Round 1 goes to Munich…

To Mom, Before I begin, this story has a happy ending!

So this weekend was the first trip we took that wasn’t scheduled for us by AIFS.  And it was a doozy… The plan was to go to Munich Friday afternoon after class, check into our hostel, then go find Hofbräuhaus and have a few beers, pretzels and dinner before turning in for the night so I could get a good sleep before the Bayern München game the next afternoon.  That plan could not have gone any worse…

My first problem arrived about 30 minutes after our arrival in Munich when I realized I had forgotten my Bayern München tickets back in Salzburg.. Apparently in my haste to pack some clothes for the weekend I forgot the main reason why I was going there and walked right past the 2 tickets pinned next to my bed… I knew I had the only key to my dorm and none of my other friends could get to them for me so my only solution was to return in the morning and retrieve them myself (more on this developing story later).  After freaking out for 15 minutes my buddies convinced me that a few beers at Hofbräuhaus would take care my issues for the night and the tickets were a problem to be solved tomorrow.

After a skip, hop and a jump we ended up in the famous beer hall right in the old town.  Somehow we found a table to fit 8 amid the somewhat organized chaos that is Hofbräuhaus.  We ordered pretzels and beer and quickly became friends with the tables around us as we got them all to raise their glasses to “prost” in the night ahead.  The famous glasses at the beer hall are massive, 1 litre to be exact, and the waiters and waitresses somehow carry around 6 in one hand as if it’s nothing!

I’ll skip the details but we had some beers, a few pretzels, fell in love with the pretzel maiden, fell out of love with the pretzel maiden when she ran out of pretzels, had a few more beers, had dinner, had another beer and ended the night singing christmas songs with a group of Norwegians at the table behind us until we were told that the hall closes in 10 and had to find somewhere else to go.  At this time, the forgotten tickets were just that, forgotten.

After leaving Hofbräuhaus we followed our buddy Ryan, who seemed to know where he was going.  We explored the old town a bit, met some Italians, wandered a bit more and just enjoyed the great weather and the city along the way until we found our way back to our hostels for the night.  We couldn’t stop raving about the beer and food and a few of us were pumped about the new mugs we had just acquired ;).

(6:30) ALARM CLOCK goes off, the fact that I don’t have my Bayern München tickets is very clear to me now as I must figure out how to get to Salzburg and back to Munich by 15:30 in time for kick off (cue mission impossible music).  Luckily the bus we took to Munich runs from 8:00-22:00 and is dirt cheap so I walked down to the bus station to reserve a seat both ways for about 16 euros total.   Luckily, it’s an easy trip (just shy of 2 hours and no stops along the way).  I was a little nervous as I only had about an hour once I arrived in Salzburg to get from the bus station to my dorm and then back to catch my next bus, but I didn’t have any better ideas so I had to make it work.  (The rest of the day will be documented like an episode of 24).

(8:00) My bus leaves Munich and all seems good, close my eyes to catch up on some sleep and re-energize for the long day ahead.

(10:00) Wake up slightly confused as to why the clock says 10:00 and why we aren’t in Salzburg yet.  Look out my window to see the Austrian-German border ahead which was wonderful because we should already be well beyond that point and I should be on my way to my dorm now.

(10:10) See sign on side of the road “SALZBURG 15 km”.  Again, wonderful as we should be there -15 minutes ago but I take a deep breath and try to relax.

(10:30) I’ve finally arrived after the longest 15km on planet earth and jump of the bus and sprint off in what I thought was the direction of my dorm.  I ask a nice cab driver “where is Wolf-Dietrich-Straße (my street)” and he says he doesn’t speak english.  Wonderful, so I ask in german “Wo ist Wolf-Dietrich-Straße” and he says he doesn’t speak german either.  Wonderful again.  I feel as though I know where I am so I run off in that general direction.  Luckily I was right and it ended up being only about a km away.

(10:45) Tickets in hand, bag thrown in room, back to the bus station.

(10:55) Run around corner to see my neon green bus with people climbing on board, MADE IT!

(11:00) Bus departs Salzburg for Munich…

(13:30) (kick off in 2 hours) Bus arrives in Munich after a bit of traffic outside of the city presumably because of the game.  Now I must find my buddy Taylor and get him his ticket, the girls already have theirs so that makes things less complicated.  What makes things more complicated is the fact that I have a phone that I can only use with wi-fi and so does Taylor.  I find a coffee shop with wi-fi send Taylor messages about meeting at the game.  I don’t know anything about the stadium but I figured it would be easier to find him there amongst 75,000 people then amongst the 1.3 million of Munich.

(14:00) Lost on the Munich subway, wonderful.

(14:30) Find group of friendly Canadians wearing team Canada hockey jerseys and talking about soccer, so stick with them until I get my bearings again.

(15:00) (kick off in 30 minutes)  I get off at the right station and begin the trek from station to stadium, I can see it off in the distance and it is massive.  Also the weather has turned from clear to miserable and a small rain has begun and temperatures have dropped.  Canadian friends have disappeared as they admit they don’t actually have tickets they just wanted to see the stadium……

(15:10) wi-fi has returned and I check my phone for messages from Taylor, still no word.  Beginning to worry if I’m about to ruin his day by not being able to get the guy his tickets.  Continue to check for any sign of him, no luck.  Wait 10 minutes hoping to see him and finally decide to head inside.  Just as I’m about to turn off my phone to save battery my phone buzzes and Taylor tells me exactly where he is and I get him his ticket!  Mission completed!

(15:30) Climb up to the top deck after purchasing my fc Bayern scarf and just as I turn down the tunnel the security guard stops me and pulls me aside.  Doesn’t speak english but clearly motions for me to tuck my scarf inside my jacket before sending me on my way.. Slightly confused but oh well..

(15:35) Not confused anymore as I get to my section and see a sea of blue and white (fc Bayern are red and white).  Teresa and Camy are there and they also have their red and white tucked deep inside their jackets as we pray we survive the game amongst 5,000 SV Darmstadt fans.

(15:40) This is how my life ends… An SV Darmstadt fan has noticed that we are not what we appear and yells at us that “THE BAYERN SECTION IS OVER THERE!!”  I have put my scarf away in one of the girls’ bag and nervously laugh it off, determined to show these people that I am the most loyal SV Darmstadt fan to ever come from America.

(15:56) SV DARMSTADT SCORES FIRST!!! I jump and cheer and the same burly man that had just told us where we should be sitting is now hugging me over Taylor’s head as another man is grabbing my arm to celebrate with us as well!

(16:00) I am accepted into the tribe..  I have learned the chants and songs of the SV Darmstadt fans and have been accepted into this crazy group of people.

(17:30) The game is over, Bayern Munich make a 2nd half push and score 3 goals (2 from Muller, his 2nd was incredible! and 1 from Lewandowski) to win 3-1.  The Darmstadt fans are sad but cheer on their team with the same enthusiasm as they did in the first minute right to the very end.  Their players come over to our corner and applaud our support before heading to the locker room.

(18:00) Can finally be Bayern München fans…

(18:05) Really, really cold……..

(20:00) Grab dinner at Munich’s central train station before catching our bus back to Salzburg.

Sunday morning is still rainy and our ski trip which was planned to happen today has been pushed off to next weekend which looks like will have a few days of snow.  Fine by me as I am completely exhausted.  After sleeping in I get word that a few of the guys are planning a hike up one of the local hills that overlooks the city and we all meet around 3 in the afternoon to attempt the climb.

The hike was slightly tougher then I imagined it would be, but we finally made it to the top and were pleasantly surprised to find an old monastery that serves beer!  So naturally, we had a beer while enjoying the great view before heading down before dark.

We were slightly caught off guard with the incredible views on our way back down and at every turn we had to stop to take photos as we were floored by the sun going down behind the Austrian alps.

I’ve taken about 100 photos of the fortress but it still doesn’t get old for me so here is another….

And then as we were sitting on the defensive walls we saw this..

What a way to end the weekend..

This is where I leave you guys as I look ahead to starting my classes on Monday and getting down to business.  But before I go I have 1 more photo to share which I discovered on my phone Sunday afternoon.  I have no recollection of taking the photo but I’m pleasantly surprised by my steady hand following the night at Hofbräuhaus.  Without further ado, I give you the Rathaus-Glockenspiel!!!!

And on that note Auf Wiedersehen!!