Munich! For the third time this trip :)
We arrived in at about 6.30pm Wednesday, rushed to check in, got changed and ready to head out. We met up with 5 of the boys from home, and went to see my favourite band, the Temper Trap play in Munich. Such a great night. It was so good seeing familiar faces, not to mention my favourite band.
Thursday we had a late start before heading into town to pick up my dirndl (traditional German outfit that I bought last time) from Kristen's aunty Elvira. We met up with the boys again and hung out for the rest of the day. That evening we went for dinner nearby and I had my first pork schnitzel in Germany!
Friday we checked out of our hostel and headed for an irish and Australian pub in town to watch an AFL game with the boys. Afterwards we checked into our accommodation for the next 4 nights for Oktoberfest- a camping ground. We were assigned our 2 man tent, complete with air mattresses- luxury! I've learnt from the best (that's you Mum!) on how to save money so we only bought one sleeping bag and just wrapped ourselves in sheets and used the sleeping bag as a doona. We had to wear several layers to bed too, Munich isn't warm! We headed back into town after setting up our tent and ate dinner at the Irish pub from earlier in the day- baked potato yum!
Saturday was the day, opening day at Oktoberfest! Okay so, about 6 million people attend Oktoberfest every year. There's 11 beer tents, all owned by Munich breweries and selling their own beer in Steins- 1 litre mug like glasses. Some of the tents have a capacity of 10,000 people, it's so much fun. The atmosphere is indescribable. There's German bands, everyone wears the traditional German outfit- dirndl for females, lederhosen for men (like my blog photo of myself, malaika and Tim). The beer waitresses carry about 10 steins each at a time, that's a lot, they weigh a tonne! People walk around selling pretzels, gingerbread and other German nibbles whilst you can order typical German dishes from the waitresses. We tried a half chicken to share, it's such beautifully cooked chicken! Pork knuckle is one of the most well known dishes, as well as bratwurst, dumplings and anything else that's super good for you. Everyone joins in on German drinking songs, and by the end of day majority of people end up standing on the chairs dancing and singing. On the first day the beer tents open at 9am, we were lined up waiting just after 8am. It's absolute mayhem when the doors first open and very hard to get a seat, lucky our tour reserved some tables. You must be sitting at a table to be served. The 'tapping of the keg' is done on the first day at midday, and that's when the first beers are allowed to be poured. Every day after that they can be served from about 9.30am. We spent the day in the Lowenbrau beer tent, one of the biggest and well known and left at about 7pm. We met up with the boys for a bit afterwards before heading back to our warm, cosy tent.
Up bright and early on Sunday to do it all again! This day isn't as crazy and packed so we were able to explore other beer tents too- The Augustiner which was much more tame, and then the Hofbrau, owned by the famous Hofbrauhaus brewery this is known to be the loudest and craziest tent- mostly full of tourists. That day we left Oktoberfest at about 9pm, the last beer is poured at 10.30 and the tents close at 11pm. We then went onto an area in Munich full of bars, I left earlier than Malaika and went back to the tent for some shut eye!
Monday was the official end of our tour after breakfast so we headed into town. We had lunch in town and had a quiet day to recover from the craziness that is Oktoberfest.
Tuesday we checked out of our tent and trekked into town with our bags. We left them in luggage storage at a hostel and went back in to enjoy another day at Oktoberfest. We met up with Kris, who we'd been traveling with for a bit and made some other busabout friends. We left at about 5pm, headed into town for dinner and then out to Elviras house. We didn't have accommodation booked and Elvira so kindly took us in! It almost feels like home I've stayed there so much this trip! We had a fairly early night that night, so good to sleep in a real bed.
Wednesday we went into town with Elvira after a late start. We headed to the hofbrauhaus and tried a pork knuckle for lunch. Onto the English gardens for a walk. The gardens are huge and have so much in them, we checked out the surfers wave and enjoyed a radler (half beer, half lemonade) in the beer garden by the Chinese tower. The rest of the day we wandered town and later had Elvira's famous spanakopita (feta and spinach filled pastry) for dinner.
Thursday, malaika went down with some 24 hour gastro bug so we had a quiet day. She stayed in bed all day, I skyped home and afterwards headed out to the shops with Elvira for some winter shoes and a jacket. Successful shopping trip! I did a fair bit of Ireland research that evening whilst malaika slept and had another early night.
Friday malaika was better! Off to Oktoberfest in our dirndls for the last time, this time with Elvira. We enjoyed a beer together in a beer garden, and then went on one of the rides. Some typical German food for lunch and Elvira went home. We spent another hour or so there before heading into town, and then back to Elvira's.
Friday, being the crazy Australians that we are, we were up and out at 6am to watch the AFL grand final at the Irish/Australian pub in town. It was absolutely packed, we managed to get a spot on the floor near a tv. Really good game! Afterwards we went for a typically Bavarian breakfast- white boiled sausages with a sweet mustard, and pretzels of course. After a wander through town we headed back to Elvira's early afternoon. We repacked out bags ready to leave the next day before heading into Oktoberfest for the last time. It was pouring rain, but we had out coats and umbrellas, nothing would stop us saying farewell to the magical place that is Oktoberfest. We indulged in our last German meal, stood in the rain and soaked in the atmosphere and then left the 'weisn' for the last time (this trip!).
Next stop, Venice!