Munich Recap

After the wonderful venture to Istanbul, I had the pleasure of traveling back to Germany to spend four days in Munich. I have been to Munich three other times, but it was several years back, and before blogs :) It was a strange homecoming of sorts. I feel it anytime I revisit a place I have already been, even if it is abroad. The familiar sounds and sights provide comfort even though I am many miles from "home."

Technically I was in Munich for work and spent two long days walking around the expo center at the old airport. The show was huge! By the end of two days of walking around on the hard concrete for rows and rows, by feet were barking something awful. The evenings were filled with business dinners at various delightful establishments. We of course hit the touristy of tourists places the Ratskellar under Marienplatz which I had actually never been to. It really is a cool place. It was one night touristy place, one night hole in the wall local place. A nice contrast. My last night in Munich I went to the Hofbrauhaus before heading to a football game with some business people. The football game was FC Bayern Munich v. AS Roma. Man was it a good game! It was part of the championship league, or it was some sort of big game I guess, I can't exactly remember. Besides the wonderful game, the throngs of orderly crowds were a sight to see. There was no pushing and shoving, and everyone waited their turn, I couldn't believe it. You would never see that kind of order in the States. People were drinking but no one was rowdy drunk and causing trouble. The stadium which holds about 70,000 people emptied out without incident and even though we all had to wait a while for trains back to the city, there was no chaos. Even in the mass amounts of traffic where people were waiting, no one beeped their horn. It was a true exercise in patience, and the ease at which things can move if people don't get out of hand.

My last full day in Munich before I headed out I was finally able to see the surfers! After a lengthy search through the English Gardens, we finally came upon a biker carrying a surf board under his arm. We figured we must be close. Then we saw someone in the river and knew we had arrived. We of course took the long way round and if you know where it is it is easy to find. The next time will be much easier. There is a man made wave in the river where the water rushes fast enough. People can literally surf there, moving back and forth on this wave created by little more that water velocity and a piece of thick rope. There is a bridge you can stand on and just watch them. It is fascinating. I could have stood there all day and watched. The longer we stood there, the more surfers appeared. By the time we left there had to be a dozen surfers taking turns on the wave. Everyone was wet-suit clad and had a leash strapped to their leg. Once you wipe out on that wave, the water takes you fast. Everyone has to get to the side as fast as they can and jump out before you end up too far down. Seeing the Munich surfers was a great way to end this trip. I was very happy to finally witness this unique sight.

Sawrah

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