Oktoberfest #2, September 2012

We decided to give Oktoberfest another go this year, although with some modifications to our travel plans.  We drove to Salzburg Friday and spent the night there.  Saturday, I donned my dirndl (and Eric his lederhosen shirt) and we took the train to Munich.  Beautful train ride!  From the Munich train station, we walked to Oktoberfest grounds.  It was cloudy but full of people.

We were joined by our friend from Nuremberg and looked for a place to get some beer!  It's a challenging feat if you don't have a tent reservation.  We were able to make our way into the beer garden at one place.  A helpful server found us a spot with a group of people from Austria/Germany (and one Italian and one American).  They were very friendly, we enjoyed their company.

Two or three hours after getting there, it started to rain.  At the same time, more of our friends from Bratislava showed up.  Unfortunately, sitting outside in the beer garden with the rain was really not an option.  However, getting inside the beer hall was seemingly impossible.  We waited outside the door of one place for an hour in the rain (luckily we had umbrellas and ponchos) but with no luck.

I left to find a restroom and as I walked along the side of the beer hall, some people went inside through a side door.  I quickly ran over and grabbed the door just before it shut closed (it was locked from the outside) and slipped inside.  Hooray!  It was bright and loud and warm inside, what a relief from the rain!  Unfortunately, I was inside and Eric and our four friends were still outside.  I tried to let them in through the same side door but there were people vigilantly watching the door and I was lectured for trying to let people in.  What I ended up doing was just walking by the door and nonchalantly popping it open as I kept walking.  I did this twice until everyone was able to get inside (I got yelled at the second and last time but who cares).  It was great fun inside (of course).  I befriended an older gentleman who got me a beer and danced a couple songs with me.  The atmosphere inside is so friendly (except those people at the door), everyone was drinking beer, standing on the benches, singing and dancing.  We caught the last train back to Salzburg.  We made some friends with a pair of French girls travelling back to Innsbruck.  Eric left his hat on the train but when he went back to go get it, it started moving!  Luckily he was able to jump off in time, otherwise he would have been bound for Munich (again).

Munich and Nuremberg, September 2012

Eric's aunt and uncle embarked on a Danube River cruise in September.  We saw them while they were in Bratislava.  We dined with them on the boat (top class!) and even enjoyed the deck-top jacuzzi under the lights of the UFO Bridge!

We flew to Munich Friday afternoon.  We spent the evening in the beer garden in the center of town.  There was a wonderful ambiance that evening - there were multiple stages with live music set up all over.  I think it was some sort of Munich city festival.  The stores were even open especially later so we took advantage and did some shopping at 10pm!

Saturday we went on a bike tour of Munich (with Mike's Bikes).  Highly recommended - it's a great way to see the city!  I really loved biking through the English Garden and having a beer in the beer garden there.  The surfers on the river were really cool to see as well.

Saturday afternoon we left Munich for Nuremburg, about 90 minutes north.  Driving on the autobahn was a fun experience although we really wished we had a better car (we had a compact little rental).  We were getting passed by cars going over 200 kph!  We also saw fields of hops growing all over.  It took us a while to figure out what they were, neither of us had ever seen them growing before.

That evening in Nuremberg, we met up with a friend who took us to dinner (Eric had the traditional Nurembergerwursts) and a night tour of the town.  We walked up to the castle to take in the evening view.  We all had a drink at a cute bar near her place.  It had a library/salon feel, with bookcases, red velvet seats, low lighting, dark wood bar.

Sunday morning we had a wonderful brunch along the river.  Then we picked up Eric's aunt and uncle from their ship.  We gave them a repeat of our evening walking tour, this time in the daylight.  It's a cute little town (at least the old part), we plan to return for the Christmas market, it's supposed to be among the oldest in Europe!

Beer garden in English Garden

Surfing the Isar river

Mike's bikes tour - fantastic!

the bachelor party got here first...nuremberg

Oktoberfest, October 2011

We decided, somewhat on a whim, to join some friends heading to Munich for Oktoberfest for the weekend.  When I say weekend, I mean leaving Bratislava at 5:30am, heading to Munich for the day, and driving right back (in a hired van).  It was a long and exhausting day but completely worth it!  It was an awesome experience, we'll be back next year!