Again got lucky with a tourguide. No, not that way, get your mind out of the gutter. My private Segway tour of Munich was led by none other than Tex of City Segway Tours. Tex is a very interesting guy, a native German whose parents immigrated to Houston when he was a lad. He had a completely American upbringing , but at age 18 hesitated when it came time for him to choose which citizenship to keep (the United States doesn’t allow dual citizenship for non-minors). Something in the back of his mind said, “Your German citizenship will come in handy. Just wait.”
Turns out he was right, as he later met and fell in love with a German girl and followed her back to his native land where he has lived since 1992. He still returns to the Lone Star State once a year to ge this duck hunting fix, because there’s way too much red tape and waiting in a crowded country like Germany for native duck hunting to be worth it.
Symbology in sculpture: The lower lion (on the right) has an open mouth, it's next to the king's palace. The upper lion (left) has a closed mouth, and it's next to the big royal church. Message: You can criticize the government, but when it comes to the Church, keep your damned mouth shut.
Like all good tourguides, Tex loves his subject, which in this case was, of course, the beautiful city of Munich. Munich is the capital of Bavaria, which is sort of the Texas of Germany – rich, conservative, and very very proud of its own identity.
I managed to get through the entire tour without falling this time, and we saw a lot and did far more daring stunts on the Segways than I did in Berlin, including a slalom run through a row of pilings, dark tunnels by the river and narrow sidewalk passages. Tex even helped get me a nice slice of video in the Englischer Garten.
Tex the Magnificent!
Favorite Urban Parks
Englischer Garten, Munich
Central Park, Riverside Park, Madison Square Park, New York
Forest Park, Fort Worth
Lake Calhoun, Minneapolis
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