Munich is HOT!

Hot German guys, great beer, heavy food, and colleagues who teased me for saying "Awesome!"
What's not to love about Munich!

When I arrived in customs at the Munich airport, an incredibly attractive German security officer greeted me and looked over my passport.  I tried not to stare.  Having my passport reviewed in airports always made me nervous anyway, so in this case, it was all I could do not to fidget and bite my lip as he took his time looking through my passport stamps.  Once he was finished, he asked me how long I'd be in Munich, to which I replied I'd be there on business for three days.  "Only three days?" he asked.  "I wish it was longer," I replied, meaning it.

At the hotel, I was checked in by another very attractive German man, and this one was more chatty as he went through my registration and assigned me a room.  I was all smiles.  I liked Munich.

Regardless of the fact that I spent most of my time in hotel conference rooms, it was a great trip.  It was really the company that made it.  I was introduced to another of our European sales teams, comprised of colleagues from Germany, Poland, Turkey, and the Netherlands.  They were all very mellow, and I found them calming and intriguing.  I was hyper and excited, and they found me entertaining. 

In the evenings we went out for some fantastic meals.  Meat, potatoes and gravies were the specialties of the region, and they were entirely tasty. The team preferred ice with their white wine, and because it was warm (for them) I didn't give them too much grief.  In fact, we head entered a " heat wave" as they called it, which meant a succession of 5 days or more with temps above average, or around 80 degrees for the folks back home.  Yes, they are warm weather wimps here.

We had some spirited discussions, during points of which I would speak with conviction and purpose (in other words, loudly) and the far end of the table would usually stop to look at me, as they were not used to raised voices during dinner conversations. As I was always speaking with my hands, and typically with a smile, they knew I wouldn't kill anyone, but were nervously interested none the less.  I thought about the fact that the Piccardo family having a meal in the vicinity would sound like full on war to them. 

The last day of the conference, one of our sales team took me out for in-store visits.  This gave me a chance to see the city for a bit, and in broken English, he described the buildings and some of the local hot spots.  He took me through an open market, which had an amazing selection of fresh fruits, veggies, meats and cheeses.  As it was over 80 degrees outside, everyone was eating ice cream.  We stopped at a spot along one of the rivers that ran through town, and at this particular bridge, the architect had designed a series of rocks under the river bed that would create a constant wave as the water passed over them.  It was a local surfing spot.  Yes, guys lined up along the river near the bridge to jump in and surf the wave.  It looked like great fun!

The time in Munich was much too short, and I'll have to make a point of coming back to explore.  After describing my cheesecakes to the team, they have all graciously offered to have me come stay with them when I do my rounds. :)  Good times.