy lives local so I'll drop it off for him. But he'll have to wait until tomorrow because it's late and I need to find a campsite.

Found a site called Camping Wahlweir. Nice little place. Run by a friendly guy who speaks good English. Free hot showers, €10.50 for the night and €2 a pop for big bottles of beer. Of which I had many.

The chap showed me to my place and gave me a big pitch in the shade. When we got back to the bike there was a Belgian lad called Paul, although spelt Pol I think, looking over it. Another biker, also on a BMW. He was here with his girlfriend. Really nice guy. We all sat on the terrace drinking until it got dark. Everything went on tick, I just settled up for my beers and camping in the morning.

As the sun started setting, I went down to pitch my tent. They came down and we sat our drinking and talking. He was telling me about the new WW1 trenches that are still been unearthed around Belgium. They also said the zeppelin factory is pretty poor and not worth a visit. He told me about a hostel on the Mosel that's run by some Dutch bikers. Bikers stay free and the first beer is on the house. He gave me details so I'll definitely check it out when I get back.

I thought camping a few km west of the lake would save me from mossies. I was wrong. They ate me alive again.

  
214 miles