Competitours 2009: Day 4 in Munich

Editor’s Note: Competitours is not your  typical vacation; it’s a team-travel contest that takes place in Europe and anyone can sign up to take part in the fun. 

It’s Friday, it must be Germany. We came back to Munich for a couple days-worth of challenges in this large, cosmopolitan city. We definitely saw quite a bit of it trying to find an elusive building that was in a photo scavenger hunt challenge that we did.

After two cloudy days in Austria, we were happy to see the sun again. It was perfect for exploring the the large park in the city called Englischer Garten. We had five things to find there, and we enjoyed seeing the masses of people out in the park, riding bikes, drinking beer, surfing in the Einsbach River and sunbathing in the nude.

Sheila and I knew we had to come back (no, not for that). So, we rushed back to the hotel, grabbed a bathing suit and came back to the park to swim in one of the man-made rivers.

The river rushes through the park much like a lazy river at a water park, except the water is anything but lazy. We hopped in the freezing water and floated briskly downstream to the spot where we had left our towels and cover-ups.

It felt spectacular after a long hot day. We climbed out and sunned ourselves dry on the banks. Across from us in the FKK area that is designated a nude bathing spot, a naked man was reading a book and writing in his journal. Coincidentally, our rickshaw driver that led us through the park early in the day told us that the locals call the FKK area the “nut meadow.” Explanation not necessary, I’m sure.

Anyway, the sun was starting to set and the chill in the area sent us running for a nearby cantina, where we stuffed ourselves with fajitas with guacamole and bean mousse.

So much for having an authentic German dinner. I can’t help that I don’t like to drink beer, either.