St. Patty's Day Parade in Munich

Day 72
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Most things off post/base are closed on Sunday in Germany. We tend to stick close to home and either go to a movie or shop for groceries at the Commissary. Not this Sunday!

I traded a sip of my beer for a photo!

I was elated to learn that there was a St. Patrick's Day parade in Munich and since it's only two hours away from where we live, I knew there was no reason not to attend. We aren't Irish, at least not on the other 364 days of the year. Apparently everybody is "Irish" on St. Patrick's Day and the good news in Munich is, they don't even care if you wear green...of course we did anyway.

We woke up at 0700 and I actually felt like complete crap; I did NOT want to get out of bed. Matt was so understanding and even said, "we don't have to go if you don't feel like it." I knew I had to get out of bed and do my best to make it to Munich. We had people meeting us there who were also driving from about two hours away, and I was picking up our friend Cullen who was just as excited as I was to go.

We were finally on the road at 1000 after some AAFES gas station drama which I will not waste any more of my time on by reliving it in writing (I'm sorry, but it was too upsetting to relive). Once we arrived in Munich (München =how we say it in German) and found a pretty awesome parking spot, we were on our way to the main event on Odeonsplatz (name of street).

The first thing we did was grab a Guinness and take a few photos, we had some time before the parade was heading our way. I called our friend Heidi to find out where she was and we got in line to watch the show.

I'm so glad we made it to this event, it was well worth the four hour car trip! We had so much fun dancing, drinking beer, and hanging out with some of the friendliest people in Germany...the Irish! I would recommend this parade & after party event to everyone living within driving distance, it's one of the largest St. Patrick's Day events in the world...according to the parade website.

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I lived just the length of it.  I want to have lived the width of it as well.  ~Diane Ackerman