03.01.08

Munich, Germany

We all need Community!

What an incredibly fun filled day!I left Salzburg, Austria early, not knowing whether I would be blown off my bike, or if I would settle into a city that was interesting enough to spend my Saturday and usual no travel on Sunday day.Well, I almost got blown off my bike, almost got snowed on and found a city full of life and culture that will be more than adequate to spend two days hanging about.I also managed to have some pretty amazing thoughts!

The weather forcast was not a good one when I awoke this morning.From my small mountain town of Salzburg nestled below the Alps, I listened to the weather forcast that called for hurricane force winds and snow.Unless those conditions were present when I looked out the window with sleep in my eyes, I decided that I was packing up and making the 80 mile trek to Munich.Munich, I thought would be safely enough away from the base of the Alps to skip the worst of it and at the very least, I would not get snowed in and have to wait for the stuff to melt.

Again, with a little more than a mist in the air I headed out from Salzburg bound for the unknown.With a little warmer temperatures and the moisture in the air, I battled the fog that clouded my visor for the first leg of the trip.Once the rain stopped and the fog in my helmet lifted the wind came.I was only 40 miles outside of Munich and was almost at the verge of pulling over and sleeping on the road.Traffic was crawling along on the 4 lane Autobahn and thanks to a rather large emergency lane, I was able to hightail it to Munich and make it just before the bottom dropped out, well dropped snow/hail.It was the strangest thing.It was not quite snow and not quite hard hail, but made the roads slick enough that if I had not made it when I did, I would probably have ended up in some ditch somewhere.It was bad enough that I was riding down the road at a 45 degree angle fighting to maintain control as the cross wind took its aim at me.Now I have battled the elements before and gone to war with the wind in Italy and Croatia, but they were not kidding when they predicted hurricane force winds.I should not have been on the road, but half way between Salzburg and Munich I had no option but to keep going.

Again, much to my surprise I arrived in Munich which was not small feat in and of its self and also found the usual blob of a city that I have seen so often, but there was something different.Not as bright and light as the Austrian cities I had been through, but definitely something good in the air.The scenery leading up to Munich was magnificent.The Alps in the background will make any picture a Picasso!Not only did I stumble on one of the "famous" hostels, but I also managed to have a fun filled day.

Not only did I visit the world of BMW and see the most extraordinary city park, but I also managed to plan my entire Sunday rest day and eat 15 plates of sushi at an all U can eat sushi bar.Now that is a good idea!I think if I were to look back at all my blog entries, I would probably find at least 10 different amazing American business opportunities and an all u can eat sushi bar is definitely one of them.Just picture a bar with a conveyer belt running around the edge and on that conveyer belt an endless plethora of raw fish.Now that is my kind of eating; all for one low, low price!

So Sunday, I have managed to find an English speaking church to attend and have already bought my movie ticket to "No Country for Old Men" at an English cinema!All that is left is a rockstar breakfast and a good book.All of which are covered!

As you can see from my pictures and Surfing in the Park video, my day was pretty fun filled. With all that adventure though, I still managed to have some interesting thoughts as well.The past couple of days I have made a point to stop and have a cup of tea and cake in the afternoon before continuing on my walk. As I sat today, I thought about an encounter I had yesterday with a very bright, twenty one year old atheist from Scotland who just so happened to know my cousin Jonathan:what a small world.Anyway, I was rethinking our in depth intellectual conversation and going over in my head the feeling of not knowing the answers.Through the course of our conversation, I just did not have the answer to some of his questions on faith and religion among other things that we discussed.It was frustrating that I could not convey my understanding of faith and my journey through this life.I realized that this is one of the reasons why I am a Christian, because I don't have all the answers.

Although not the primary focal point, our conversation did touch on community as he was working on a psychology degree and a thesis that dealt with the subject.It was only today that it hit me hard that community is one of the thing what my faith and my journey is about.I don't know about you, but until now I did not realize just how important it is for us to all be in community.

Through all the countries I have traveled it has always struck me how on any given day you can always find groups of people just going out for a stroll together on one of the many pedestrian streets, or friends gathered together for a Saturday afternoon round of botchy ball or any number of café's filled with tables of people sipping on lattes and cappuccinos for hours taking it easy and just enjoying the company of their fellow comrades.

After being alone for most of my journey away from my community and seeing how other peoples' communites take shape, I have finally realized just how important it is to be in community with others.That is not to say I was not part of a community before, but sometimes we all get to busy climbing the corporate ladder, planning the next exciting trip with our best friend, or wasting our days away alone in front of the television that we do not truly understand the importance of just being in community.I think Europeans are on to something with the whole sitting in café's for hours with friends or just taking a stroll on the street.I am looking forward to returning home to my friends with a new understanding and appreciate for those friendships.I am looking forward to spending Saturday afternoons not doing anything, but being.Not planning the next exciting thing to do and definitely not wasting precious time in front of a television.I hope that my days are filled with morning coffee visits with friends, afternoon strolls along the battery and endless evening meals with of course the bottomless bottle of wine.That corporate ladder does not lead to good friends, that fun boat trip to capers although you seem to have lots of friends around does not create strong relationships and being alone is frankly something that humanity was not made to do.

We all need relationships and relationships of all sizes and shapes.I am truly blessed with some amazing relationships.I got an email from someone the other day, nervous that I might never make my way back to Charleston after my journey, but you can rest assured that Charleston is where my community is and that is a community that I look forward to building up and growing in, although after my visit to the Motorrad in Munich you can also rest assured that this will not be the last motorcycle trip around a continent!