Good afternoon from my own kitchen table. My trip has finally come to a close, and I like to think that I did it "right." The period between my last post and 11pm last night was non-stop travel, including 24 hours of actually moving (car & plane). To put it in perspective, I woke up at 10pm (Eastern time) on Thursday night (Friday morning India time), and I didn't get in bed until 11pm on Saturday night. There were several welcome naps on the two airplane rides, but I suspect I was looking pretty rugged last night.
My layover during the trip back was in Munich, Germany. One of my good friends, Matt Wallach, is an engineer who started working for BMW in South Carolina, but who is currently on a 2 year assignment at the BMW headquarters in Munich. Rather than camp out in the airport, I decided to see if Matt would be willing to show me the city. After a very easy trip through customs, I was picked up by Matt in a very nice BMW 1 Series (Motorsports edition). BMW employees get outstanding deals on short-term leases of company vehicles, and Matt was disappointed and apologetic that production of his new M3 was delayed, and he couldn't pick me up in it. I was thrilled with the ride nonetheless, and we drove very (!) quickly through the countryside to his large apartment withing walking distance of town.
Munich is perhaps one of the most beautiful cities I have visited in Europe. The people are friendly, the streets and buildings are immaculate, and the sense of order was a stark contrast to Mumbai. I was quick to turn down the "American Breakfast" that I was offered at a diner downton, choosing instead a German twist on French toast: sweetened rasberry jam between battered bread that is subsequently put on the griddle. Add some fresh fruit, a croissant, and lots of coffee and it made for a great meal. The view from the diner is in the picture below.
The downtown square in Munich has wonderful architecture, and I could have taken zillions of pictures. I'm not quite sure where the fish fountain came from....
We put a lot of miles on our shoes just walking around. On our way to the English Garden, a park larger than New York's Central Park, we checked out a number of buildings. In the background of the picture below you can see two yellow towers reaching up. This is St. Cajetan's Church built around 1700.
The interior of the church is incredible, with several very nice paintings and sculptures.
Once we got to the English Garden, we found this standing wave in the river running through the park. There were a group of three urban surfers taking turns in the wave. I'll note that the water is coming out of the Bavarian Alps, and is very cold right now.
Downstream from the surfers were a number of birds on the banks of the river. Any guesses as to what these are?
Finally, we spent the last half hour of the trip in the Chinesischer Turm Beer Garden. Things were already busy at 11am, but it had much more the feeling of a coffee house than a fraternity. There was a soccer game planned for the afternoon at Allianz Stadium nearby, so most of the folks were dressed in team colors. A Hofbrau and a pretzel, and it was back to the airport.
The return trip across the Atlantic was uneventful. There was a near uprising on the airplane when we reached altitude, and then all realized that the inflight entertainment system was broken. The entire system had to be rebooted, which apparently takes 20 minutes. I questioned the sanity of pressing "control-alt-delete" while you are flying over the English Channel, but things worked out ok...and I even got to watch a movie.
Aricca and the kids drove down to Boston to pick me up, and I thought I would be kind and do the driving on the return trip (120 miles) to Hanover. I made it about 40 miles before realizing that it was actually pretty dangerous for me to be doing anything responsible, so I gave the wheel to Aricca.
Sleep came easily, and I'm happy to be in the comfort of my own home. It was strange going to the grocery store this morning, and I found myself scouring the international foods aisle for anything with Indian flavor.
Naptime for everyone...myself included.
My layover during the trip back was in Munich, Germany. One of my good friends, Matt Wallach, is an engineer who started working for BMW in South Carolina, but who is currently on a 2 year assignment at the BMW headquarters in Munich. Rather than camp out in the airport, I decided to see if Matt would be willing to show me the city. After a very easy trip through customs, I was picked up by Matt in a very nice BMW 1 Series (Motorsports edition). BMW employees get outstanding deals on short-term leases of company vehicles, and Matt was disappointed and apologetic that production of his new M3 was delayed, and he couldn't pick me up in it. I was thrilled with the ride nonetheless, and we drove very (!) quickly through the countryside to his large apartment withing walking distance of town.
Munich is perhaps one of the most beautiful cities I have visited in Europe. The people are friendly, the streets and buildings are immaculate, and the sense of order was a stark contrast to Mumbai. I was quick to turn down the "American Breakfast" that I was offered at a diner downton, choosing instead a German twist on French toast: sweetened rasberry jam between battered bread that is subsequently put on the griddle. Add some fresh fruit, a croissant, and lots of coffee and it made for a great meal. The view from the diner is in the picture below.
The downtown square in Munich has wonderful architecture, and I could have taken zillions of pictures. I'm not quite sure where the fish fountain came from....
The interior of the church is incredible, with several very nice paintings and sculptures.
Once we got to the English Garden, we found this standing wave in the river running through the park. There were a group of three urban surfers taking turns in the wave. I'll note that the water is coming out of the Bavarian Alps, and is very cold right now.
Downstream from the surfers were a number of birds on the banks of the river. Any guesses as to what these are?
Finally, we spent the last half hour of the trip in the Chinesischer Turm Beer Garden. Things were already busy at 11am, but it had much more the feeling of a coffee house than a fraternity. There was a soccer game planned for the afternoon at Allianz Stadium nearby, so most of the folks were dressed in team colors. A Hofbrau and a pretzel, and it was back to the airport.
Aricca and the kids drove down to Boston to pick me up, and I thought I would be kind and do the driving on the return trip (120 miles) to Hanover. I made it about 40 miles before realizing that it was actually pretty dangerous for me to be doing anything responsible, so I gave the wheel to Aricca.
Sleep came easily, and I'm happy to be in the comfort of my own home. It was strange going to the grocery store this morning, and I found myself scouring the international foods aisle for anything with Indian flavor.
Naptime for everyone...myself included.
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