Taking Up Residency in Germany                                                       June 4, 2001

Our first few days in Germany provide another example of how the peripatetic twosome, Richard (Ree-ch-ard, with the guttural Ch of Chanukah) and Witta, now to be pronounced Vitt-ah (again), manage to pull things together, this time for an extended stay in a new country.

At 19:00 on a Wednesday we were wandering around the Munich airport, each with a push cart laden with a large and a small suitcase, a laptop carry bag, and our overstuffed golf bags.  Our leased Renault wouldn't be available until the next day, and, not having made any prior arrangements, we soon discovered that hotels anywhere near the airport were full.  So geht's! -- nothing rains, or spits, on our parade.

Thanks to the helpful woman at the airport visitor center, we reserved a room downtown and headed out on the airport bus.  Thirty-five minutes later we're on the wrong side of the main train station (der Hauptbahnhof) just four blocks from our hotel.  Unfortunately, with all our luggage, four blocks is a LONG way to go.  Since even a large cab wouldn't hold us AND our luggage, we, obviously overburdened and likely looking a bit weary, schlepped ourselves to the hotel, each pulling a small train of suitcases, with our golf clubs slung on our backs.  As if we were in New York City, no one seemed to notice, offered to help, or even got out of our way!

After checking in, we unwound by taking a leisurely walk.  Dinner was a sampling of randomly chosen Turkish snacks, and of course, beer, eaten at one of Munich's inexpensive outdoor cafes.  Breakfast that morning, overlooking the Atlantic in the outskirts of Lisbon, already seemed ages ago.

Our first task Thursday morning was picking up the car, which was not waiting in downtown Munich, as I'd assumed, but was somewhere in a suburb 20K north of town.  Promising, optimistically, that we'd return by noon to vacate our room, we set off to brave the city's public transportation system.  After a long U-Bahn (subway) ride, a short bus ride, and a 1/2 mile walk later (with stops along the way to ask for further directions), we found the place.  Our return trip to retrieve our luggage rudely introduced us to traffic in Munich and, as we crawled along what passes for a "beltway", we wondered if we'd be able to squeeze all our luggage into the small, hopefully gas-economical, Clio, its trunk obviously not wide enough for our metal-woods.  Miraculously, a parking spot materialized in front of the hotel, and a brisk rain shower, which had threatened to make loading the car unpleasant, stopped.  Given all our packing practice and Dick's innate skill, everything fit -- just barely!

Now what?  We decided to head south out of town "to see what we could see."  At first that turned out to be the back of a large truck, viewed through drenching rain and hail and fogged windows.  Definitely not the best time to be figuring out how the defroster, wipers, etc. work.  

Our initial destinations were, predictably, golf courses identified through a guide book purchased at the airport.  We expected joining a golf club might be more difficult than finding a place to live.   Aside from being our passion, we hoped golf would allow us to make some friends in Germany.  It quickly became clear that joining a club would not be a problem.  Germany has lots of golf clubs.  Before Bernhard Langer, there wasn't much golf played here; now there are over 100 new (5-15 year old) courses.  Most of these are not yet fully subscribed and offer "trial" one-year memberships, even to temporary residents like us.

Golf angst alleviated, we went into Apartment Search mode and soon discovered that finding housing near Munich would truly be a challenge.  The real estate market is extremely tight, and it was a bad omen that the newspapers had columns of ads by people seeking rentals.  As for ads for furnished apartments?  With short term leases?  Don't ask!  And, oh yeah, we soon learned that Bavaria would soon be going on vacation for two weeks.

However, there were a couple of leads available through ads and through a rental broker.  After looking at one unsuitable second story converted office (spacious, but the only bathroom was on the ground floor!), we got lucky.  Responding to an ad, we caught the rental agent just before she headed off to Croatia, and, voila, we've rented a (somewhat expensive) two-bedroom, 1.5 bath apartment not far from a train line in Grünwald -- a scenic small town/suburb just 8 miles south of downtown München (that's what we now have to call it since we live here).  The apartment (interior pictured to the right -- just kidding) is in the town center, is bright, modern, nicely furnished and has parking.  Incredible!  Alright, so it's not big enough to have a massive gilded organ, but it IS large and quite nice.  Our new town, (München-)Grünwald (to differentiate it from the other Grünwald's such as the one near Berlin), is home to sports and movie stars, as well as diplomats.  An extremely desirable locale.

With apartment in hand, it's back to exploring the golf scene.  After visiting 3 nearby golf clubs, we decided to become members at München-Riedhof, a beautiful, well-manicured, posh club 15 minutes from our new "home."   A membership is a bit pricey, but includes free range balls, personal lockers and unlimited shoe shines.  Definitely upscale.

So there we are -- temporary residents in a new country.  Perhaps you're wondering: how long did all this take?  (Of course I haven't mentioned all the intermediate steps -- finding and getting maps from the German AAA, tracking down hotels, choosing restaurants, checking out bakeries, along-the-way sightseeing, figuring out how to get to various addresses around Munich, reading ads -- in German and getting help with translations and abbreviations, -- obtaining a phone card and information on cell phones, etc.)  How long from airport arrival to apartment rented and golf course decided?  Guess?!

Somehow, it was all done in less than 72 hours!!!!  (Even I'm amazed.)  Just goes to show: "Don't worry.  Be happy."

(At least we thought it was all settled...  See Residency -- Part 2.)                  Home