Athletes and Engineers
Olympic Village
The first thing on the agenda today was visiting Münchner Olympiastadion, the Munich Olympic Stadium. This stadium and the grounds surrounded it were the home of the 1972 Summer Olympics, the same games where the Israeli team was kidnapped and killed. Other than that unsportsmanlike conduct, the games went off without a hitch. The main stadium seats 57,450 and is used most often for soccer games as well as concerts (most recently Bruce Springsteen). The entire grounds, including the Olympic pool, Olympic hall, and beer garden are covered in a tent-like plastic structure that can be seen for miles around.
BMW Welt
The electric BMW i8. Do want.
Right next to the Olympic Village is the BMW Welt (showroom and delivery) and Museum. The showroom had dozens of cars, from the classic Beamer, to motorcycles, to Rolls Royce, to Mini Cooper. In the center of the showroom was the delivery service. Essentially, if you are lucky enough to live near Munich and purchase a BMW, it will be delivered to these headquarters and stylishly presented. We had a chance to witness this. In the center of the showfloor is an island elevated up to the second floor. Rising out of the middle of this is a large glass elevator. The cars are brought up from beneath via the elevator and then driven in a spiral down the velvet ramp to the bottom floor and out onto the road. The museum was a labyrinth-like time capsule. Starting at the entrance, one walks though the development of the company and its products, starting in World War I and leading up to now.
After a few hours of people watching in the Olympic park, we headed home. Around 7:30, our host Juergen, took us out to his favorite Greek tavern to watch a soccer game. Germany vs. Spain. Germany lost 1-0 and after listening to angry Germans yell at the TV we headed home for the night.
I think European license plates look much cooler than US ones. +1 point for the EU.
Timezones, Languages, and Other Differences
The struggle is real. Jetlag is a thing. It is something I have never truly experienced before. Flying to the east coast really doesn't count, especially when you're young. After arriving yesterday and going to bed around 9pm, I woke this morning up sure that I had received a full nights sleep and that it must be at least 7 o'clock. It was 1:30am. I got another seven hours of really awful "sleep" after that.
Landeshauptstadt München. A large gothic style building on the Marienplatz. Home to visitor's center, stores, and restaurants.
For breakfast we headed over to a local grocery store and grabbed some cereal and fruit. It was pretty amusing to recognize certain American brands, even if they had slight tweaks to them. Kellogg's Frosted Flakes became Frosties, while other brands bailed entirely and just went with some hardcore German word. After breakfast he hit up the underground and got our 4-day ticket and proceeded to catch a ride to Marienplatz, Munich's central town square. Lots of tourists here. After poking around here we made our way to St. Peter's Church a block away. Inside was a service taking place, which we quickly passed through, and outside was the door that lead up the very top of the steeple. The walk to the top takes about fives minutes considering all the people but the view is worth it (see Photos). We used this as an opportunity to scout out where we wanted to head next. We decided to head north toward the English Gardens. On the way we walked through the Viktualienmarkt, a massive outdoor market/beer garden.
The English Gardens are a huge expanse of green. Lots of variety here. Some places are immaculately maintained with hedges and flowers, some flat and wooded like Central Park, and others overgrown and hilly like Golden Gate Park. In the gardens we found Munich's hidden surf culture. Yes, surf culture. Imagine a small waterfall coming out from under a bridge that produces enough chaos to surf. Dozen's of wetsuit endowed locals all lined up ready to hit the "waves." VIDEO HERE
Chinese Tower at Chinesischen Turm
Next up in the center of the English Gardens was Chinesischen Turm, the world's oldest beer garden going back to 1789. My favorite meal so far, our Chinesischen Turm meal consisted the german classics: bratwurtzs, giant soft pretzels and beer. After this tremendously heathy lunch, we slowly wound our way back home.
I didn't appreciate how truly weird not have everything in English would be until today. Sign, menus, directions, all in German. The visitor's center with their english maps was a life saver. Today was also the first day I got to experience the European public transportation system and my take away is... we really suck. America seriously needs to step up our game. The underground (U-Bahn) absolutely puts any subway system in the US to shame. It is clean, quiet, and an enjoyable experience; nothing I've ever had on any American underground. Even on the surface everything is better. Smaller non-obnoxious cars and smaller cleaner roads. American transport is truly depressing. +1 point for Germany.
Arrival
The view from Juergen's flat in Munich
We're here! We made it. We landed here in Munich around 5:15pm. Jacob's family friend, Juergen, picked us up from the airport and drove us about twenty minutes on the Autobahn to his flat in Munich. The first couple hours were extremely confusing for me as the evening light outside matched the morning light my body expected. We got settled in for a bit and then headed out for food. Juergen took us to a place just a few blocks down and treated us to some traditional Bavarian (Bavaria: southeastern Germany) food and beer. On the way back, he showed us the nearest subway stop and gave us the lowdown on the underground system that we will be using for the next couple days. Tomorrow is the first full day!
What One Can Expect...
Hello all,
As you may know by now, I am traveling throughout eastern Europe for six weeks with my friend, Jacob. We are flying into Munich on April 20th and winding our way round until we loop back up to Berlin. From there we will fly to Istanbul, and from Istanbul home on May 30th. You can see a more detailed itinerary under the 'MAP' link at the top of the page. In addition, you can view my exact location from that same page.
Going There and Back Again is the blog where you can follow me as I travel throughout Europe. While there will be photos interspersed throughout the blog, I will be uploading a much larger quantity via the 'PHOTOS' link at the top of the page.
At the bottom of any Blog page you will find an option to subscribe via email. Anyone who signs up will receive daily updates with links to the previous day's posts.
I hope you all enjoy!
-Morgan