Road trip: Munich

We left for Munich anticipating the autobahn driving. We all thought it would be very straight, level and with long stretches of speed limitless driving. Not so at all. There were a few minutes here and there with no speed limit, and it was hilly and curvy. But E did have the chance to go fast and hit 187 kph at least twice.

First stop, the BMW Museum. Fantastic cars and unbelievable architecture.

Olympic Park was built on the rubble of the city from the war. It is now a beautiful park with all of the venues still used today. Somehow this expressed many of my emotions.

But it is also the cite of the tragedy of the 1972 Summer Olympics when the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by the Fatah Palestinian terrorist group Black September. By the end of the ordeal, the terrorists had murdered eleven Israeli athletes and one German police officer. We saw the granite block inscribed with the names of the dead. I thought it was well done. The large beam shows that it has been incorporated into the structure of the Olympic Stadium.

The day in the park was sunny with a bright blue sky. We saw all of the venues and even went into the swimming and diving arena which was stunningly beautiful and full of children jumping off the boards.

Most notably, the Munich Marathon was happening and we sat in the stadium watching the runners come in for a long time. It was very festive and there were many families cheering on their runner. The marathoners were served bananas, oranges and beer at the finish.

We took their suggestion and had a beer too and incredibly, as with all the beer we drank in Munich, it did not make us tipsy in the least. We attribute this to its purity.

Next stop was the Munich synagogue which was right on the map…but hidden in plain view on the street. It was a non-descript building in the middle of the block with no adornments at all. And, in fact, it wasn’t even really there – it had moved.

When we did find it, it was stunning. An artful fortress in the middle of a square, full of life, with children and people waiting to go in for services. The first 10 meters is all stone and the top is all glass to let the natural light in, making you feel safe and wonderful inside. The glass has many triangular panes forming many stars of David contained in the design. Beautiful and reaffirming.

We had dinner at the Hofbrau House, a loud, boisterous, fun place with ok food and big, huge mugs of beer and loud Bavarian music.