Bikes and Bunnies

Our last couple of days in Europe we spent in Munster, which is the bike capital of Germany!  It's the only place I've been where I was seriously worried about being taken out by a cyclist.  They are everywhere, and pedestrians need to watch where they walk.

red line indicates bike lane

waiting at an intersection

bikes were parked on every sidewalk

cyclists get their own traffic lights

Also, bunnies were proliferating in this town -- no natural predators, maybe?

close enough for a photo, but not to catch as the boys attempted

hanging out on a traffic rotary island

Munster also has great outdoor recreation space, where we sought the shade.  Living in Glasgow has left us ill-suited to temps in the high 80s.

manmade lake, the Aasee

Botanic Gardens

outdoor dance space with beer wagon (note the disco ball)

Also, great cafes.  We loved the lighting and couches in this one.

And, although my boys prefer French baguettes, I was wowed by the wholegrain options -- German bread was amazing to me!

Finally, in Paris we saw these bike locks on bridges and couldn't figure them out.  In Munster, we saw them again, but these had commemorative words or initials written or etched on them, so we figured it's some way to memorialize a person or event.

pretty, huh?

We're back in Glasgow now!  We had a great time on our brief European tour, but it felt good to be home, even though it's not quite home-home as our kids call Bangor.  Toady, we are celebrating Liam's birthday and beginning our packing in preparation for moving out of the apartment and going to the Highlands with our friends from the States -- the first family arrives tonight.  It will be a whirlwind finale to our time in Scotland.  Can't believe we're leaving in 12 days!!