Day: June 8, 2024

Saturday, June 8, 2024

Ok, last time I updated folks, I was waiting for a train to Salzburg. That all went well. I met Rick at a hostel there and we went to the big fortress on the hill.

Here are a few photos from within.

And views looking out FROM the castle.

We went to the chapel in the cliff side and Sound of Music Cemetery.

And this sign just calling out for someone to do it anyway.

The hostel shows The Sound of Music every night, so we watched and sang along, while drinking free shots of some concoction they were handing out.

From Salzburg, Rick wanted to keep biking, so he headed off in the direction of Munich, while I took a train to Munich, then another train to a town outside of Munich called Erding, home of Therme Erding, a big water park and spa.

They were giving out facial treatments.

Oh, and I got a massage. I don’t know if it’s Germany or that the massage lady was from Thailand, but it was a different experience. In the US, the masseuse will typically explain to take off your clothes, get under the sheet face down (or up), and then they duck out of the room while you prepare. In this case she started by saying, “Take off your clothes” and I said “Yes.” And waited for further instructions. And she repeated, “Take off your clothes.” And again, I said “Yes…” And one more time she said, “Take off your clothes.” And I realized she meant right then and there! I said “Wow! That’s not how we do it in the US” and I proceeded to strip off my bathing suit, and she told me to lie face down. Then she put a towel over my lower half and then pulled it down, so it just covered my legs. I don’t know, to keep me warm??? So, it was different!

So anyway, on Thursday I got here to Therme Erding, the largest thermal bath complex in Europe. I played while Rick biked. Friday, Rick arrived in Therme Erding around noon, dropped his bike and gear off with me and took the train into Munich to begin the search for bike boxes to pack the bikes for the trip home. He spent all day and went to 13 bike shops and by the end of the day felt that there were several good options, so he came back to Erding and we played at the water park until about 9:30 pm. And got up this morning and played at the water park all day.

Some highlights included one where you enter a metal tube sitting on a rubber tube with water shooting you along, then you DROP into a huge half cone and shoot up one side, down the up the other, back and forth as you’re being funneled toward the next segment of metal tube. My first time doing this, I went back and forth and wound up aimed backward and went down the rest of the ride not knowing what was coming next! Here is a picture of this ride from the internet.

There was a similar water slide I only did once. In this one, you don’t ride a rubber tube; you just lie on your back and slide. This one spits you into a downward oriented funnel and you spiral down, like being flushed down a toilet. I asked Rick (who had tried it once) whether he thought I might wind up heading down this one backwards. He didn’t think so. But when I spiraled into the middle, I hit it butt first, like a breach birth! Fortunately, I wriggled myself around and managed to go into hole feet first. Here is an internet picture. (They call it the Space Bowl, not the toilet bowl.) The opening where I breached is on the other side of the knob in the middle.

There was also a really fun ride that was set up like a race, with 6 lanes. Each person got a mat, like a thick yoga mat with handles on it. You lie on the mat, head forward, gripping the handles, and off you go, first spiraling, then going down the straightaway, but with drops as you go. I think I caught some air during that ride!

Oh, and there was one with virtual reality headsets. I went down this one a couple times without the VR headset to get a feel for the course, which was a twisty metal tube. Then I tried the VR. You could pick different scenarios: a forest theme, a space theme, or a sky theme. My favorite was the space theme. And you just see planets and stuff and you’re flying between them while in reality you’re going down this water slide. It was pretty crazy. And again, one time I managed part way down to get turned around backwards! Although I generally got better at orienting myself as the day went on.

So tomorrow, Sunday, we’ll take the bikes with us on the train back to Munich. We’ll do sightseeing and stay in a hostel. On Monday, we get boxes and pack up the bikes. Tuesday is hopefully more sightseeing, but if we have any glitches in finding boxes, we have Tuesday to work that out. Our flight home is Wednesday morning.

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Since I’d arrived at the campground on Thursday after Reception closed, I left shortly after 9:00 a.m. Friday since I had to wait until Reception opened in order to pay for my site, such as it was. Found a tick crawling on me, but at least this time I didn’t have to deal with tick removal.

Having traveled much further north, I had only rolling hills all the way to Erding and Linda. I arrived by noon. We registered me at the hotel and spa/waterpark Therme Erding / Galaxy Erding.

Priority one for me was addressing the issue of bicycle boxes. Leaving Linda at the spa, I took a train into Munich with the plan of finding a place to stay for the night, while also making reservations somewhere for Monday and Tuesday night, and leaving the boxes there. Boxes which I still needed to acquire. On the train ride in to Munich I emailed a number of bicycle stores.

The first bicycle store I visited, near the train station, said they would have two boxes at 5:00 p.m. I walked to the nearby hostel to confirm I’d have a place to put them. They did not. Revising my plan, I walked back to the bicycle store. They agreed to make the boxes available on Monday. You might think I’d be done there, but you’d be wrong. I look back at my trip to Rome with Rob, where Rob had called a bicycle shop in advance and arranged boxes. And when we arrived in Rome, the process did not go as smoothly as we would have preferred. Given that packing the bicycles in boxes is a core component of getting home, I prefer a wide margin for safety. All in all I visited 13 bicycle shops Friday. By the time I finished, I had two bicycle shops agreeing to provide boxes on Monday. Another m said I could check back with them on Monday and they might have boxes (that being what has to be one of the largest bicycle stores in the world – the store took up as much space as half a Walmart). During my various visits, I received email from one of the previously corresponded stores, to say they sold boxes; I could pick up two boxes on Monday for 30 euro. The last shop I visited on the way back to the train station suggested I could get a box directly from the airport. I called airport information and learned that they sold boxes for 30 euro. I made reservations at the hostel near two of the bike shops with boxes and the train to the airport. I hopes that works out to be enough margin. I took a train back to Linda in Erding.

We spent Friday evening descending from great heights at great speeds, with the occasional crazy river or thermal bath thrown in. Saturday was more of the same, although the park had longer lines than the day before.

And one more exciting activity. Late Friday I received multiple emails from Lowe’s regarding my recent purchases in Kernersville and High Point – somewhat surprising since I’m roughly 7268 km from there. A case of identity theft, someone conpromised one of my accounts. Someone placed an order for pickup in High Point and picked up on Thursday. The second order in Kernersville had not yet been picked up.

My first call was to Kernersville PD. While I was told I would need to file a police report with Durham PD, they sent an officer to Lowes to investigate. My call to Durham PD was less successful. While I could call Durham PD, Google Voice would drop the incoming call from the investigating officer – a requirement to start the investigation. I asked about them calling my German phone number; they said they have not had a lot of success at calling out of country. I gave them the phone number anyway, and did not receive a call back, so that answers that until I get home.

While in my heart I knew what the outcome would be, I called my credit card company. They canceled my card. Linda and I left the US with five credit cards. Linda lost one of hers. She didn’t know the PIN for another one. The PIN on one of mine didn’t work. And now one of mine has been canceled. Five cards. Only one now able to withdraw cash. Good thing we both have some cash, and little time left in Europe. The time remaining we will spend in Munich, a large city.