September 21, 2007
St. Peter's Church, Viktualienmarkt, Marienplatz &
TSV 1860 Munchen vs. FC St. Pauli Soccer Game at Allianz Arena

Photo Links & Journal

I hate my bed and pillows at the Sheraton.  I couldn’t sleep at all and my back is killing me.  I was in and out all night and finally got some quality sleep at about 6:00 AM.  My alarm from my watch went off at 8:00 AM and I fell back asleep only to have housekeeping wake me up again at 9:00 AM.  I gave up and got ready for the day.  Before heading out I paid for 24 hours of internet so I could check my messages and get some work done.   

The soccer game between TSV 1860 Munchen and St. Pauli is at 6:00 PM at Allianz Arena.  It’s not too far from the hotel by subway.  It’s only a few stops from the Marriott I’m staying at between the 23^rd and 27^th.   My plan is to wander around Old Town come back to the hotel and download pictures and see if I can contact anyone via the internet and head to the game.

 I finally got going and headed to the American Express office to cash some traveler’s checks.  It’s on Promenade Platz which I walked through yesterday.  This trip couldn’t have been at a worse time exchange rate wise.  The US dollar hit an all time low against the Euro.  I exchanged $300 US Dollars and got $207 Euros back.  I guess I’ll have to cut back on food.  Promenade Platz is also the area Sunskin on Eurotrip’s Oktoberfest Forum suggested watching the parade tomorrow near the Bayerische Hof Hotel.  Apparently they give free Lowenbrau out.  With this exchange rate I can use some freebies.  The Promenade Platz itself dates back to the Middle Ages when it was a salt market.  It’s now decorated with 19^th century statues of well-known local figures. 

 After wandering around the square for awhile I made my way to the Marienplatz area and St. Peter’s Church.  St. Peter’s was built in the 12^th century originally before being replaced and added onto throughout the years.  The interior is lavishly decorated with a high altar dedicated to St. Peter from 1492.  The inside is great but the best thing about St. Peter’s is the view from the 14^th century tower.  For 1.50 Euro you can climb the steps to the top of the tower for a spectacular view of Munich.  Of course the view is great if you survive the stairs.  I did fine but there are some tight fits at the beginning when I was wandering what I had gotten myself into. 

The view is great and would have been perfect except for the scaffolding surrounding the Neues Rathaus in the Marienplatz.  I stayed at the top of the tower for about an hour and took a bunch of pictures of the Frauenkirche, Olympic Tower, Allianz Arena, St. Cajetan’s, The Sheraton and Oktoberfest grounds.  The walkway around the top is another tight fit and it takes awhile to make your way around with all the people at the top but the hassle is worth the view.

 I had lunch at Schlemmermeyer’s  Lecker Bissen in the Viktualienmarkt.  It’s just a stand that sold bratwurst and curry wurst only.  I had a giant bratwurst before moving on to Rischart’s again for a dessert of a strawberry frozen ice cone.  It was delicious.  The girl working the ice cone stand was working her butt off.  There were 5 people in line nonstop from the time I was there until I left 15 minutes later.  After my nutritious meal I jumped on the Marienplatz subway to come back to the hotel to download my pictures and try to call home before heading to the soccer game.  I was successful on one of the two.  I got all of my pictures loaded on the computer but nobody was answering on the computer at home.

 After catching up on my journal for a few minutes I started off to Allianz Arena at about 4:15 PM for a 6:00 PM game.  I knew where the stadium was but had no idea of where I was going after the subway.  I didn’t need to worry as once I got to the changeover station at Odeonplatz I realized that there were more people going to this game than I was led to expect.  I had emailed the home team TSV Munchen1860 about getting tickets and they said to just show up on game day and buy them at the Arena.  The train I was on was predominately St. Pauli, TSV Munchen 1860’s opponent, fans who sang the whole way to the stadium. 

The stadium has two soccer teams using it, Bayern Munich and TSV Munchen 1860.  Bayern Munich is the more famous of the two teams and plays in the main German Bundesliga.  TSV Munchen 1860 is apparently the working man’s team in town.  They were relegated to the 2nd Division of the German Bundesliga a few years ago.  The stadium holds about 69,000 people and for a 2^nd Division game there was a pretty decent crowd.  I can’t imagine what the stadium is like when it’s full but it was wild during this game.                

It’s a pretty decent walk from the train station to the stadium but the stadium is breathtaking.  It is completely covered with a plastic looking shell consisting of diamond shaped panels.  It’s completely white during the daylight when I arrived and the whole shell was illuminated blue when I left.  It was very cool looking at night.  I’ve seen pictures of it illuminated red also.  That must be for Bayern Munich games. 

 I found the ticket line and asked somebody if this was where I bought tickets and they told me yes.  They were wrong.  I had to stand in the one line for about 20 minutes before getting to the front and finding out it was some sort of will call line.  The guy at the ticket counter pointed me down the way a little to the correct line.  Tickets in the third deck were 21 Euros and there is another weird little wrinkle to the stadium.  They don’t take any money inside.  You have to buy an Arena Card to purchase things inside.  Well you don’t actually buy it as much as tell them how much money you want on card.  It speeds things up inside at the concession stands.

 I put 25 Euros on a card which bought me a wiener schnitzel sandwich, coke, 3 beers and a bratwurst during the game.  I still had 7 Euros left when I left so bought a couple of pins for 3 Euros each.  You keep the card and put more money on it as you need.  There are stands inside that allow you to add money to the card.

 The game itself was pretty good.  TSV Munchen 1860 scored twice in the first half and St. Pauli scored late in the half for a 2-1 TSV Munchen 1860 lead.  I walked around for awhile during halftime and then watched the 2^nd half until about the 70 minute mark before leaving.  I didn’t want to have to deal with the 40,000 or so that were going to be making the mad dash to the one subway stop that was at the stadium.  It didn’t seem like there was any parking anywhere around the stadium except for a 4 story parking garage farther away than the subway station.  I took a bunch of pictures of the now blue stadium and walked on a subway car that left right away.  That was much easier than the four subway cars I let pass going to the stadium that were too full.  I just checked online and TSV Munchen 1860 won 2-1 so I didn’t miss anything major.

 I was pondering hitting town for a few beers but decided to come back to the hotel and chill out for tomorrow’s Oktoberfest opening.  My legs had been cramping up all night anyway.  Especially when walking up the stadium stairs to the third level.  I didn’t need to dehydrate myself anymore this evening.  I’ll drink a lot of water tonight in preparation for tomorrow.  I really miss not having 7-11’s here.  I would kill for a Double Gulp.  I can’t even find a place that sells any large drinks.  Even the stadium coke was a small glass with no ice.  I guess since everyone is already wearing winter wear they don’t want any ice in their drinks.  Until tomorrow and Oktoberfest.   

Dad finally saw I was online as I was finishing up and we talked for about 45 minutes over the MSN Messenger Video call.  It’s is amazing how well that works.   

Return To September 20, 2007

Forward To September 22, 2007
Procession Of  Marquee Hosts And Breweries
Oktoberfest Parade