On Friday night, we went out with Andrea and Philip and ended up having a great time. They are really nice and we seem to have a lot in common. Hopefully, they liked us as well and we will have a second date. Fingers crossed.
There are two soccer (fußball) teams in Munich, Bayern and 1860. The difference between the teams is pretty much like the difference between the Mets and the Yankees. One team is filled with star power and tradition, and the other has followers that claim to be the true ‘fans’ of the sport. We figure why not jump on the bandwagon and become Bayern fans while we are here. Tickets to the Bayern games are sold out for the entire season. However, I managed to find a website similar to Stubhub in the US that allows season-ticket holders to sell unused tickets. I like the fact that the website prevents the seller from marking up the price, tickets can only be sold for face value. Ashley and I snagged a couple tickets about a week before the game.
We have never been to a European soccer game but have heard they can be pretty intense. Not knowing what to expect, we figure it is probably a good idea to have a nice lunch beforehand with a few Bavarian beers to make sure we are ready for anything. We headed to the Spaten house for lunch and a few ‘pre-game’ beers.
After lunch, we hop on the (very croweded) U-bahn to head uptown to the Stadium. It was so crowded that we had to use separate doors to get into the train, there was not room for two people in a single car. Fortunately, it was only a few stops. The people on the train were all heading to the game as they were decked out in red Bayern gear and drinking bottles of ‘helles’ while signing Bayern hymns. Someone at work told me that the beer sold at the stadium is alcohol-free. After seeing the state of people getting off the train, I can understand the need for such a policy.
It was a really cold day which made the walk from the train to the stadium seem much longer. Fortunately, there was a beer tent on the way so we could take a well needed break. We picked up our tickets outside the stadium at the Viagogo window and headed inside. We walked around the stadium a bit to look around. The stadium is pretty spectacular (you may recall that the 2006 World Cup finale was hosted in the Allianz Arena in Munich). We decided to stop at a concession stand to determine if the beers really don’t have alcohol. First of all, we weren’t able to buy anything without first putting money on an Allianz Arena card. We had to look around the stadium to find a place we could purchase a card. I guess the theory is that it is easier for the concessions stands to be cash free, but it was a little annoying. We successfully purchased a card and made it back to the concession stand. We could barely read the sign, but couldn’t find the words ‘alkoholfrei’. To this day, it is still a mystery.
The game was a good one. Bayern routed Kaiserslautern (a team from Central Germany that is not very good). The crazy fans were situated behind the goals, and admittedly, the expensive seats did seem to be filled with mostly corporate fans expecting nothing less than a championship. Plus, every time Bayern score which was five times today, they played the same song the Blackhawks use to celebrate a goal (da da da). All in all, the day was a blast.
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