So we finally have functional bikes, which is rather exciting.  The process of getting them up and running was a challenge, go figure, but now we are free at long last.  Since our only other means of locomotion have been public transit and hoofing it, we've quickly gained an appreciation for the relative speed and ease of cycling (not to disparage the public transportation system here; it is excellent).  Even though these are secondhand, heavy-ass, 100 Euro commuter bikes...they get the job done.

It's been raining a lot here, but this past Sunday morning there was a happy confluence of sunny-but-cool weather and the aforementioned functionality of our Fahrräder.  So we went exploring in the Englischer Garten that is so conveniently located directly behind our apartment.

See Mike bike.

Having packed a picnic lunch we headed north, away from the city, following the mighty Isar.  We found a small lake (German: "See") a couple of miles away.  It was replete with its own bier garten, and ringed with a path and benches.  It, like all bodies of water in Munich right now, was semi-opaque and light green.  You should see the speed with which our teakettle is calcifying.  Anyway, we hung out and ate our lunch, wandered around for a bit, saw the shadowy outlines of some frighteningly large fish, and then hopped back on our bikes. 

You can see the lake off to the right if you look carefully, though it does blend with the plant life.

From there we cruised on back down to our neck of the woods, and the large dam just south and about a mile east of our U-Bahn stop: 

From which we could see people laying out on the gravel bars, some of them devoid of clothing:

A short while later we made our way back home for a rousing game of Scrabble...and then my knitting group...because we are old people.

I guess that about does it for today.  But I leave you with a word of caution: