Where to start? First I was woken up bright and early by old hymns wafting through my window, in German of course. We had our walking tour of the city today. I LOVE Munich! We were on a way to meet our guide and we happened to be right on time to witness the Glockenspiel. Its like a huge cuckoo clock :) And we got to see the river surfers in action (more details on that later). I learned where our term 'munchkin' supposedly came from. 'Munich' in German is 'Munchen.' One of the city's symbol is the Child of Munich. Thus you have 'munchkin.' Dr. Lacroix has this intense need for fish on a stick, so we hit up the last day of a fish festival. Turns out 'fish on a stick' means the WHOLE fish. No thank you. I opted for some fillets and potatoes... oh and then a dark chocolate covered banana. Yuummmm. Then we hunted down some 'Deutshland' t-shirts to wear out to the Hofbrauhaus, which reportedly sells at least 10,000 liters of beer per day, tonight to cheer on the German futbol team against the Australians! For anyone back in The States who cares, USA tied with England last night. The game tonight starts at 8:30 but we found out last night if you intend to sit anyone where you can slightly see the game you best get there at least 2 hours ahead of time.... at least.

The air throughout the city is electric. Today is Munich's 852 birthday! Add game day to that and I feel like I'm in a Harry Potter version of Athens. There are bands playing everywhere throughout the city. The music is never ending. People are cheering and drinking. There's markets and festivals in swing everywhere. Microphones and loudspeakers can be heard booming through the streets which are colorfully dotted with people in their game day gear. German flags are flying on cars, tied on cape style and being waved above the crowd. Black, red and yellow leis and goofy hats accessorize fan jerseys. The striped, crested scarves add the final Harry Potter touch. And we're still over 8 hours until game time ;-)

Maybe a bit of schoolwork until then? Booooo!

Munich = LEGIT! These people get into 'futbol' enough to rival 'football' in the US. I did pick up on the fact they offer us a German menu and an English menu. We're definitely not that accomodating....

Does anyone else find it a bit backwards that everything in Munich is closed on Sundays except for the pubs and beer halls....?