Tuesday, April 10, 2007

The Surfing Capital of Europe

Some weeks ago I blogged about ten great places to meet cute guys. Today I want to zero in on one little-known location that is a home base for a few hundred cute guys...

Did you know that Munich, Germany has been called The Surfing Capital of Europe? (Did you know there even was a Surfing Capital of Europe?) I sure didn’t. Until a few years ago when I went on a bike tour of Munich, and was delighted to discover the last stop was to watch several (hot) surfer dudes taking turns on the downtown river.

To give you some background, the Isar River runs through much of the city, and has an offshoot called the Eisbach River (which literally means “ice creek”). At some point, the Eisbach runs underground, so naturally, there has to be a place where this water again resurfaces. This happens to be inside of Munich’s central park--home of the famous Oktoberfest--where the water shoots out of an underground tunnel with such powerful velocity that in recent years, it has become a surfing mecca.


It is estimated as many as 400 surfers (mostly guys) are presently living in Munich, having moved there from all over the world.

Since the actual area is pretty small, it’s a one-a-time sport, and most days, you can spot surfers patiently waiting their turns on the landing, clad in wet suits and holding boards.


Spectators (like me!) line the bridge and squeeze into the dirt-packed viewing area, amazed and awed by the strength and agility shown by these lake surfers as they “hang ten” and “catch a wave”.

So if you’re going to be in Germany any time soon, I definitely recommend a visit. And if not, maybe put this on your to-do list. This is a cute guy locale guaranteed not to disappoint!

What I’m Reading: Um, I can’t say. For the next month or so, I’ll be judging published books for a writing contest, so I'm Taking the Fifth!

Tina
www.tinaferraro.com
Top Ten Uses for an Unworn Prom Dress

10 comments:

Marley Gibson said...

Tina...that is the coolest thing, ever! Never heard of it, so that's quite a find. Love your pictures. I'm hoping to go to Germany next summer, Munich included in the trip, so I will definitely check that out. Thanks for sharing.

Marley = )
http://www.marleygibson.com

Anonymous said...

Tina,
That is very different from Malibu! If I ever get back to Germany I'll be sure to check it out. And I love those photos.

Janie

TinaFerraro said...

Thanks, Marley and Janie! And to give a plug to the bike tour company, it was called Mike's Bike Tours, and you can google their website. They hire entertainers as tour guides, and ours was a rocker and LOL funny. I would highly recommend their bike tours for insider information, and lots of fun!

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

Wow, that is very cool, Tina! Never been to Germany, and with the way I travel, probably won't. haha. So thanks for sharing about it!

stephhale said...

Tina,
You do such cool things. I bet your kids think you are the coolest mom ever! My husband has relatives in Germany and has been wanting to visit them when the boys get a little older. I think we might have to take a little detour when we get there!
xo,
Steph

TinaFerraro said...

Oh, Kelly, you never know, you may make it to Europe yet!

And Steph, do my kids think I'm cool? Maybe a little bit sometimes--they liked the booksigning--but for the most part, I think I'm just embarrassing to them because I find life too interesting to age gracefully...

Dona Sarkar-Mishra said...

oh my gosh, Tina, PLEASE don't age gracefully! The most memorable women always age with a lot of fun and adventure, not grace and quiet dignity...think Eleanor Roosevelt, Katherine Hepburn, Sophia Loren.....


:)

Me said...

Wow, I've heard of surfing in the ocean and on sand, but never on a river. I guess if it moves cute boys can surf it =)
TLC

Anonymous said...

radical dude!!!!!!!!

Natalie said...

Surfing in Munich...who knew? Not me, that's for sure! It's interesting how they take turns and go one at a time...this would never work in Italy. ;-)

Thanks for such an interesting post, Tina!

Natalie