Cycle 365

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Cycle Life Challenge Ride 6: A Palace, Two Toads and Sakura

Posted: April 02, 2019 Under: Challenges By 5 Comments

A beautiful Sunday – yoohoo! We set our sights on Schleissheim Palace, the goal we gave up a few days ago due to the cold wind, and it was a glorious day to be out on our bikes. So as not to be too repititious, I am posting pictures of Schleissheim’s Old Palace, not the newer and more pretentious New Palace, completed less than 100 years later. The “Altes Schloss” (Old Palace) is a rare example of a late Renaissance country residence. During the Second World War almost all of the roof and several rooms of the castle building were completely destroyed in air raids; in 1970 reconstruction could be started. Today it houses exhibits from the Bavarian National Museum, including an East and West Prussia exhibition and Gertrud Weinhold’s collection of popular religious art.

In the courtyard of the Altes Schloss
Side view, in the courtyard
Early engraving showing the Altes Schloss on the far right and the courtyard where I took my pictures

We didn’t stop in Schleissheim although a pleasant beer garden was beckoning. We could prolong our ride by cycling farther through a bit of woods to another beer garden.
We followed the signs to Waldrestaurant Bergl
On our way I saw this sign and thought fat chance of seeing a toad here and even less likely that a car would see it and stop.
We didn’t bring our picnic lunch today. The beer garden had a self-service window where you could order your food. The beer specialty of the season is “Starkbier”, a beer with a higher percentage of alcohol which is sold during Lent, an ingenious idea of beer brewing monks to help tide them over the fasting season.
What a nice little beer garden in the woods
I ordered a vegetable strudel in a kind of sauce with savoy cabbage – it was ok, but I wouldn’t choose it a second time.
We are now on our way back.
And then came the big surprise – toads crossing! And a car had stopped to let them cross! I didn’t have time (I thought) to get my camera out, so I grabbed my cell phone for the shots.
Two toads – at first I thought mother and baby. Silly me. The babies are tadpoles and will be swimming around in a pond. What we have here is the female carrying the smaller male, mating. She will lay the fertilized eggs in the pond she is heading for and hopefully reaches.

On our way back, when we thought we had seen and photographed all the good things for the day, came another surprise. When we passed the blossoming cherry trees in Petuelpark (that I posted a few days ago), we saw that Munich has become even more international. There were groups of people seated under the trees celebrating hanami, the Japanese custom of eating and drinking while enjoying the cherry blossoms.
Not only Japanese people enjoy the tradition of hanami, picnicking under the flowering trees.

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I'm a US born ex-pat, having lived most of my adult life in Munich, Germany. Cycling and photography are my favorite things.

5 response to "Cycle Life Challenge Ride 6: A Palace, Two Toads and Sakura"

  1. By: NancyG Posted: April 2, 2019

    Beer Garden to Bear Garden — what a delightful adventure.

    Those toads were indeed a surprise, and to catch a mating ‘team’ was almost extraordinary! Like you I would have thought there was NO WAY a car would be yielding to a toad crossing the road. Goes to show you how little WE know.

    Cherry blossoms are out all around here too, and I was disappointed to have our planned ride through the UW (where they are in huge display) canceled on Monday. I don’t know if when I get the chance to ride, the blossoms will still be there. We have ridden through them a couple of years in a row. May miss them this year.

  2. By: Rich-Illinois Posted: April 2, 2019

    “”Sakura Sakura”, also known as “Sakura”, is a traditional Japanese folk song depicting spring, the season of cherry blossoms” Now I know. 🙂 TBD if I remember it! 😉

    Nice ride, seems to be lots of palaces around. Enjoyed the photos.
    Alcohol enhanced beer and fasting Monks — sort of a dichotomy? Maybe not?

    I think is great people brake for the toads — I fear for the squirrels here, they dont always make the best decisions crossing the streets.

  3. By: Scooter Posted: April 3, 2019

    What a great post, Suzanne. Sakura with toads! What could be better? I was sorry we missed the cherry bloom in Portland before we left. I never think of it as something to look for in Europe as well.

    I’m envious about that weather too. It looks warmer up there than it has been down here in Sicily so far.

  4. By: Lednar De Nalloh Posted: April 3, 2019

    Toad must mean a very ugly frog, nice to see blossom and leaves appearing from the trees.

  5. By: gregblood Posted: April 3, 2019

    Hanami, what could be better?

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