Kilts and Kicks

My plan to avoid Munich during the Euro Cup was thwarted by a last-minute meeting. I’m currently staying in Innsbruck, a small city in the Austrian Alps. The city is tucked into a valley and is, fortunately, a quick 90-minute train ride from Munich. So, I spent a lot of my day today on trains in the valleys between Austria and Munich.

Scotland was playing Germany today in the Euro Cup. It was hard not to know this at the Munich main train station that was crowded with people in kilts and the sound of drunk people playing bagpipes. Football here takes on an entirely new dimension with the wealth of rabid fans all looking for a good time.

This morning the train station was busy, and there were only a few people who were dressed and pre-gamed sufficiently to get to the stadium. There were, however, police everywhere. When I returned to the station I learned why. The kilts were more prevalent, along with the beer. A lot of beer. And the bagpipes. More bagpipes. Bagpipes don’t get better with alcohol. And the singing. A lot of singing.

You would think that Scots would be easier to understand than the Germans, however I found it easier to understand those speaking German. With German you can often make out the basics of the language. Scots speaking English defies what few rules there are in the English language. Add beer and the best way to communicate is by simple grunting.