...was maybe our most useful phrase in Germany on this trip, as we had many friendly encounters with Oktoberfest bound Germans who wanted to share in the festivities with us! Another country where we tried our best to use a few words of the language here and there, and another travel experience where we swore that we would make it a goal to learn another language ASAP.

We based ourselves in Augsburg for the past week, to travel into Munich for the festival, and to take some day trips down in southern Bavaria, near the Austrian border. We enjoyed the quieter vibe of Augsburg, and its grand square and fine buildings. The German experience started off strong on Troy's birthday as we spent it at Oktoberfest, and celebrated while sitting spontaneously with some friendly Americans and Germans. Lively conversation and litre beers were had by all, along with some pretzels, sausage, and Clare's favourite, the heart shaped gingerbread style cookies with lots of icing. We went back to the festival twice more; once being caught in a torrential downpour and hail storm that soaked us so thoroughly, that we slinked back to Augsburg defeated before getting to a beer tent! (We knew there was a reason we brought raincoats - seemingly so useless in Greece!)

We spent another day relaxing in Augsburg and trying to decipher machines at the local laundromat, and two other days down in Fussen and Neuschwanstein Castle, and Mittenwald and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Here we learned that Troy loves goulash, and Clare loves kasspatzen - a hearty cheese and noodle dish. We were so fortunate to see the start of some beautiful autumn colours among this mountainous area, which was a surprising little taste of home! It was easy to see how these places will be so magical in the winter when the ski season comes alive.

We have had difficulty uploading photos, so will try in our next destination, which is....Tokyo! Tomorrow!