Do you surf ?

I promised you to write about where I went last weekend. But even when I don't keep my promise sometime, I still want to share with you about what I saw last weekend.

I have always love to go to the garden on weekends, as long as the temperature above zero I don't mind strolling through cold garden. Last weekend, I strolled around English Garden in Munich. I am sure the scene would be more green and luscious on spring or summer. However, just to see how the Isar river is beautiful and clean, was a refreshing treat for me. I have never seen a river inside a city that is sooo clean and clear. I heard that people can drink the water now.

When we walked through the garden, we saw people surfing by the end of the river. At first we were stoned by those sight. What ?!. Surfing in the middle of city ?? These guys must be crazy, what with the cold weather and narrow river.

"The Eisbach is an artificial stream that runs through the English Garden, Munich's largest public park. The surf wave is located at the southern edge of the park, next to the Haus der Kunst.The wave is about 1 m high and about 12 m wide. The flow velocity is about 5 m per second.

The wave, if left to it's own devices, is unstable and can sometimes disappear for months at a time. The instability is due to variations in the amount of water flowing in the river, as well as the build up of silt. Several people in the local community, however, found that planks of wood can be used to shape and stabilise the wave. These planks are "hung" in the flow, suspended via ropes attached to the bridge arches. This practice started around the year 2000 and since then surfing the wave has become more and more popular.

Beginner are very strongly discouraged from surfing here. In 2007, as in most years since the Eisbach was first built, there were a spate of deaths in the river. These included the deaths of an Australian tourist, a 61-year-old local teacher, and a PhD student at Munich university. These deaths prompted calls by a city council member to remove the wave. Naturally the local surfers were appalled at this idea, and they started a petition called save the Eisbach wave. In early 2008 the council finally decided not to remove the wave. The rationale being that nobody has actually died as a result of surfing here. The only deaths have been from swimmers. Surfers generally know what they are doing. Swimmers, however, are casual users are are often reckless. Surfing is now tolerated, but swimming is banned and offenders can be fined if caught." ( via toytowngermany).