10-26 Munich, Germany to Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

10/26

Munich, Germany - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Got up early again and got dressed and packed up for the airport. 

Wendy and Otis walked me to the train station and I headed for the airport. It all went pretty smoothly. 

Once I got to Iceland I ran around like crazy for 15 minutes just because my phone was an hour off so I thought I was missing my flight. Just par for the course for me, I guess. 

I finished my book on the way back to America and watched the movie Mad Max. That was pretty ridiculous. I watched the first Mel Gibson one too. He was only mad the last few minutes. Why call the movie Mad Max if he's not always mad? Beats me. 

Once I got to America in customs I made the mistake of telling the agent I had some salami sticks I planned on eating when he asked about the food I had. The guy made it a very serious conversation about lying and it being an offense. I said at least I told the truth. He threw away my salami sticks. What a shame....

It is good to be back on American soil!

Like the white girls these days say, Otis says, "I just can't even."

The busy subway station in Munich.

10-25 Munich, Germany

10/25

Munich, Germany

Last day of the trip.

I woke up after the daylight savings time there and it was an hour earlier. We went for a walk with the nephew, Otis, and went to get something to eat.

It was raining and overcast all day so we walked around and then went to watch some American football. That was good to see for the first time this year. 

After football, we went to a basketball game and called it a night fairly early.

10-24 Mallorca Island, Spain to Kempten, Germany to Munich, Germany

10/24

Mallorca, Spain - Kempten, Germany - Munich, Germany

Today started out early. I had to leave at 5 am to go to the airport. It was 1.1 miles away and somehow the cab was 15 euros. Also, it was impossible to walk there. Why would you make an airport that's not accessible? Seems ridiculous to me. Oh well, what can you do? 

I got on the plane and headed to Kempten. I was picked up by Jurgen and we headed back to his house. On the way, he asked if I wanted to stop and eat at an opening event for the new electrical service in town. I said sure, and next thing I knew I had one hand with Leberkase in it and the other a Coke/Fanta combo. For going, we had to go on a tour of the site and I quickly realized that I had become very selective at what I listened to. I could communicate in German better than Spanish and French, but I noticed I wasn't processing the words and just hearing noise while I looked at the metal. 

Next, we headed to the house and I helped a little with the yard work...getting plants trimmed for winter and the trampoline taken down. 

I said goodbyes and headed to the train station. At the train station, a young lady approached jurgen and I more aggressive than I was comfortable, and asked if I was heading to Munich and wanted to wait and get the ticket on the train. I didn't know how legal this situation was so I went blank and had Jurgen help. It actually ended up being very helpful. It dropped the ticket from 23 euros to 14 each for just getting the ticket together. Works with me.

I made my way to Munich and to my stepsister, Wendy's place and watched the show Ballers with The Rock before heading to bed.

This was some sort of hologram lady giving instructions... They didn't want pictures of her.

And... I was the first one there.

Over the mountains in southern Germany!

Nice place to drop off... I hope you know the person that drops you off!

10-23 Palma, Mallorca Island, Spain

10/23 Palma

Today, I felt wasn't maximized because I wasn't active enough, but in actuality I put in 24.75 miles walking, so I guess I was moving. 

I got up and out of my hotel because I didn't like it there much and found a new hotel by 9 o'clock.  Luckily, I checked in and they were very accommodating to me. Since my flight the next morning was before breakfast I asked if I could have breakfast now since it was included and they let me. It was very kind of them and I'm glad I finally asked for some help! It was the first time I had seen pancakes in 2 months so I gorged myself on them. 

After, I headed out and went to Palma. It seemed like it took forever to get there and it was only a couple of hours, but it was ok because the weather was finally 80 degrees and sunny! I got the chance to work on my tan! 

I walked to town and saw the cathedral and walked around. It was alright and something to do to pass the time and headed back. 

I had to organize and get ready for the next mornings flight because it was so early back to Germany. It was a nice day in the sun!

10-22 Port de Pollenca to Palma, Mallorca Island Spain

10/22
Port de Pollença to Palma
I woke up a little saddle sore, but eager to go because I've heard it's an uphill climb in the morning to the beach. It started raining in the climb, but it was welcomed because I was sweating. At the top, the views were phenomenal. The cliffs dropped straight to the sea. 

I headed down to the beach in Formentor and was the only one there. It was very peaceful.

I then headed to Alcudia and found something to eat and asked about hiking around. The lady I asked said after biking and the views in the mountains that the couple of mountains here wouldn't be worth it. 

I hopped on the bike for the 50k bike back to Palma. Flat, flat, and more flat but at least I wasn't heading into the wind all of the day. The closer to town I got, the sketchier the driving got though. 

Once in town, I found a place to rest my head and walked the beach yet again. I sat and listened to a Spanish man sing oldies for sometime and called it a night.

10-21 Port de Soller to Port de Pollence, Mallorca Island, Spain

10/21
Port de Soller to Port de Pollença
Today, was a brutal day until about 3 o'clock.. I got up and it was pouring rain so I took full advantage of the breakfast buffet and gorged on coffee, churros, and eggs. 

As the rain stopped, I headed out. I headed back to Soller and started the climb towards this mountain i'd been eyeing all morning. It seemed like forever chasing it down. It took what seemed like forever! It was only an hour or so and 10 kilometers. 

At the top, I met a couple guys that noticed me at the hotel as crazy doing this alone and teamed up. We hit the top and started out cruise down the hill. I stopped for a picture at the Gorg Bleu and found a cell phone. I noticed it was in German and the guys I was with were Swiss so I gave it to them... 15 minutes later, a panicked driver cruised up and retrieved his phone. That was nice to see the relief on his face. Around Noon, my chain got stuck for quite a while and I lost the guys I was with. 

The last 15k into the Port were flat and into headwind. If you know me then you know how skinny I am, and the wind basically held me in one spot. It was tough going. Finally, I made it to the port and the lady at the apartment I rented was the sweetest lady. She was very motherly trying to help me and wondering why I was alone and what not. It was comforting. 

I found a place with nachos (which is not good diet wise, but more of a comfort food) and I was satisfied. I walked the beach for the rest of the night and called it a night early. After the wind and cold, it was good to hit the hay.

10-20 Palma to Port de Soller

10/20
Palma to Port de Soller

I didn't sleep much so I got up and slowly made my way out to the beach to start walking north to Palma.

 I rented a nice bike run by Swiss guys and slowly made my way out of town around 11am. It was a little dicey getting out of town because I was uncomfortable with Spanish drivers on the Camino. Here they are very cautious because there are many cyclists on the road.  This is a cyclist's Mecca,  I quickly learned, because of the mountains on the north side of the island.

I made my way north through Valldemossa which was beautiful and on to Soller and Port de Soller. I saw two people driving, while I was biking, that helped my language barrier while getting my plane ticket yesterday. It's a small world! Then stopped at a cliff and spoke with a Danish couple and we talked about Colorado and the Leadville 100 ride because he was a biker and he told me how lucky I was to be riding here. They also had heard me riding downhill cheering because I was so excited about hitting 50kph so I was really pumped up all day.

It was truly a special day for me, but I felt I was missing something. I wish my brother was here to ride with me since he is the biker of the family. He would have really loved seeing the uphills kick my butt and would've gotten a kick out of my childish yelling going fast downhill. Miss you Evan!

10-18, 10-19 Kempten, Germany to Palma, Mallorca Island, Spain

10/ 18/19
Kempten, Germany to Palma, Mallorca

Today was interesting....Woke up and went to workout with Jürgen. Walked through town and back to the house. 


Then took the Ryanair flight to Palma. First, you have to print the ticket at home or they will charge you 15E for it. That was frustrating, and I had to go through 3 different people. I heard they nickel and dimed you but good lord. It was a 2 hour flight in front of a young boy with no self awareness and was yelling the entire time and using my seat as a soccer ball. I was about to use him as a soccer ball!!! Finally made it in, and hopped on the first bus to town... Well, that went the wrong way... At the end of the way all the way north of Palma, the guy kicked me out and I had to wait for the next one even though he just turned around. That was confusing. I had to ride the bus back to the airport and then take another bus south to the place I was staying. 3 hours after arriving, I finally made it to my hotel. 

5 degrees Celsius to 25 ! I'll take that!

(25C is about 76 degrees Fahrenheit)

Now, when I got there, there was no one at reception. The guy from next door was drinking beer and sitting outside, and thankfully someone gave him my key so I got into my room. I went and got a quick bite to eat and was accosted by a hoard of guys selling useless stuff. It made me hesitant about how safe I was there so I didn't sleep much.

10-16, 10-17, 10-18 Kempten, Germany

10/16 10/17 10/18
Kempten, Germany 
Friday, I woke up and Benny was sick so I hung out with him until Noon.  Then, I went to the gym to workout with Jürgen. It was cloudy and rainy again. We watched the climbing movie Touching The Void and that was pretty good! A pretty relaxing night.

Saturday we went to town for some wursts for breakfast. Jürgen, the boys, and I went for a hike up a hill outside of Kempten and that was nice, but the clues were low again. Nothing you can do about that. 

Jürgen made homemade chocolate and Nutella that was fun to be a part of. 

Then we stayed up and played games until almost 11.  
Another good day.

 Sunday we spent about 6 hours at the indoor climbing gym since it was raining again. It was a nice place about 20 minutes from Kempten.