10:25 am. Just Outside Munich.
Morning after an exhausting day and night. Arrived in Munich at around half six after delays in Paris. There’s something to be said for German ingenuity though as once here it was plain sailing to the hotel although we were a ways from the airport.
From there our gallant band got a change of clothes and headed off to look for somewhere to pass the night. We made the obligatory trip into town to see what was what; not much is the answer. There were a lot of fans around but not much of anything happening.
Like the uncultured barbarians we were we were defeated in the first restaurant we visited by a menu all in German which took us more by surprise than it should have. Google translate was suggested: after three minutes of typing I found that the first dish was breadsticks and soup.
The idea of doing the menu line by line held no appeal.
Everywhere we went we chatted to fans about their experiences in getting to the game. We spoke to some lads from Milton who came via Copenhagen after a taxi ride from Glasgow Central to Manchester: this place is full of stories just like it.
I’ll tell you all some of them in another blog.
It’s early but we’re off into town for some breakfast and a look at how the friendly invasion is shaping up.
In the meantime, the lads are flying the flag …
12:00 noon. Marienplatz Square.
Hoops everywhere you look! Wahey!
But a lot of grumpy faces this lunchtime as the local bars and cafes are enforcing a no beers rule.
This place is now the soberest place in Munich and probably Bavaria considering how many of our fans have travelled here by weird and wonderful routes.
The Germans are affable and friendly people.
They are helpful and courteous which makes getting about very easy.
The few Bayern fans we’ve come across have been very nice.
Without exactly wishing us well they would be happy for us to do well peripheral to these matches.
The mood here is excellent.
Munich is a beautiful place. It is a wonderfully cosmopolitan city, multi national, multi ethnic and extraordinarily clean. I understand why the Brexit brigade gets defensive about the continent; they make the Brits look like backward idiots content to live in a 50’s state of crumbling infrastructure.
The folks who run our county could have learned a lot from these places if they weren’t so ignorant they already thought they knew everything already.
Thoughts turn to team selection: who the hell are we going to play at the centre of defence?
And does a guy who spends more time on the treatment table than he does on the park really have a long term future at our club?
More and more fans are showing up to sample the mood. This is going to be some day!
13:30 pm. Marienplatz Square.
The Celtic fans have become, as one, Munich’s latest tourist attraction.
It’s strange this, but brilliant to experience.
Here we are in a strange land where this is loads to see and we’ve essentially taken over the Square here and now tourists who never expected this when they landed, and locals mesmerised by the spectacle are stopping by and chatting and taking pictures.
We’re the show now, like the little tin band that comes out on the steeple here at noon, playing their instruments.
I can’t even imagine what all these folk around us think but the atmosphere is completely nonthreatening and goodnatured. Bayern fans come and go – many in their colours – and stop to chat and snag the odd beer. They seem to be completely fine with our friendly takeover.
About five minutes ago the cops showed up in a number that suggested they might think there was a problem: there was.
A banner had been hung up on a statue and they wanted it down.
They were cool about it and the lads responsible were too.
They drifted off again at once and retreated to a spot on the edges of the party.
They are keeping an eye on us as the numbers grow but they are being very low key about it.
Our excellent rep goes before us. They don’t expect any hassle.
This is great, siting in the sun with the best fans in the world and talking to tourists and having a beer as I work.
A perusal of the news reveals that Brendan has concerns over Simunovic just as we do and that a defensive signing or two is now our number one priority.
In the news also is Jorg Albertz, apparently determined to give his countrymen a bad name with talking down our league and county and generally being a clown.
Today he is officially the most ignorant German on the planet and the only one I don’t like.
19:00 pm. A Bar Just Off Marienplatz Square.
Well hell that was a day alright and the main event is still to come.
Right now we are sitting in a bar just off the square and which Celtic fans have simply taken over. The atmosphere is phenomenal. Ordinary citizens are sitting here and if they were expecting a peaceful dinner they aren’t going to get it, but they aren’t peeved or anything; they seem to be enjoying the mood. They applaud the songs, they toast the singers, they are making friends … this is a weird experience. We travel in Scotland and in some place you get outright hostility … the next person I hear telling me that all football fans are the same and that no city wants them in its environs I am going to tell that person to shut it, cause they haven’t a clue.
Today I met some of the most amazing people ever, including the Bhoys of Switzerland.
I am going to tell you some stories about them, and their passion for our club, tomorrow or the day after.
They are inspirational.
All of these supporters are. The collection of tales about how fans got here and the lengths some of them went to – phenomenal.
And you know what? Whatever happens in the game, our club is world class because these guys are world class.
Never been so proud to be a Celtic fan, I mean it.
It’ll be time to go to the game shortly; the result is now the least important thing about the trip.
This is my first European away match.
It will not be my last.
In terms of feeding the soul, as it were, this trip has been off the scale.
What a club we are.