I spent the weekend with freinds in New York City. We enjoyed AC/DC on Friday night and glorious weather on Saturday. I finally visited McSorley’s Pub on 7th Street where beer and fries are the specialty. Then relaxed in Washington Square while listening to acoustic music from the locals. I also enjoyed a fish taco and a few margaritas while cruising down Bleeker Street. Another successful trip to the City.

After many months of delay, I started back on Fender guitar project #1. I completed the sanding and applied the first of two primer coats. I still need to sand, primer, sand again. Then its off to the creative people for final painting.

Saturday afternoon & evening we spent our time eating and drinking at the Schneider Weiße Bräuhaus. The Original Weißebräu at Schneider’s is my favorite beer in Munich. The sausage platter and spatze were the best.

Thursday we took the S-Bahn from Munich to the town of Freising. We were there to see the town and the very old Weihenstephan brewery. The brewery dates back to 1146 and is believed to be the oldest brewery in the world. We walked and we walked and we walked through Freising to the opposite end of town. After a quick lunch and a sample of the local brew, we marched up the hill to the Weihenstephan Abbey.

Wednesday was another cold, snowy day in Munich. It was a slow day around town. We went food shopping, visited with some friends and went to a show. The show was my old friend Jeff Aug from Laurel. Jeff played at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich. What a great venue. Below is a pic of me in the beer aisle at the grocery store earlier in the day.

Today I toured around some ruins of the Nazi regime here in Munich. Very interesting stuff. It was cold, and snowing all day.

Monday I was on my own. I toured around some of the more famous parts of the city. I walked the area of Odeonsplatz. There is a great statue to King Lugwig I along Residenzstrasse. I had lunch at the base of Frauenkiche at Andech’s. Below is a pic of Odeonsplatz in the foreground.

Today we took the train south of Munich to do some hiking in the Alps. We walked from Holtzkirchen to Kleinhartpenning. We had lunch with some beautiful views of the snow covered mountains. The pic below was taken from our table. Schnitzel & stark beer for me. After an extended lunch we walked further south to Schaftlach, where we caught the train back to Munich. The weather here is colder than back home, with snow showers and cold temps forecasted for the remainder of my week in Germany.

Sunday afternoon I reached Duncannon and finished my 175 mile hike of the Appalachian Trail. Yes, my feet hurt. Quite a sight to see the Susquehanna River from 900 feet above. We ended our journey with friends at the Appalachian Brewing Company in Camp Hill.

Sunday afternoon we hiked another 20 mile section of the Appalachian Trail. We walked through a snow squall to and ended in a wind blasted corn field. The weather was very challenging, more so than any other hikes. Chapped lips is really not a good thing. We are now as far north as Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania.