Unfettered

Over the past couple weeks thing here have been trending in a decidedly positive direction. The case rates have dropped out of the most restrictive tier so things like outdoor dining have started reopening. On the weekend of May 8th I went for a bike ride south down the Isar to Grünwalder Brücke. The last third or so of the trail there was all gravel so I had to walk my bike for a few sections. Luckily it was pretty. The bridge itself is unremarkable but as you can see it was a great day for biking. I rode back on the other side of the river which was paved the whole way. Lots of people out enjoying the sun, biking, picnicking, even a couple of kayakers. I stopped for lunch at a roadside stand, the fish this guy was grilling looked good but more work than I wanted so I opted for a wurst instead. On Sunday my friend Yuchen, who I met through my roommate when we both lived in San Francisco, convinced me join him and a couple friends for the "Wings for Life World Run". You downl

Naturally in amongst my expeditions I'm keeping myself fed. Some weekends I'll stroll to a local bakery or coffee shop for a mid morning snack (not technically kaffee mit kuchen since thats an afternoon tradition). I couldn't quite pin down the fruit in this cheesecake but it tasted good. Sometimes I'll opt to get dinner out. This is the local street food favorite currywurst mit pommes, basically sausages and fries with curry ketchup. I can see why its popular though not something I need to eat regularly. From the Boulangerie Dompierre a quiche and Kouing Aman. Another coffee and cake this time from the bakery inside one of the local grocery stores, not overly sweet despite the cream filling. Mostly I cook dinners for myself. This is a vegetarian Shepherd's pie based on a Moosewood recipe. The key innovation is using frozen grated tofu mixed with Walnuts as a substitute for ground lamb. Keeping with the casserole theme, I also made Moussaka. Again vegetarian in this

 In addition to the baked goods I've also appreciated the diversity of vehicles around Munich. Here are the ones that caught my eye and where I had a chance to get a picture without people looking at me strangely. This was the first one that caught my eye since it is unusual to see a sliding door on such a tiny vehicle. I encountered this guy at the post hike biergarten, its not photoshopped it is in fact a tricycle. This one is obviously a tricycle too but with a very different aesthetic. Small cargo trikes like this one are fairly common in my neighborhood, this particular one is associated with the bar a few doors down. Though the front seat could sit two it has a center handlebar for steering rather than a wheel so I cannot imagine the passenger being particularly comfortable. Though still small, this cargo vehicle, belonging to my local coffee shop, is big enough to merit a steering wheel. This van appears to be of Russian manufacture from the stickers on it. It also has fuel

 The streak of nice weekend weather ended so I only made it out for a short bike ride to a park in Pasing . The park itself proved more interesting than I expected. There were some folks practicing Archery in a field. Plus a more legit Archery range. Additionally there was an orchard of some sort. Most interesting though was pick your own flowers garden, based on the honor system. It was quite popular. This trip also marked the maiden voyage of my new bike basket. No longer will I need to sweat while wearing a backpack or be limited by what fits inside.