The Archemist: Munich, Germany

October 4th - 6th , 2013

If you know me then you know how much I truly love beer. Out of all places and events on this trip, Oktoberfest perhaps topped the list of places I must go. Brandon found out very late that he would be able to come to Germany, which began our whirlwind of a weekend to Munich, Germany.

While Brandon worked on Friday, I planned the logistics. We rented a car - which turned out to be a small Skoda SUV - and jumped on the autoban shortly after Brandon was off work and we were both packed. It turns out there is basically one road from Vienna to Germany, which made the trip much easier. I'd like to point out just how FUN the autoban is... there really is no speed limit!

*Tips for autoban driving: all cars regardless of how fast they are driving should stay to the right, leaving the left lane as a passing lane only. Even if you think you are going fast passing a semi-truck, if you stay in the left lane too long, you will find an angry sports car shooting up to you almost immediately.

The weekend we travelled was the closing weekend of Oktoberfest so hotels were fully booked weeks in advance. I used airbnb to literally rent a couch (yes, couch) at a German local's house. While this pull-out couch was less than glamorous, the place turned out easy and proved an overall great stay.

Oktoberfest is a 16 day large festival hosted in Munich, Bavaria, Germany each year since 1810. To locals the festival is simply called "Die Wies-n" that is named after the fairgrounds location -Theresienwiese. There are 14 large beer tents which all have their own characteristics. We (I) chose Ochsenbraterei because it featured the Spaten brewery. The tent gets its name from the variety of oxen it serves. The entrance to the tent has cartoon figures turning an ox on a spit. To be served within the tent, you absolutely MUST have a seat at a table. This means you have to get in line bright and early at 7 - 8 am. To signal the tent opening, the cartoon figures turning the ox come to live and move (see video below). Inside the tent, we accidentally ended up in the reservation section of seats, but squeezed in with some fellow Americans.

Oktoberfest was all I hoped it would be and more! The beer-maids impressively carry ten beer steins at a time to the tables. Brandon and I ate pretzels and spatzl (glorified mac and cheese). Brandon surprised me with a ginger cookie necklace - a tradition where the boys buy the cookie heart and give it to a girl they like. Once the traditional brass band begins, everyone is up standing on the benches cheers-ing and singing along with their newly made best friends.

After Brandon and I had our share of beer (3 liters each to be exact) we explored the festival. This resulted in me finding my favorite ride, the fireball, and making Brandon go on it with me multiple times. It started to rain, and I was very excited to wear my poncho (oh yes see photo below).

Video of the ochsenbraterei tent opening

The real ox roasting in the oven

Spatzle

Me in my poncho

After a much needed nap, we had a nice italian dinner with our hosts, Toby and Andrew, and fellow traveller from Australia - Alex. Each person at the restaurant uses a touch screen book to order! Once dinner finished, we ventured back to the festival to see it lit up at night. We proceeded to have flower sword fights, apfel spritzers, chocolate covered strawberries, and a ride on the swings. It was truly great to not only have a place to stay, but to make friends on the way.