Munich

As everyone who knows me knows, I don’t normally have too many nice things to say about Germany.

I never took to the language, I find the food vile, and ….well….i could go on….. but I have to confess (even if somewhat against my will) that have just returned from what might have been The Perfect Business Trip to Munich. No matter how hard I try, I cant find a fault anywhere in the whole trip, in fact, it was basically the model of how I wish all trips went: the plane arrived early, the transport transfers were flawless, the people organised and efficient (ok, that you WOULD expect from the Germans). The office meeting rooms were spectacular- on the 32 floor overlooking the entire city, and they were kitted out with everything the perfect meeting room should have:

· excellent IT facilities that are no so high tech that no one understands them, but intuitively do everything you need them to, with computer to plasma projections

· a conference phone with a proper speak, I prefer the spider looking ones

· a gorgeous wood round table for discussions

· decent coffee

· water bottles at everyone’s place

· a nice writing pad and pens with company labels at every place.

· Good acoustics and soundproofing

· A good view

· A good selection of biscuits!!!!

So this meeting room managed to tick every one of the above details, and it even managed to be designed with discretion and taste, with Fresh flowers, cloth napkins and nice china.

But it wasn’t just meeting room itself, the people were responsive, friendly and knew what they wanted. They were also keen that I spend some time exploring their city, and after the meeting, the hand drew me an extensive map with all sorts of tips and advice before packing me off in a car to the centre.

I diligently followed their advice and spent the late afternoon strolling around the streets spinning off from Marienplatz. I hadn’t been to Munich since the summer of 1997, when I and my best friend from childhood spent a summer on central European trains. Munich was out base of operations then, as C’s sister was living in nearby Garmish. However, most of my memories from that time involve C’s cousin’s rampant alcoholism and flamboyant behaviour, so it was basically with completely fresh eyes that I was seeing the town this time around. Munich is a surprisingly pretty city, even though much of it currently appears to be under renovations at the moment. It has some spectacular buildings, decent shopping and nice pedestrian streets. Strangely, it also has a curious memorial to …..Michael Jackson.

So it seems, Germany on a number of levels has managed to surprise me.