One of the reasons to travel is the surprises, which are more often than not quite good things. We got to Munich today in the late afternoon, after a four-plus-hour train ride, which had been preceded by a mad dash for the train despite our being there over an hour and a half early (who knew the same train could be split to different destinations during the trip?). Since it was late, we knew we only had a few hours to see anything, and that included getting supper.

I decided we should take the metro/underground down to the old section of Munich to soak up the local ambiance and to get supper. As we came out of the metro station, we came upon a good-sized group of people listening to a speaker and carrying signs with crosses and the name “Jesus” on them, as well as other German words. That was somewhat surprising, as I was not expecting any organized event in the square, let alone a Christian one. We noted it with interest, and then headed off toward a huge church that Meredith though was famous.

The main street between squares was mobbed with people, so I veered us off to a side street, where we came upon the church we were looking for, in a surprisingly small front square with a pretty fountain in it. Gathered to one side of the fountain was a group of about twenty-five young people, singing. After a few seconds, we realized they were singing Christian songs. In English. We went over to check it out, and to sing along. In between songs, various people said things in German that we did not understand, but some of them had balloons with a cross, an equals sign, and a heart. We stuck around for about twenty minutes until the group broke up, but in the course of it, we learned that tonight was Munich’s “Holy Spirit Night,” a night when youth groups from all over Munich took to the main square to tell people about God. It was very impressive to see the joy they had, and how much fun they were having together. It was a grand surprise, and not something we would have ever been able to plan. Keep on traveling!

We found a Slovenian/Croatian restaurant off of another square, and so we were able to blend this summer’s trip with last summer’s trip. After supper, we headed back to the underground, where the Holy Spirit Night was just about to get going officially. It was drizzling a bit, but there seemed to be a good crowd milling about. We took the underground home to the hotel, with a minor detour for some Milka candy bars for the plane. We will get up at 6:00 am tomorrow to start the twenty-hour process of finding our own beds Sunday evening. It has been a great tour of Austria and a little bit of Germany. Many thanks to Meredith for getting us to Europe again!