Wednesday 28 September 2011

FC Bayern Munich vs Manchester City FC

Been there, done that.  It's been some years, but the opportunity finally arose where I could watch a live professional football match.  Imagine my surprise when I found out it was a UEFA champions league match ... nice.  


The game was in Munich.  I live in Zurich.  Train to Munich from here takes 6 hours.  Driving, 3 hours.  Flying ... too much $$ 


I drove.  Of course.  Headed out Monday evening and arrived in Munich just in time to grab a few pints with a former colleague.  The next day ... game day ... a lot of MCFC supporters were flying in.  4 of them met up with us at the Hofbräuhaus ... here we had some food and beer.  Unfortunately, the night before I had a bad beer.  So bad in fact, it joins only one other beer on the banned list.  


Beer Banned List:

The beer gave me the worst heart burn and hiccups.  They continued all day on Tuesday that I did not participate all that much in the festivities.  Shame really.  

The Game:

Ok ... I don't get football.  I don't really watch it on TV by choice.  I will, however, join people who watch it as the atmosphere is interesting and entertaining.  The way people can string a half dozen profanities into a sentence that works and is amusing ... why not!  Usually makes a lot of sense too.  A lost skill.  

The stadium, Allianz, is quite impressive.  Here's a panoramic from inside:


In the end ... City lost.  2-0 ... Shame ... but on the positive ... it's sometimes nice to be at a home stadium when the home team wins ... you get a real feel for the vibe.  

After the game, as I hadn't had any drinks the entire day due to the hiccups ... I opted to get in the car and boot it back to Zurich ... deviating from the original plan of staying Tuesday night and heading back Wednesday morning.  I'm not a morning person.  I can stay up late without trying ... and traffic is less at night than it is in the morning ... arrived home at 2am.  3 hours non-stop in the car with me and the hiccups ... it's brutal.  BRUTAL ... That beer that caused it will forever live in the bowels of the beer list ... it's so bad it'll always be last on the bad beer list ...


There is something for next time.  I went to Munich during Oktoberfest and DIDN'T go to a beer tent .. means I have to go back sometime in the future to try Oktoberfest proper...

-sd