Monday morning to Munich. . .

The following morning, we were off to Munich for the 2^nd half of our Mission.  As we approached the city of Munich, our buses visited a BMW factor-pick-up-your-new-BMer facility that is part of the city of Munich, a super-modern and very showy place that would probably be more impressive if you were interested in their cars.  In fact, I noticed that Mercedes Benz had a facility in Munich that seemed the rival of this facility for “sexy” techno-car display:  It was one of a number of buildings I saw around town that showcased automobiles on multiple stories (and I mean at least six) – sort of like you’d see them stacked in a toy store, except these were the real things.  In this way, it was reminiscent of Detroit in its heyday—or what Detroit might look like these days if things hadn’t gone sour with the core of its motor economy.

A BMW enthusiast's dream

A BMW enthusiast's dream



We found some lunch there, and then took a very short bus ride to the grounds of the Olympic Village of the 1972 Olympics, essentially part of the same campus.

Site of the 1972 Summer Olympics

 Site of the 1972 Summer Olympics

 Site of the 1972 Summer Olympics



Site of the 1972 Summer Olympics



The ’72 Olympics would probably have been memorable even without the terrible tragedy that befell the Israeli Olympic team--in part because of Mark Spitz’s performance during those Olympics and in part because they really set the standard for the Olympics as a joyful gathering place of the talented young people of many nations in an inspiring architectural setting.

Memorial to those slain at the '72 Olympics:



40 years later, the facilities are still awesome.  Yet the essential loneliness of them on a day like this—a cool and drizzly day without major competitions occurring—meant that our arrival at the monument to the murdered athletes (as well as the German policeman who died in the siege) seemed in character with the place.

Although we had a more complete memorial to the athletes planned for later in the Munich visit, I asked our Israeli colleague Rafi Frieder to recite El Malei Rachamim for our group (just one of 6 or 8 buses).  Although the program we held at the Munich Jewish Community Center later in the visit WAS a great program, the simplicity of that moment that we spent at the memorial will, I think, stay with me always.  It seemed deeply personal, being there at the village—and Rafi’s voice and approach were just right in the moment.

It is bitter indeed that the International Olympic Committee has never consented to a minute of silence on a regular basis—even for this year’s “festivities” some 40 years later.  (Go online to raise your voice in protest about this. . . http://www.change.org/petitions/the-international-olympic-committee-observe-a-moment-of-silence-in-london-for-the-israelis-murdered-in-munich).  We hear lots about the Olympic Ideal suring these now bi-ennial gatherings.  But it seems like the top two ideals are Money and Arrogance.  This is an OLD story as far as the IOC goes.  It makes the NCAA look like the Peace Corps.

ANYWAY, I stepped aside from the group on the way toward the buses, paid a 3 Euro fee (!) to be able to walk in and see the main arena from the track and field competitions, took a few photos, and noticed that there were a fair number of trucks coming and going from the site.  I asked the guard what event had just happened, or was going to happen, and (I thought) he said “cohw races.”  COW RACES?!  This seemed IMPOSSIBLE and of course it was.  He was, in his Bavarian way, saying CAR races.  We both had a good laugh about that, and I still have lots of smiles left as I contemplate cow races. . . at the Olympic site, no less!

Are those tracks from the "cow races"?



I’m hoping to take my CA officer colleagues to the Ohio State Fair when they’re in for meetings in August.  I know that we’ll be able to see PIG races (it’s a pretty funny schtick if you get the chance)—but I haven’t heard that anyone has contemplated cow races. . .

We drove around the city just a bit on the way to our hotel, which was the Sophitel right next to the main train station, and would become our home for most of a week: although the Germany mission would conclude Wednesday night, our personal plans included staying in Munich until Sunday morning.

The Sophitel is (like many German and probably many European hotels) supermodern, in ways that (hopefully) conserve energy and sometimes befuddle our American approach to technology and comfort.  As President, I was upgraded to a sweet suite again (as happened in Berlin.  I don’t know if I wrote about that).  THIS time, it was on two floors—which sounds better and more practical than it was:  two narrow rooms, the upper one reachable by a staircase but not by elevator.  So Susan’s suitcase had to be schlepped in a way inconsistent with the imagined luxury.  And it can be a real challenge figuring out how ANYTHING works in those Euro-rooms.

Our cool if not weird room at the Sophitel Munich--RIGHT over the main train station

DOWNSTAIRS in our Munich hotel room



Anyway, we settled in for the afternoon and evening, knowing that Tuesday in Munich would bring emotional swings like the ones we had experienced in Berlin on Sunday.