A decent amount of snow came to Munich and it seemed to bring out the kid in everyone! We enjoyed the hilarious looking snowmen, marveled at the surfers hitting the river wave in the cold temps, and delighted in the wood runner sleds, which look so much more dangerous than the plastic saucer sleds I grew up with. While we consider them to be old fashioned, they seemed to be the norm here.
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We made it back to Munich in time to ring in the New Year (Silvester). Matt's colleagues mentioned that many people celebrate at home with friends and family over fondue and raclette while others make reservations at fancy restaurants for the evening. But if you're looking for a ruckus party, you don't need to go any further than the street. Germans spend $200 million on personal fireworks that they can only legally set off between 6pm on New Year's Eve through 7am on Jan.1st. We witnessed the shocking transformation of the always orderly and conscientious people of Munich into pyromaniacs. We observed locals lighting up fireworks in squares packed full of people. Despite the craziness, there was still some semblance of organization, which is so prevalent here. The mass of people stayed circled around unofficial "launch zones" with some shooting off fireworks from beer bottles while others held them in their hands, forgetting to let go. You had to be vigilant because at any moment, you could get hit, if not from the falling debris, from a poorly aimed (or homemade) firework. In Marienplatz, the town hall (Rathaus) was under siege as fireworks pinged off the building. It's truly miraculous that the famous glockenspiel (mechanical clock that reenacts historical scenes) hasn't been damaged. With the constant barrage of chaos all around, I wondered if I had made a poor life choice accompanying Matt into this mess. Even though there were plenty of police present, they let people have their fun. Keep in mind that drinking in public is legal and very prevalent in Germany. We did see an officer confront one man who had just tossed his beer bottle and smashed it on the street. This dude felt totally comfortable with the officer, wrapping his arm around his shoulders while he held a bottle of vodka in the other hand. He seemed to be sent away after a reprimand. Never would I ever expect to see a scene like that in Minneapolis. As midnight approached, we made our way to Monopteros, which is located on a hill in the English Gardens. From there, we had an excellent view of the city horizon as the fireworks amped up. Matt captured the chaos that unfolded around us. It was WILD and truly memorable. Understandably, there has been some push-back, claiming that Silvester celebrations have grown out of control. People argue that the fireworks festivities are becoming too dangerous, increase pollution levels, trigger Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome for war refugees, and that fires, like one in Berlin last year which completely destroyed a 100-year-old music hall, have become too numerous.
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