Although the 'Oktoberfest' is the common name for the Munich bierfestival, 'Wiesn' is actually the official name and 'Oktoberfest' is the name for the time period.

24/09/13

Heut ist so ein schones Tag!

25/09/13

"Heut ist so ein schones Tag!" means "Today is such a beautiful day". and comes from a bierfest song called 'Fliegerleid'. It really was a beautiful day yesterday, but unfortunately, I was on the move. Due to an unfortunate slip of keystrokes, I managed to delete the last blog, but I can assure you, nothing too major happened. Yesterday, I travelled for a total of 7.5 hours, but it was split almost in half. The first leg of my journey took me from Neukirchen when I said goodbye to the family, all the way back to Coburg to see Lisa, Lisa and her parents that is. It was lovely to see them all again, and even though I was leaving Germany in 1 week, it still feels like it isn't goodbye forever. Lisa plans to come to England before Christmas and I intend on gracing Germany with my presence in the future. I was sat outside the train station and a man approached me. "Ich habe ein frage, wie viel costet ein fahrkarte nach *GermanTown* und zuruch?" I didn't even think before responding. It wasn't a complicated sentence, but it was nice to autonomously understand. I went to lunch with Lisa and her parents before heading back to the train and back tracking an hour and a half on myself towards Donauworth. Donauworth is where Liv, urm, lives... a friend from home. But it took me 3 hours to get there, and when I got there, the bus wasn't there. It took me another hour to realise the bus wasn't turning up and another 45 minutes to get the taxi, which cost me another €10 and only took me to the edge of Liv's village, to her door would be a further €10, €10 which I didn't have on me. I walked the rest of the way, which I'm more than used to. It took a good 15 minutes, but when I arrived at Liv's it was worth it. It was so good to be greeted with not only natural English speakers, but also someone I know from home. It was about 7:30 in the evening when I arrived and we munched down and hung out watching British TV. A couple of wines, cookies and a coffee later, Liv and James went to bed; I swung the sofa around and called it a night. It was a long day travelling and things were about to get major.

Nothing major in the morning mind you, it was nice not to have to force conversation with someone I didn't particularly get on with or work outside in the cold, but instead, I skyped with my best mate, chatted with Liv, watched TV and did my washing. This was before going to meet James for lunch. Me and Liv, whilst James was at work, headed into town and had a few bevs at a few local bars. Chatting away, it reminded me of Oman, spending time with a woman whose partner is always at work and who is just thankful to have someone else to spend time with! When James finished work, he met us in town for a drink and we headed to an all you can eat Chinese restaurant. It was a taste I had been craving, even whilst in Asia! A European-Chinese takeaway flavour which was so different to the real Asian food but still tasted good. Another beer and a taxi home, I'm sat on the sofa feeling the enjoyment of a great day with someone from home. Tomorrow, my German trip peaks for the weekend. I hope everything goes smoothly, but who knows, recently it's not been my style!

26/09/13

Again, I'm on the train writing this blog. But this train is slightly fuller of life than the last few journeys I have been on. Boarding the train at Donnauworth was me, and a ton of Germans. It was a tad more obvious that they were heading to Oktoberfest, wearing their Dirndls, Lederhosen and already drinking at 8am. God I love girls in Dirndls! Speeding along in a carriage full of the traditional outfits, the weather is less than promising. Judging on the last 2 days, rain is not what I expected today, and certainly not what I hoped for! I will get into Munich at 10:30 and will make my way to Claudia's place regardless of the weather. I met Claudia in Sydney airport on the 4th January this year. After getting kicked out of the airport overnight, we became friends. She offered me a place to stay and, well, here I am! I hope the rain stops by then, and I certainly hope I manage to find the place in good time, for at 12pm, I meet up with Tanja! Tanja is another girl I met in Australia who happens to live in Munich too! She was on the Red Centre to Darwin tour with me and also said if I come to Munich, to let her know. So again, here I am! Last, and by no means least; Lars. My travel buddy in Vietnam. He should be arriving at around 3pm. Last thing I heard anyway. No meeting time, no plans, but he is a reliable guy and I hope to share at least 1 beer with him today!

Second train update: Plenty of lovely looking girls on this train, I'm looking forward to this weekend so much right now. There's also a couple of Americans sat behind me. I guess the closer I get to Munich, the more English I will hear. I have my standard tired travel anxiety right now. Hopefully that will sort itself out by the time I get to Munich!

27/09/13

I have 3 days worth of writing to catch up on. This will be a mission, but with the hangover slowly fading, hopefully the memories will not.

Day 1: Hertzlich Wilkommen Nach Oktoberfest!

I arrived in Munich at around 10:25am, and followed Claudia's instructions with exact precision, arriving at her flat around 11:10am. She was at work, but had left her key with her neighbour. I couldn't believe this, we knew each other for 5 hours in Sydney airport and she trusts me enough to leave her key for me. I got changed into my Lederhosen and went to meet Tanja. I arrived at exactly the right time, but at exactly the wrong place. I eventually realised my mistake and arrived at the right place 10 minutes later. We grabbed some food from the bakery and made our way to a 'tent' at Oktoberfest. These tents were huge beer halls, filled with tables and despite how busy it looked; it was surprisingly easy to find one with enough room for the 3 of us. We sat there, drinking from a 1 litre Maß and things started getting more and more awesome. The band were playing traditional Bavarian music and we kept drinking more and more. The more we drank, the more we danced, sang and stood on the benches. I know 2 Oktoberfest songs, and as far as I remember, they played one. My favourite one; 'Fliegerleid'. It was perfect, enjoying Oktoberfest the way it should be done. I was pacing my drinking, knowing that I must last until Lars arrives as I knew when he arrived, it would speed up. But at around 5pm, he text Tanja saying he couldn't make it. Gutted. But then things got hazy. My wallet tells me I drank 5 litres of this special strong Oktoberfest bier, and I vaguely remember Claudia and her friend Julia arriving at around 6pm. I don't remember leaving the tent, but what I do remember is being sat outside, on the benches with Tanja and getting asked to leave when the bench collapsed! Suddenly I was at the tram stop on my way home and Claudia appeared. I had lost my phone, which was s***, but it's better than losing my wallet or camera. The only directions to Claudia's place were on my phone, so I was surprised to find myself at the tram station on route! Looking back at the pictures from this night, it became apparent that I hit a wall somewhere around 7pm, because that is when I put my sun glasses on and things got, as I said; hazy.

Day 2: The good, the bad and the ugly.

Lars arrived, he couchsurfed last night and now, he is waiting for me. I went and met him at 11:30. An early start considering the hangover I was nursing. But to reminisce about Vietnam and the fun we had, it was worth it. I had a 'Konterbier' which is commonly known as 'Hair of the dog' in England. After the 2nd Maß, as it happened the night before, I was suddenly fluent in German. With a Maß or two bought by a Swiss-German who was sat with us, things were looking very good, as I said to Lars 'Good things always happen when we're together!', However, I also forgot that bad things also always happen when we're together, and it was to come later. We drank Maß after Maß and, standing on the benches singing God Save the Queen, I was loving day 2. Then Lars went for a smoke, and after an hour, I accepted the inevitable; I had lost him for the day. Then, it got ugly. Actually, for me it got awesome again. I drank with randoms that I had just met and eventually left the tent at 5pm, to go outside and find another table. Again, as it happened the night before, looking back at the pictures, things get hazy when the photos depict me wearing my sun glasses at night. I remember more than the day before and with 2 more Maß than the day before, I was rocking Oktoberfest in style, drinking like a German. Somehow though, I managed to get lost on the way home, but being 'fluent' in German, I was able to get some help. I stayed up chatting with Claudia for about 3 hours after getting back, it felt like the airport again, and I remember why I was looking forward to meeting her again, she was so easy to talk to and get on with.

Day 3: The day that wasn't.

I woke up this morning with a hangover of 2 consecutive days and planning to make it a third, I met Lars at 12:30. We headed straight to lost and found to see if we could locate his jacket from the day before, and after being unsuccessful and hearing that 40,000 jackets are lost every year, we thought we'd head to the tent for the Konterbier approach again. However, it's Saturday. It was apparent, walking through, that everybody in Germany was at Oktoberfest today and there was no hope in hell that we were going to get even close to the tent. Insult was added to injury when we discovered you can't even buy beer if you're not in a tent. We called it a day and went to sort out tomorrow, locate the bus stop and buy Lars a ticket to Stuttgart for my last day. But again, it wasn't to be. The bus is full. We went back into town, bought him a train ticket home tonight and had a final beer in a bar.

29/09/13

I'm on the bus and I must have been still in Asia mode. I wasn't expecting a bus to have plug sockets and free wifi. Hopefully my 16 hour bus back to the UK will have such a service, but I'm not hopeful. That said, I only had 5 hours sleep last night, and with the stress of not knowing where the bus stop was this morning, I think I'll grab some kip. I'll certainly need it, for when I get to Stuttgart, I'm hitting up the Cannister Wasen with Rafa and Saskia! Another little reunion from a section of my trip in Australia. Also, my couchsurfing host should be joining us, it's going to be good.

30/09/13

Sat in McDonalds after an early and exhausting start to my day. But I'll get to that! For now, I will write about my 6th Bierfestifal in Germany; Wasen and my couchsurfing experience in Stuttgart! The adventure began yesterday when I foolishly arrived unprepared in Stuttgart, manned only with the address of my couchsurfing host; Maria. However, with my German constantly improving, I found it no issue to find my way. Up until Day 3 at Oktoberfest I was anxious about couchsurfing with Maria, she hasn't had any references, and the day she asked me to stay at hers was also the day she joined couchsurfing. It was all maybe a bit too suspicious, and to make things seem worse, she was gorgeous. This could all be a front for someone who wants to abuse the system, use it as an easy way to get a vulnerable victim to rob or rape. I generally trust people but you've got to be careful, so I skyped with her beforehand, making sure she was legit. I must have come across as a paranoid weirdo, but it was all just for my safety. I'm at the tail end of a 15 month trip, without major catastrophe, I would hate for something to happen now! It made me feel even more stupid when I arrived and was treated like a king. She was the loveliest, most kind-hearted, intelligent, accommodating person you could ever meet. I don't know this woman and I was fed breakfast, given coffee, water, even given a double sofabed! When we returned from Wasen she made us a late supper, gave me ice cream and this morning packed me a brunch to take with me! It was ridiculous how well she treated me, so when we went to Wasen I made sure she didn't pay for any rides or beer! Wasen itself was great; unlike Oktoberfest, it wasn't as crowded and we didn't struggle to find a table. Even if we did, we could have bought beer from the stalls around the place. It was so relaxed. We met Saskia and her friend Danielle, catching up, and again, speaking German after the 1st or 2nd Maß. Just before we left, I was alone for a minute. I quickly made friends with the men on the table behind me and at the end of Maß 3, I was fluent. Or at least to me it seemed that way. We were talking about his travels to Ireland and I couldn't believe how much I understood. It was fantastic. My last night in Germany and I'm actually proud of the progress I've made. Well done me!

I have roughly 9 hours until I have to catch my bus, so I guess that's another chapter over! One week made up of visiting friends from my travels, drinking beer at the most famous beer festival in the world, and rounding it all off nicely with one thing that has been fairly consistent along my entire trip; The kind heartedness and trust of complete strangers.