Day 4 - Munich for Oktoberfest

Yes, it is finally here. The day we head off to fulfill one of the items on my "Life List" (e.g. things I want to do before I die) - visit the real Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. We were up early, took our very brief walk in the brilliant morning sunshine and air to Paddington Train Station and on to the Heathrow Express. Checked in for our Lufthansa flight to Munich and soon we were off.

Landed in Munich on another great sunny day, caught the U-Bahn to Ostbahnhof and meandered our way through the streets to our friends', Brian and Bridget, flat. Having guests of their own already (Brian's brother and entourage), they were all headed for Oktoberfest so we let ourselves in. What a fantastic flat! In a building dating from the 1800s that was recently gutted and fully renovated into flats, Brian and Bridget did it right. They got in early and got a sweet ground floor spot with a porch and a basement, of all things. Even cooler, it essentially has a its own small apartment in it that they rent out when they want and, thankfully for us, use for guests of their own. I can't say enough about their place. Really awesome!

After a quick drop off of the bags, Chad rang old friend and colleague of ours, Peter Broderick, an Englishman that has lived in Munich for a long time. We met up with Peter and headed to Oktoberfest. The weather was so nice we met at Marienplatz and just walked to Theresienwiese (Therese's Meadow), the location of Oktoberfest. Started outside at the Augustiner "tent" since Augustiner is Chad and I's favorite Bavarian brewery. Had some food and, of course, some bier. I say "tent" because if you've never actually been to the Oktoberfest, these so-called tents are a whole lot more like aircraft hangers and despite being put up and taken down each year look like permanent structures.

We visited a number of "tents" from different breweries. In one, we met an absolutely lovely young German couple who spoke great English and were, in fact, moving to Washington, D.C. soon. We all quickly became friends and we all stayed together the rest of the evening. Now, I could on and on about the bier but what surprised Anthony and I the most (Chad has been here before having lived and worked in Munich for some eighteen odd months) was the music. No sir, little to no Oompah to be had here! The most popular songs repeated by band after band were, shall I say, "interesting", to say the least. Peter told us that these bands - all very, very good - come from small towns all over Germany. Really cool! Obviously, most of the crowd thought so as well as in tent after tent folks were dancing on the tables and singing to their favorite tunes.

After closing down the Hippodrome, we headed back to the flat. However, our much younger temporary flat mates soon informed us they were heading out to a club. Little can be said from my personal perspective about the club. The bier was terrible, the music loud and thumping (and not in a good way) and, having not mentioned it before and worst of all, the smoke. Living in Austin which is pretty much a restaurant and bar smoke-free city, it was tough to be in so much smoke for so long, including the time at Oktoberfest. Someone really needs to apply their smarts and come up with a better system for ventilating indoor spaces where people smoke. Honestly, it never used to bother me and I've had friends that smoke nearly all my life but I can't really take it anymore.

In a haze (literally), we made it back to the flat and somehow into bed (except for poor Chad sleeping on the air mattress on the floor). And that was the close of a truly "Life List" day, indeed!

Yours Aye!
Neil