JAAAAAAAAAAAA!

A bit more than two weeks ago, Bayern’s season seemed to be going down south with no turning back. Vice captain Philipp Lahm (who I think should be the captain of the club) vented out his frustration to the media and received record club fine. The injuries to star players Arjen Robben and Frank Ribery looked devastating to blow the season away. Luca Toni (who should make his way out of the club as soon as possible) declared war with head coach Louis van Gaal. Off the pitch, “Hollywood Bayern” was a mess. On the pitch, players couldn’t deliver when it matters. A premature (too) early exit from the Champions League seemed to be only a matter of time. As a fan, I was on the edge of suicide, wondering whether my early season visit to Allianz Arena was a curse or a short-lived boost for the team.

Then, after a disappointing draw and failed to make up the ground with Bundesliga leader Leverkusen, some power started to turn the wheels around. A favour from Bordeaux and a minor win over Haifa set up a must-win showdown with another European giant Juventus in Turin. On the way to the do-or-bust match yesterday, the team managed to connect two vital wins domestically. One over the Enke-less Hannover, and the other over the then on-form Mönchengladbach. Not convincingly, but those back-to-back wins couldn’t come at a better time when the team’s confidence level was on the brink. With some luck, they pulled themselves back from the edge of the cliff. Then came yesterday, the season on the line against a gigantic task away from home, Bayern had no mercy on the Old Lady. The team dominated from start to finish. The mistake by Martin Demichelis which led to Trezeguet’s fantastic goal could easily have been the end of the tourney. But the players’ confidence was not what it was like two or three weeks ago. They kept the pressure and piling on shots and opportunities. The question was only: Were they going to waste the good chances they got again and again like a few weeks ago? The answer came from a 35 years old goalkeeper, Hans Jörg Butt, who added his interesting goal-scoring history against Juven with another penalty. The cool, the calm, the German ironman mentality told every doubter Bayern was still in there. The team went on with a dismantling performance, only withstood sporadical fights from the Italians. The aging captain Mark van Bommel was like a reborn kid, drilling crossed right into the middle of Juven’s heart. Bastian Schweinsteiger was playing like a leader, believing his every shot from long range could beat the Italian best Buffon. The height, the strength, the relentless football Bayern played caused chaos on the other end. The result said it all. If you asked me whether I believed before the match, as a diehard fan, I would certainly say yes, we had a chance. But 4-1? I would never imagine in my wildest dreams. The team came back from we-have-not-lost-anything-yet to we-now-have-a-chance-to-win-them-all. It was a best day so far in the season! Maybe the season just started...

Auf geht’s Bayern!

Monday, June 29 - PRAGUE (Old Town)

It was my last day in Prague, but I felt there were still many places I hadn’t seen. I started to grow feelings with this beautiful city, increasingly realized why everyone spoke so fondly about this place. The history, the architecture, the entire Prague still had a lot for me to discover. So I decided to buy a copy of the guidebook Sijia was using. It was the only special guidebook I bought during the trip in addition to my Lonely Planet. With that, I slowed down my pace and started tasting the city from deep inside.

After saying bye to my two English roommates, I checked out from the hostel but had to temporarily store my luggage there before the night train. I didn’t feel too safe about it after all those happened there. I started the day with the Jewish Quarter. It was kind of disappointing, so I just walked around the synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery. I came back to the Old Town Square and had a good look around it. There was another MJ memorial under the Jan Hus Statue. I sat down there and wrote a short personal note wishing the King to “have a good moonwalk up there.” I also waited to see the famous Astronomical Clock striking the hour. Some people said it was overrated, but I was still amazed by the scientific and technical ideas on that clock from hundreds of years ago. I took several breaks that day, sitting down by the river and in front of the Wenceslas Square. to read the guidebook and write my diaries. I was glad to catch up with some background knowledge about the places I visited in Prague. It would be a shame to leave that beautiful place only seeing (but not knowing) it.

I picked up some food and supplies (including an expensive charger and a power converter since the guy stole mine when I lent them to Yujing) before leaving for the train station. The plan was to take a night train to Krakow in Poland, visit Auschwitz for a day, and come back to Prague on the same train (reverse direction) the next night. It was my first night train in Europe. On a hindsight when I told friends the story, they all said I was crazy to take a night train in Eastern Europe alone two nights in a row. I didn’t feel too much of that. The standard of the train was obviously not as luxurious as those ones I took in Germany, in fact, a bit ghetto. But guess those frequent long distance train travels in China made me feel fairly comfortable to take the risk. I took the ticket saleswoman’s advice and found Wagon 350 of that train. The wagon was divided into compartments with doors for each of them. Two long hard bunker seats inside. There were not many people taking that train, so every other compartments in my wagon was empty. There were travellers and local folks. I felt pretty good because I could occupy one compartment entirely to myself and lock the door. I could spread out my belongs whichever way I wanted and sleep comfortably on one bench. There started my short Eastern Europe adventure. A traumatic day was waiting ahead.