germany – Sheetar.com

This is a VERY belated post from a trip we took in late September. Things have been really hectic since then and I haven’t been able to sit down and put it all in a blog post, so FINALLY, here it is. I’m splitting this into two parts because the first half of the trip was Oktoberfest and the second half was a mini-trip through Italy and Brussels. We used frequent flyer miles for the flights, so we ended up having to fly through Rome and Brussels to get home anyway, so it made sense to extend the layovers and make a bonus vacation out of it.

Friday, 21 September, 2012 Landed in Munich where I met my husband and two of his friends from work who had arrived straight from their ship earlier that day. Made my way through the incredibly crowded metro system and met them at the train station. We split up and got settled in our respective hotels (all three different) and met to go out for lunch at the Augustiner Keller. We were all pretty tired after the travel (the guys got in at about 6am local time), so we decided a nap was a good idea and headed back to our hotels with a plan to meet up later for dinner and beer (as you do in Germany, during Oktoberfest). Well that didn’t quite happen. Doug and I were the only two who woke back up. We did manage to go out shopping for Dirndl and Lederhosen though, ready for the opening day on Saturday.
Saturday, 22 September, 2012 Got up and had breakfast at our hotel (the spread was AMAZING at the breakfast buffet). Got together with everyone and headed out to watch the parade. It was drizzly and cold, but we were determined. Grabbed some beers on the way to enjoy at the parade and grabbed a pretty decent spot. The first man down, opening the parade, was a stout man leading two dachshunds. After that, Wagon after wagon of beer barrels rolled by, each wagon representing a tent at the fest grounds or a brewery in Germany. Then it really started to pour down rain, as the parade was finishing. We scrambled down the street to the entrance to the grounds and tried to get into a tent which just wasn’t happening. We turned around and went back out into the rain, off to find somewhere to eat and drink, but everything was full. Finally we made our way back to the Augustiner Keller from yesterday, hoping they still had room indoors. THEY DID. A very nice waitress ushered us to a table that was reserved for later that day, but we had enough time to eat, so it was no big deal. Turns out the folks who had reserved the table never showed up, so we spent a good long while inside, drying off, and enjoying food and drink. It FINALLY stopped raining, so back to the fest grounds we went. The guys hopped some rides (bumper cars, and some ridiculous scrambler-on-steroids type ride), and we had another pint or two and some sausage. As it got dark, we found our way into the Hacker-Pschorr tent, well, the outside anyway, and met two nice young men from Venice, and two other guys from England. Had a blast. Went back to our hotels to try it again the next day.
Sunday, September 23, 2012 Again, we had plans for everyone to meet together, and it never really happened, so, it was down to me, Doug, and Paul. Doug and I got stopped by a huge parade that we stood to watch for a while. The same man with the two dachshunds from yesterday opened the parade again – all the service companies involved in Oktoberfest started this one. We walked around and did a little shopping, eventually having lunch at Schneider Weiss. We wandered around the fest grounds for a bit and made it into the Augustiner tent, and found a table! Granted, it was later on in the day, and the place was still shoulder-to-shoulder, but we found an empty spot and grabbed it. We sat talking to a bunch of random people at the table, and Doug even found his slightly older beard twin (he grew that out just for Oktoberfest). Lots of laughs, and it was an incredible time. No one in our group speaks much (any?) German, but it’s amazing what you can get across without words. Google Translate on the phone was pretty helpful too, but most people seemed to speak at least a few words of English. After the tent closed, the guys did another round of bumper cars, and somehow we ended up at a bar on the way back which was really crazy. It was a LONG night, and we were sure to sleep in LATE the next day.
Monday, 24 September, 2012 We managed to make it to Mike’s Bike Tour, a little worse for wear, but had a blast on the tour, even if it rained. AGAIN. After the tour was over, we went to the Hofbrauhaus since it was right at Mike’s Bike Tour shop where the tour ended. We sat with a few guys who were in our bike tour group and found two other Americans to add to our table as well. Always a good time 🙂 We split off and wandered around the fairgrounds for a while, having a beer on a carousel small beer tent, and enjoying all kinds of fair food – chocolate covered fruit, candied nuts, sausage, etc. Really, the whole of Oktoberfest is like an enormous state fair with LOTS AND LOTS of beer.
Tuesday, 25 September 2012 We signed up for the tour of the concentration camp at Dachau since we’d had plenty enough of the fairgrounds and wanted to do something cultural. I had been to Dachau almost 10 years ago, but didn’t do a proper tour, so I’m sure I missed a lot. Turns out the place had gone through some massive changes – the entrance was in a different spot, and overall, the grounds and buildings had been upgraded with better exhibits. Our guide was really wonderful, in spite of the horrific history that happened there, and was able to present everything in a clear manner without trying to diminish what had happened there. After we got back (it was almost a full day tour), we went back to the grounds for one last go-through (and I needed to pick up a postcard), and the guys used up the rest of their ride tokens. Doug and I were hopping on the night train to Florence, Italy, so we parted ways and off we went.

Rome > Siena > Florence > Venice > Munich > Brussels > Amsterdam

Still 21 March. We make it to our night train to Munich at the station in Venice. Because we had Eurail passes and are over the age of 27, the passes had to be first class, no choice. I’d never traveled via train in first class, so this was a wholly new experience. The cabin we booked for the night train was in first class and had a private bathroom and shower. A conductor came in and offered us sparkling wine, let us know the wake-up procedure that included breakfast to go, and took our passports so that he could process them as we skipped across the borders. We finished our wine and both of us slept soundly. 22 March. We arrived in Munich at 6:30am. Our hotel, the Wombats hostel, was just a block or two from the station and super easy to find. We were VERY early for check in, but there happened to be a room empty and ready, so we were allowed to check in. We ended up taking an hour or two nap and then got up to see the Glockenspiel, photo to the right (it’s a must-see even if it is totally silly and a big old tourist trap).

After the little ditty finished playing we hunted down the Mike’s Bike Tour office. I’d done the bike tour years ago while studying abroad, but the tour guides are always hilarious, and it’s a great way to see an overview of Munich in a short amount of time. Perfect. We reserve our spot and then wander to the market where Doug finds a sausage vendor. His belly full, it’s time to go meet up the bike tour. Our guide was Matt from Vancouver and he was absolutely hilarious. The group was small, just six of us, but it worked out nicely. Matt even took us mullet hunting but we only found one along the ride. Lunch was at the Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower) in the Englischer Garten (English Garden). Doug proudly displays his lunch in the photo at the right. We stopped back at the hotel at the end of the bike tour and then went out for dinner at the infamous Hofbrauhaus. The seating is all at open tables, so you’re likely to be seated next to people you don’t know which really, is half the fun. Our initally empty table filled in with Germans, locals, who had all sorts of questions for us in what limited English they knew – Doug got quizzed about Mormons (What’s wrong with them?!) and I think I got a speech about Americans and how they’re so fat, amongst other things. We toasted a bunch of times, enjoyed the band, and left as the place was closing. Going there is always an experience, and this trip was no exception!

23 March. We were thinking about going to Neuschwanstein, but off-season, it’s hard to get to without a tour group and they only seem to run during peak tourist season. Oh well, we slept in a little and ended up going to the Olympic Stadium, photo at the right. We were chased by some swans, and took a nice stroll around the grounds. The BMW World experience is right next door, so we checked that out too – it’s basically one big BMW advertisement with a bunch of interactive games/exhibits about the cars. We then took the U Bahn and tram to get to the Hirschgarten for lunch. The Hirschgarten is the largest constantly operating beer garden in the world, so we couldn’t miss a chance to check it out and dine on still more sausage and more beer. We then hopped the tram to the Schloss Nymphenburg and strolled around the grounds and botanical gardens.

For dinner that evening, we ended up at the Augustiner restaurant, enjoying their Maximator and an incredible dinner. The atmosphere was entirely different and Doug enjoyed it more than the Hofbrauhaus. Photo to the right is of us at dinner, enjoying dessert. Back to the hotel and we packed for an early departure to Brussels!

Slideshow of photos from Munich

Tag: germany

Oktoberfest 2012 – part 1

Eurotrip 2011 – Munich