FCB Allstars: The Kolkata trip's day two

The FC Bayern Munich Allstars spend about 50 hours in Kolkata last week and we had a jam packed schedule and program. It was a memorable trip, the fourth trip by a team from FCB to Kolkata in the last five years.

And after a long hectic day one, the second day started off in a more relaxed manner then after breakfast we left the hotel for a river cruise on a Kolkata Police ship on the Hooghly. First explanation, there is no Ganges which flows through Kolkata but the Hooghly is one of its many arteries. The contingent got to see the 'real' Kolkata along the river banks on how people fight to stay alive everyday, a stark contrast to the live of the rich and famous you see in a hotel like the ITC Sonar or at a place like the CCFC. Like typical Germans pragmatic questions were being thrown at me and often I simply had no answer. I know a little bit about Kolkata, but not so much that I could answer all these questions. In-between I also did some work for my TV channel Times Now in interviewing Paul Breitner on the ship, a nice background view of Kolkata and Howrah for a TV interview. Off the ship and back to the hotel.

Being in Kolkata I had to at least visit my aunt once and say hi. That is where I normally stay when I am in Kolkata. I got the okay from the Allstars manager to go out, but then Harald Cerny and Carsten Lakies wanted to come along and see how locals live, while also getting a chance to buy some souvenirs. I got the okay to take them along, it was around 11 am and we had to be back by 12 pm, a tight schedule. But luckily for us with Audi India as sponsors and partner, we got a couple of Audi cars to drive us around as our FCB.tv guys also joined us. I have driven in many different cars around Kolkata over the years, some even driven by myself; but being in an Audi Q7 was an experience, a totally new one. Just great!

We reached my aunts place in Saltlake and the guys from FCB got a touch of Bengali hospitality. The quartett got to taste Roshogolla's and Mishti Doi (sweet yoghurt), and from their reactions I realised it was just too sweet for them like it is for me. We had to leave and then quickly went to City Centre in Saltlake as due to a holiday most shops across the city where closed and the mall was the only option, but no local souvenirs could be found and we went back, but were a little late for lunch.

And there at lunch the whole story started on how I later that afternoon would play for the FCB Allstars. Here the link to the whole story of me playing .

So after lunch I had to do a couple of interviews and get some interviews organised. A friend in football wanted to meet me, but I just didn't have the time to do so as I was running from one thing to another until we had our team meeting at 3 pm. I was part of the playing squad, at 3.30 pm departure to the stadium after a series of pictures with the team bus, then a little coordination at the ground, get into match gear, warm-up, felicitations and then kick-off.

The FCB Allstars would go on to win 10-3 against the East Bengal Allstars, I would get to play more then 12 minutes and make it one of the most memorable days of my life. But it wasn't over yet as we had the prize ceremony, the press conference and the Audi Dinner party. So up to my room, quick shower, check my mails plus social network updates and then back down to the pool where the dinner was ready. It was great food and nice interactions with the highlight being former Cricketer Ravi Shastri, who introduced FCB, talked about German and football. A real media professional and a nice guy to chat to, who was there as the brand ambassador of Audi in India.

In-between I sneeked out and packed my bags then that night we would fly back to Germany. And returned for a late drink to the dinner. We would leave at 1 am from the ITC Sonar for the airport as at 2.55 am our flight would take us back to Germany. But at the dinner some of us had the chance to talk to one of our co-pilots and got the offer to be allowed to view the cockpit. And still while we were on the ground we used that chance to have a close look and get some things explained. This was the last thing we did before the Airbus A330-300 left Kolkata for Frankfurt. It ended another FCB trip to Kolkata, surely not the last one...