At last came the day that was the inspiration for this trip -my big birthday, number 4-0. I had wanted to distract myself from dwelling on it by doing something so exciting that I didn’t have time to think about it. And with this trip to Europe, I have succeeded. But it would be wrong to let the day go by without any sort of acknowledgement. And this fact was recognized by my new German friends.
My friend and former Yahoo! co-worker, Lino, introduced me to a couple of his friends from when he used to live in Munich. When I spoke to one of them on the phone, a lovely girl named Anemone (unusual name, to say the least), she immediately decided that she was taking me out for my birthday. Bernd, whom I had met a few days earlier, would be joining the party, along with his co-worker, Timo. So the stage was set for me to celebrate this momentous occasion with a room full of German people, who were either friends of friends or friends of friends of friends, most of whom I had never met before that night. An unusual scenario, to be sure, but perhaps it will end up being more memorable because of its strangeness.
Anemone, who had never even seen a picture of me, told me to meet her in front of a particular store near where I was staying. Bernd and Timo, who had met me a little earlier for a pre-celebration, waited with me. As we were standing there, not really sure what Anemone looked like either, I got a happy birthday phone call from my good pal, Dave Schulz, back in LA. While I was in the phone, a group of three or four people came up and started talking to Bernd. I found out later that he knew a couple of them from a project he had worked on a while back, and it was a total coincidence that they were there at that moment, but I didn’t know this at the time. While that conversation was going on, I saw a very attractive young lady approach from across the street, and stop a few paces away from this small crowd, scanning for some sort of recognition. While still on the phone with Dave, made eye contact with her and somehow, with just a few looks and facial expressions, we figured out who each other was. Bernd and Timo seemed to figure it out, too, as they separated from the other group and we all started walking to Anemone’s car. I didn’t get off the phone to introduce myself and say hello to this person until we were already in her car and on our way.
She took us to meet some more of her friends (more friends of friends of friends) at a bar/restaurant called Hey Luigi. There, I had several tall beers, explained the story behind my t-shirt with the odd German phrase on it (they appreciated the joke, by the way - thanks again, Dave), and narrowly avoided a shot of Jagermeister, which was apparently considered to be too expensive at this establishment.
Have you ever anticipated something for so long that when it finally happens, it almost doesn’t seem real? At some point, I had a moment where I looked out across the bar and realized that this was it. I was 40. It was done. And I marked it by drinking with virtual strangers (albeit very friendly strangers) in Germany. That may sound a little melancholy, but to the contrary, I really enjoyed it. It was a unique experience, which is what I wanted. All in all, I think my birthday plan worked out pretty well.
The picture below is from the Hofbräuhaus the night before, as I didn’t get any pictures of the birthday festivities with my iPhone (plenty with the camera, though - you’ll all see them later). I think it still captures the spirit of the evening.
Update: here are some photos from this part of my trip:
Munich - general
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