Germany: "O'zapft Is!"

Nathan at the Glockenspiel Square

Bavaria is famous for brew houses, cars for yuppies, and lederhosen.  I intentionally booked our vacation during September so that we could go to Oktoberfest.  Whoever says that we can curb young adult binge drinking by legalizing it hasn't attended Oktoberfest.  Needless to say, it wasn't really worth the money (hotels are double the price then) as the crowds were more insane than anything I had ever encountered: Burning Man on a Saturday, Paris after the World Cup, and the Vancouver Olympics during torch run and the opening ceremony.  Then again, we would have loved attending the 2009 Inauguration for President Obama.  I'm not up for attending one insane frat boy party or a spring break week at Daytona Beach again.

We arrived in Munich on Thursday afternoon and discovered that the city was already full of Oktoberfest attendees.  The last time I had gone there was in March 2005, and it was a much sleepier city then.  We planned our day carefully so that we could eat dinner before most people were going.  We took a short walk through the Victorian Market and then strolled into the Hofbrauhaus by 6 PM; the dinner crowd swarmed in roughly 45 minutes later, and soon the staff turned people away at the door.  The oompah band performed with great enthusiasm for all of the drunken tourists who cheered with heavy maß glasses.

Newschwanstein under construction

Friday we left the city and traveled south with my friend, Heidi, to see two of Mad King Ludwig's castles, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein.  The Indian summer sun was shining brightly over the mountains, so our walks to both castles and inside the grounds were very pleasant.  Though we recommend spending a nice day outside of Munich to tour the grounds, we must admit that the tours feel rushed as each tour is only 30 minutes.  It is likely because they need to fit in as many tours as possible to pay for the maintenance of the castles and grounds (the family still resides there).  It is still worth it, and for those who are Disney fans, Newschwanstein will remind you of a fairy tale castle.

On Saturday, the rain arrived making a gloomy opening for Oktoberfest.  We attempted to enter a tent at 9 AM, but the several we passed were already full of people who had made prior reservations.  The beer gardens on the outside patios were virtually empty, so we easily found a seat.  At this time, the sky had a bit of cloud cover, and there were occasionally moments were the sun appeared through pockets.  Unfortunately by 11:45 AM, the downpour had commenced.  As soon as the mayor announced the start of the festival, we marched to the Lowenbrau Brewhouse.  Many others had the same idea as we did because shortly after we got our table there, crowds (who were soaked in their lederhosen) poured in to the hall and were subjected to 30 minute waiting times.  We did return to the festival site, but instead of beer drinking, we rode on the carnival rides and people watched after the rain subsided.  It mostly consisted of avoiding people who looked like they were about to fall on top of us.  We did foolishly go on a ride that made us quite sick and had to stumble back to our hotel, but with our sobriety, we are certain that we awoke in better shape than those with massive hangovers.

Oktoberfest Parade

The sun returned on Sunday morning, and thus watching the parade delighted us.  We found a prime spot to see the horses and people march in the glorious costumes.  Oompah bands proudly played their trademark pieces for the audience.  It was then a short subway ride to the English garden where we strolled the different trails.  The Monopteros gazebo had a nice view of the city, so we walked to there and spent a few minutes shooting some panoramic photographs.  Instead of returning to the crazy drunken terror of Oktoberfest, we sat in the peaceful yet vibrant Chinese pagoda beer garden and dined on rotisserie chickens for half the price.  We also decided to go see the BMW factory and fantasized about cars that we could have purchased for more than €50,000.  It appeared that we had plenty of options.  It is interesting to see that you could buy a house or you could buy a car; I guess it depends on your frame of reference for what your standard of living is.  It was a calm finale to our vacation which ended at 4 AM on the S-bahn to the airport.  On that ride, we encountered a man who personified not knowing one's drinking limits.  Blood covered his knuckles and shirt, and he had spilled beer all over himself and his seat on the train.

Theresa enjoys a maß and pretzel in the English Garden

Once we arrived at the airport, we enjoyed Business Class luxury back to Seattle.  All international flights should come with lounges and horizontal seats!