Friday, September 14, 2018

With the Greatest of Ease

You know how when you live someplace you tend to put off doing the things you want to do because you think you will always get around to them at some point?  Yeah, me too.  And now with our move date looming (I'll get to that when I finish up the posts I am behind on) I knew that if I did not get my tushie in gear I would miss out on some great sights.  And since I love having the girls around, I have been inviting a few of them to enjoy my bucket list of adventures with me.  The first week we walked the gardens at Nymphenburg and  took a bike tour through the city.  Last week we only had time for one (as we also had a weekend away planned and I had to get ready for that) but this one was a doozy - Climbing through the famous roof of the Olympic Stadium.

Built for the 1972 Olympic Games, the Stadium was considered revolutionary in its design at that time.  The sweeping canopies that are symbolic of the stadium and a very recognizable part of Munich, were the first of their kind.  Made of acrylic glass and stabilized by large steel cables the design is meant to imitate the Bavarian Alps that surround the area.  The transparency of the canopy was intentional and was meant to symbolize the new and democratic Germany.

Now days the stadium stands mostly empty and is used only for very large rock concerts and sometimes a tv show (The Biggest Loser Germany was filming while we were there).  But you can take a climbing tour of the roof, hear its history, and then zipline down across the field.  Which is exactly what we did.  After putting on our safety gear, of course.

Ready to climb!

You can't see it super clearly here but the front edge of the "tent) has a walkway with a railing in front.  We were clipped into a steel tube that ran along the bottom of that rail.  It looked like this...

That silver thing that looks like a tube is my clip which I had to pull along with me, at a 45 degree angle so it didn't get caught, at all times.  And notice how they don't take any chances with it being slippery - that walkway is gripping the bottom of your feet the whole way.

Not that I look worried anyway.

We followed the path forward taking in the incredible views we had all around us.

Looking straight down at the stadium seats.  They look tiny!

The view across from us.  From left to right - the BMW building, the Tower and the Olympic Swimming Pool domed tent.

The view out into downtown Munich.  This shows how high we were better than the others really as we were standing in that bottom left corner at one point.  


And then we walked straight up to the top!  And believe me when I tell you it wasn't easy because as you went up the incline became steeper.  To the point where when we were coming down, my toes were jammed at the front of my shoes from the incline.


We took one last group picture just before jumping off and sailing across to the other side.

The flying fox.  Just before I jumped.

My view of the girls on the platform about halfway through my zip.

It was everything I expected and more and I am so happy I finally made it up to the rooftops!




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