Munich

I arrived in Munich or Munchen, after a long train ride, my first international one, which was a learning experience. We transfered in Frankfurt and my second leg was spent next to a very nice German banker.I got into Munich pretty late and was pretty tired from the train, so I headed to my hostle/hotel (beause I had a private room, but was still my least favorite so far. I wanted to get a good rest in for a long day of Oktoberfest the next day. I was meeting my friend Erin from SF in Munich for the festivities as well. She was travelling with her sister who is currently living in Sweden.

Friday was a bit hectic in the morning. I ran around trying to find some good trachten (lederhosen) for Ok'fest, which I figured would be much cheaper in Munich where they are made and the only place they are really worn. This is not the case, they are all incredibly expensive starting at 165Euro accross the board. I ended up talking the guy I ended up buying them from down a lot, but still was much more than I had planned. My other concern was getting them back home, because they are quite bulky and heavy. But I spoke with Erin and she said she could take them back with her in her suitcase. So I figured I could either try to sell them to another traveler expecting the same thing as I, or they will make a good a costume for years to come, and when I eventually return to Ok'fest which is definitely happening. Anyway, I finally got my hosen, changed and headed to the fair.

I was supposed to meet Erin and her sister around noon or one, but they ended up deciding to wait for the person they were staying with to get off work. This was also made much more difficult by not having a cell phone. I looked around for one, but apparently it's not as easy to get a quick, prepaid phone in Germany as it is in the US. I will definitely be getting one while I am in SE Asia and Australia though. It's kind of ridiculous for such a new technology, but it's very hard to live without especially if you are trying to meet people you are not staying with. But on to the fun part. I headed to the fair grounds and WOW, Oktoberfest is like a whole other world. Probably the greatest party in the whole world. Imagine Great America (or whatever your best local amusement park is), on steroids and crack, where literls of beer flow like polar ice caps into the ocean in Al Gore's wettest dream. I found some room at a table with a mix of people and proceded to enjoy the Augustiner beer and oompah versions of Country Roads, Que Sirah Sirah, and other classics, including the official cheersing song that is played basically between and during every song. Suffice to say I 'prosted' more people than Woody, Sam, and Norm all combined, (all you young people reading this, google it). But it's such a fun-loving environment and everyone at a table and any surrounding table basically immediately becomes family. Oh, and the food is amazing. The chicken, yes the chicken, is literally some of the best I've ever had (I said some of the best,mom). You can get whole roast duck, pig knuckle, weisswurst (veal sausage), oh and did I mention, one liter beers? By noon or one basically everyone is three sheets to the wind, dancing on tables and hugging everyone in sight. Eventually Erin, and her companions made it to the party and we found eachother after some missed connections. By that time basically all the table even more full than my stomach with brau. We hung around the side of the table section and after some convincing and tipping, I convinced the waitress to serve us (usually you have to be at a table).

Speaking of the waitresses, they put American cocktail waitresses to SHAME. Most the ladies in the States pull attitude if one person is kind of in their way and they have two drinks on their tray. The fraulines, most of which are over 30 or 40,some even in their 50's or 60's, walk around with anywhere from 7-12 steins of beer fighting their way through drunken Germans and tourists alike. Keep in mind, the steins themselves are heavy and when full of beer they likely way 2-4 pounds each. Like I said, step up your game cocktailers... I only lasted til about 8 or 9, and headed back to my room and instantly fell asleep.

Saturday was rainy and was supposed to be crazy because it's the biggest day of the weekend because no one has work the next day or has to come from work like on Friday. That and it was Italian weekend, and no one likes Italians... So I decided take it easy and spent most of the day in my room and walking around the Bayern Strasse area. I did meet a very cool couple from Toronto while doing some much needed laundry. They were enjoying the festivities and heading to Prague next as well. We exchanged info and planned on meeting up the next day to get an early start on Ok'fest so we could good table. I took it easy and went to sleep early. The streets of Munich late after Oktoberfest is winding down are definitely a sight to see in themselves.

Sunday we headed off to the party around 10:30am and got an awesome table right in front of the stage in the Spaten tent. Oh, one thing I haven't mentioned, is that this was the 200th Anniversary of Oktoberfest, which made it that much more memorable and crazy. The spaten tent was much more lively than the Augstiner tent and the band played some great renditions of some classics. One of my favorites was 'Alice" and old Irish drinking song (do they have any other kind, well U2 I guess). "Who the fuck is Alice?" You might ask, well you all can google that one. We were joined by a group of Germans at our table one was a very nice guy named Christian. Seeing as we started at 10:30 in the morning I only lasted til about 9pm this day as well. Well actually, the Canadian couple, Bill and Katie, and I went to look for a bar in the Marienplatz area known as the "international porn cow." Can you blame us? Seeing as none of had really been anywhere other than the fair grounds we had some trouble finding it, ended up walking in circles for a bit, and then giving up. We headed back towards our hotels and I called it a night.

I woke up the next morning feeling like, hmmmmm, well what's the opposite of a million bucks, the american economy I guess.... Anyway, I realized quickly that replacing your water intake with 7-9 liters of beer doesn't lead to the most fun mornings. I eventually got myself together, paritally because I had to check out. My train didn't leave til the afternoon and I decided to try to make something of my last day in Munich. I really should have done this on my first day in the city.

I found one of the "pay as you wish" walking tours. Basically these guys work completely off tips so you can pay as much as you think the tour was worth. I'm not sure about all the other tour guides, but my guy defintely earned his money. He was a Scot named Iian. He was, fun, informative and an all around nice guy. He did a great job of mixing the history in with tips for your current stay. But it made me realize that doing a walking tour is a good idea to do on the first day or beginning of your stay in a particular city because there was tons of information I could have used during my stage. It also made me realize, that other than its less than friendly past (it was the birthplace/headquarters of the third reich), Munich is an amazing and gorgeous city. So I did the tour, got an amazing pork sandwich from the market and headed back to the train station.