My favourite place to chill in Munich, after the beer gardens, is at the Eisbach Wave.
These are some of the most dedicated surfers I have ever seen. Growing up in a surfing family we would drive the 45 minutes to the beach just to check out the surf, but if the weather wasn't good, then we usually would just stay at home. Not these guys. Every day of the year, they are surfing.
It is one of the first river waves to be embraced by a local community, and to have a thriving surf community in a completely unusual.
They are the cool kids of Munich. I will never get used to walking briskly through the falling snow in freezing winds, while a wetsuit clad figure rides calmly past, dripping wet on the way home from a winter surf session.
The water pours down from under a bridge, then down into a shallow trench, which has a grid-like set of concrete bollards which pushes the water back up and over itself, creating a standing wave.
Around Easter, they drain the river to clean it up. The surfers are left high and dry for a few weeks, but they don't seem to mind. It is a necessity as just beyond their wave, the Eisbach truly begins. Eisbach or Ice Creek is a fast moving canal where endless amounts of people jump in to cool off in the summer heat where they get washed about 500 metres down. They are then forced out of the river before they become targets for the the surfers on the next river wave.
It is definitely a spectator sport, as people will set up camp and watch for hours as the surfers and tourists come and go alike.
