Saturday, July 08, 2006

Germany & Austria

Phew, where did I leave off? All the way back in Montreaux?

Okay, so from Montreaux, I went to Zurich to spend just one night. Outside of my little town of 87, Switzerland it quite expensive. We sat down at a bar to order a beer, and half a liter (the standard size) cost 7 CHF! Needless to say, it was a one drink night! Other than that, I really liked Zurich, and would love to spend some more time exploring there, but we had a game to catch in Munich!

We (still traveling with Sarah) continued to Munich for the two games on the 4th and 5th. We didn't really book ahead, so in a last-ditch effort to get a room we wound up staying in a place called simply "the tent". They got really descriptive, but that's exactly what it was. We paid a couple euro extra to sleep on a bed, but they literally just had 4 huge circus tents set up outside of town a bit to house 400 people. Quite the hostel... But like I said, we had a game to catch! As soon as we checked in, we ran to the tram station to get to the Olympic Stadium, but the next tram didn't arrive for another 20 minutes - after the game was going to start! We found a couple of other game-goers and then a taxi. We jumped into the Mercedes and just about screamed to get us to the stadium. Now this is Germany, remember - the country known for the autobahn. This guy could DRIVE! We were zipping in and out of traffic like it was nobody's business, trying to catch every other word the driver was saying. He was great, and took us right up to the back entrance to the Olympic Stadium.

The Olympic Stadium in Munich is where the olympic games were held in the seventies. During the WC, however, they set up huge jumbotrons for people to watch the games. It got crazy! I don't know how many people were there, but I've talked to people who have been saying 50,000+ and I wouldn't doubt it for a second. Not even to mention they were selling beer in cups by the liter, so it got even crazier! After half-time I started seeing people carried away on stretchers, in handcuffs, in ambulances, and even a guy who had to get an IV of sugar water because he was so drunk and bawling his eyes out after Germany lost. What a shame about Germany, too. I would have definitely made it to Berlin to see them play in the final game.

For the game on the 5th, we layed low after the craziness in the stadium. We went to the actual park where the game was being played a few hours before kick-off, and there were mobs and mobs of people there waiting to get in. We could have bought seats in the nosebleed section for a mere €300 per seat at the door. We also checked out the Haufbrau (sp?) House, the mose renown beer hall in Munich. It was packed with portugese people chanting and cheering for their country, getting prepped for the game. Again, beer by the liter. :) In Munich, I averaged over 3 liters of beer and 2 mixed drinks per day... before too long, my liver was telling me to go to Austria.

I'm here at my first Austrian stop in Salzburg. It is known for 2 main things: Mozart and The Sound of Music. The hostel we are staying in shows the movie once a day, every day. It was fun to watch the movie right in the city where it was filmed. I did skip the Sound of Music tour, however, to go to the worlds largest ice cave. It's 42 km long, but we just stayed in the first kilometer where the best ice was forming. It was quite fascinating learning how the cold air settles and freezes the water that drips down through the limestone. The guy who runs the tours is keeping the experience as authentic as possible as well; there are no lights set up anywhere inside the cave, so the tourists are given gas burning lamps to light the way, as well as the tour guides illuminating the features by burning shards of magnesuim. My only regret is wearing sandals. You would think a cave is cold enough, but an ICE cave? It was well below freezing for the entire hour-long tour; my toes about froze off! Well worth it, though. We also met some people on the tour who we had dinner with last night, and are going to travel with for a couple days before everyone's tours of Europe end.

Last night, I didn't carry my passport (probably the second time on the trip it's been more than 2 feet from my reach); I locked it back in the hostel with my camera because it was raining pretty hard. After dinner, we went to an Irish pub for a few Guinesses and some live music and to just hang out with some cool Canadians. A few drinks into the night, the music shuts down abruptly, and all the lights in the bar turn on and people started scurrying about. We looked to the door where there were hordes of police officers with very official looking uniforms and very real guns blocking the door. We all didn't know what to think! After failing to go out the back (it was blocked by police as well), we asked around to find out what was going on. Apparently it was the last day of high school in Salzburg, so the police were checking everyone's ID in the pub to catch underage drinkers. Now remember, I have NO ID on me at all, just a credit card with my name on it. I started freaking out a bit (maybe it was the Guiness talking) but we had to forge ahead through the line. As I made it to the door, there was a TV camera and crew with mic's and lights and the whole bit, and just as I am first in line they all focused in on me. The officer asked for ID, I explained I wasn't carrying any, and he told me to step aside (with a nice escort from a fellow officer who was at least twice my size). The TV cameras and blinding light follwed me a few feet to the sidewalk where another officer asked my name and where I was from. As soon as I said "California" in my best American accent, he eyed me for a second, then told me to scram. The TV cameras backed off, and I stepped into the rain, which never felt so good in my life! Needless to say, the moral of the story is "always carry ID". I put my ISIC in my wallet today as well, just in case...

Anyway, today it's off to some other Austrian town which I can't pronounce the name of, then Vienna maybe, then Prague, then... ? Who knows! Who cares? I still don't know what day it is today :)