Day 353: Olympic Munich; Innsbruck; $65
36yearsago.com
Vienna 1971—A Student Journal
A year of music, study, travel, sightseeing &
friends.
Day
353 — Olympic Munich; Innsbruck; $65
20-Jul-1972
(Thur.)
TRANSCRIPT
Munich in Summer
MUNICH & INNSBRUCK
Met a nice group of people on the train. Young
Americans and one young German. Very friendly.
Typical train ride. Interrupted.
MUNICH
Will stay about seven hours only and then leave for
Innsbruck. Either stay in Innsbruck or go directly to
Wien. Depending on Elisabeth.
Sightseeing. Extremely hot and humid day. Like most
of the last few days. I must really stink.
Munich seems much better this time than last
time—more people, livelier. The stores, facilities,
etc. are fantastic. Also somewhat more expensive than
Berlin. Coffee at Bahnhoff is already 35 pfennings
more—one reason I am leaving.
Real busy but nicely laid out town. Fantastic subway
system. Many new things.
Olympic site. Really nice and new. Quite a large
setup. Wish I could be around. There is going to be
quite a few good concerts also around. Wild. Will end
just in time for the Oktoberfest.
Even saw some Olympic swimming, races, and diving
practice. Fantastic stadium.
Afterwards, walked around much of the town.
Ate at Hofbraühaus. And big surprise. I managed to
rob a large beer mug from there. Just like the
tradition. Was sort of scared but it worked. Wrapped
it up in newspapers and then put it with a couple of
others I bought as gifts.
Ended up spending quite a bit of money. Mostly gifts,
train, and miscellaneous. Also a wild town. Must have
been out of it. The bra business here must also be
down. Even went into the sex shop—very interesting.
On the way to Innsbruck. I’m tired but feeling good.
INNSBRUCK
Very short stay (about 1 hour).
Got in touch with Elisabeth. Had a nice and friendly
talk. She never got my letter (explains no answer)
and has gotten more serious with her old boyfriend.
So, understandably, I am out of the picture.
However, we are still good friends. She was going to
come to the Bahnhof but it wasn’t worth it. Well,
I’ll send her the pictures again.
Like with most people, I really liked her. But as
usual (in my case), all good things come to an end.
Perhaps it is more correct to say, with me, all good
things never come to a start.
Realistic part of me knew that.
Sarcastic part of me brushes it off.
But the sentimental part of me still feels something.
REFLECTIONS
World
traveler, I am—$65. Such a
world traveler, I have turned out to be. According to
my financial ledger, after leaving Berlin, I have $65
left for the rest of my European stay. So what were
my plans with this $65? Well, Munich, Innsbruck,
Vienna, and Paris. No problemo. So you can guess that
my journey might not last as long as I hoped for.
Munich.
I’m in
Munich for 7 hours before the train leaves for
Innsbruck. I am proud of myself—I really take in a
lot of the sights for such a short time. Munich is
beautiful and full of summer tourists. The last time
I was in Munich, seeing my college friends, it was in
the dead of winter. I do some walking around and take
lots of pictures.
At the time, none of us knew of the tragedy that would unfold with the terrorism involving the Israeli athletes. Unfortunately, terrorism has become much worse as time goes on. We can only hope that, one day, people will come to their senses and stop this madness.
German Oom-pah-pah band and the
Haufbraühaus
Munich’s Haufbraühaus. I stop by
the world-famous Haufbraühaus to have a stein of beer
and buy two steins for gifts. This beer hall was, I
believe, where Hitler gave one of his speeches that
started the nightmare of Nazi Germany. Still, it was
interesting to be in this place. And there was a
German “oom-pah-pah” band playing. You won’t believe
what happened next (you already know because you
already read it) — but, yes, I steal a beer stein. I
never do stuff like that? Why would I do that? Well,
someone next to me told me it was “tradition” and
“expected” to “steal” a beer mug. And there were
these two biggy-big guys guarding the door. Being a
stupid, youth, I did it. Sorry, Munich. Well, I did
buy two big mugs that were nicer and more expensive
than the run-of-the-mill drinking mug I took. And God
punished me by breaking one of these mugs on the trip
back to the U.S. Seriously.
I had wrongly attributed this heinous act back to my
visit to Munich last January.
I
like Munich. Yes. Quite
a bit of sightseeing for one short day.
Gifts
and off to Innsbruck. After
buying a bunch of gifts for friends and family in the
U.S., I leave for Innsbruck. By train.
Innsbruck
and Elisabeth. Why did
I want to go to Innsbruck? Well, it was to see
Elisabeth. If you remember, Elisabeth ended up being
a gracious tour-guide and skiing partner on the
slopes of Innsbruck when I took my skiing vacation
last winter. We didn’t get to know each other that
well, but we had written a couple of times. She had a
friendly and charming personality that also attracted
me to her. I did like her, also. Not to the extent
that I had feelings for Anjali, but I did like
Elisabeth.
I don’t know what my plans were. Perhaps, I was
hoping to stay one night. It sounds like I sent a
letter earlier but it didn’t get through. I suspect
that I just wanted to get together to see her before
I left for home, and hoped that we might connect. We
were supposed to meet earlier in the year but it
didn’t happen.
We talked on the phone and she offered to meet me at
the bahnhoff. However, I learn that she has a
serious
boyfriend.
That seems to dampen my spirit on meeting her for a
coffee or deciding to stay an extra night.
I buy a few gifts at the Bahnhoff.
Back to Vienna. I head
off to Vienna, probably on an overnight train.
Plenty of Munich photos today.
Munich Old Town
Cathedral off of Marienplatz
View of Marienplatz and City
Center
National Theater
Haufbraühaus
Englisher Garden
Munich subway station
Munich 1972 Olympics
Olympic swimming stadium
Olympic diving pool
Olympic diver
John
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