And we are off!

Day 1 Munich to Icking (25 miles)

After leaving Munich we headed out along the Isar River bike path. After only a mile, I was imagining what it would be like if Nashville had the miles and miles of bike paths (that actually lead somewhere). We passed restaurants, small towns, a petting zoo, playgrounds and lots of river rafts full of very happy soccer fans.

Our planned destination was at the home of a friend of Charlie's in Icking, about 25 kilometers away.

About 30 minutes in to what was suppossed to be a 2 hour ride, we crossed the river and ended up on a mountain bike trail, which although gorgeous and going in the right direction, resulted in several long climbs and an extra 2 hours.

Having had a late breakfast, I had decided to forgo the pre-ride frozen yogurt, and wait until our lunch stop. Unlike the path we were meant to follow, the mountain bike trails had no food stops.

When we arrived at the Konrads, the adults were famished. The Konrads (Klaus, Verena, Isabelle, Kristian, Carla and Julian) had a giant cheese cake and a chocolate torte waiting.

For those of you who know my general eating habits, the speed with which I happily ate a large piece of both would have shocked you. I would have had a third, except that a little later, realizing we were hungry, we were treated to a selection of wurst, salad, and bretzel - YUM!

It is amazing how quickly kids make friends. Within moments, our 3 and their 4 were playing hide and go seek and a pick up soccer game followed. Lucas has been speaking lots of German. At one point, he was singing in German while jumping on the trampoline.

All too soon we had to head out so that we could make it to our hotel before dark. Thanks to Klaus, we found a great hotel on a nearby lake - not just any lake, but a beautiful blue one with the Swiss alps in the background. We had to bike about an hour to get there and the kids were troopers.

Seehotel Leonini sits at the edge of Starnberger See (lake). Our bikes are safely stored in the basement, the kids are clean and have been fed again and, of course, soccer (France v. Spain) is on the TV.

Tomorrow we will stay on another bike bath that runs along the lake for many miles