Munich

Sean and I have been in the habit of arriving to a city on the day a huge, famous event just happens to be taking place - we arrived in Monaco the first day of the Tour de France, Pamplona for the running of the bulls, and lastly we arrived in Munich on the first day of Oktoberfest, without having planned this out at all. I didn't really know much about Oktoberfest, other than it is a huge celebration full of beer drinking and brawt eating....and we were right (although there may be more significance that I missed)! In the morning, we were immediately surprised by the number of people wearing traditional German outfits - like lederhosen with the short shorts and suspenders for the boys and colorful dresses, with aprons for the girls. The drinking began around 8am (maybe sooner), so the crowds were already rowdy and ready for the festivities. We walked to the important sites - your typical big plazas, cobble stone streets, cathedrals, castles, farmers markets selling lots of cheeses, meats and fruits and veggies. At noon, little German statues high up in the clock tower in the main square started dancing to pretty tinkling music like a huge cookoo clock. We delightedly watched with the crowds of tourists and cheering locals. This set a celebratory tone to the day. We walked to an enormous, beautiful, green park and on our way got the idea to rent some bikes. Bike riding was a fantastic way to get around the city and get away from the crowds and see this amazing park, with miles of green grass, little rivers, a giant, duck-filled lake and scattered trees. Among the lovely scenery, we came across something totally new to both of us, river surfing. As we rode over a little bridge, down below was a group of typical-looking surfers in wet suits. They were actually riding a standing wave that flowed with the river. They would jump into the wave with their board and surf to the right bank, then the left bank of the river in the little space they had. I would not have believed this existed if I didn't see it with my own two eyes. When they fell, or were finished riding the wave, they would get thrown downstream with the current of the river. Only one surfer could surf at a time, so the rest were lined up on the sides waiting for their turn. It was very interesting, and I would have liked to see Sean give it a try if we had a board. In the park, we also came across a famous area where loads of Germans were gathered, listening to music, drinking merrily and eating heartily. We stopped to re-fuel with a brawt and the best country potatoes known to man (for me) and a soft, warm, sweet dumpling-type dish with powdered sugar and apple sauce (for both of us). We rode back into the city, and were amazed at how fast we could get around on bikes, rather than walking, although it was a little tough when we got to the more crowded spots. People were celebrating everywhere. The city was full of people from all over, who came to take part in this German tradition. We rode to where Oktoberfest was taking place. It was a mess...crowds of people were everywhere, drunk as can be, very loud and out of control. We walked around the huge, carnival-like area with rides and food stands, where we saw the sale of raw-fish sandwiches, with the skin on and everything! Enormous tents were set up as the designated drinking areas. People looked like they were past the point of being "drunk and merry", and were at the point of sitting in random places with their eyes glazed, faces red and holding their heavy drunk heads in their hands, puking and smashing glasses up against walls. It was a little unpleasant and I didn't really see the point. I guess we should have gotten there sooner, it was just so crazy, it was hard to enjoy. The best part was getting some traditional little gingerbread, heart-shaped cookies to wear around our necks. The nice, old man selling them who didn't speak a word of English, tried to communicate the meaning of the frosting writing on each of the cookies. I bought three, he was so sweet and kind (and the cookies looked delicious, although I wasn't sure if we were allowed to eat them). As evening came, we returned our bikes to the rental place and walked to a lively bier garten (beer garden). After mingling with the locals for a while, we took the underground to another part of town that was a little out of the city center but had a row of hip, little restaurants and cool local artwork displayed on the sidewalk. We ended the night here, and ate Mexican food of all things for dinner. I had overdone it on the brawts between Austria to Germany, we took a risk on some quesadillas and it was surprisingly really good! Munich was a very cool, interesting city and I am glad we got to experience the first day of Oktoberfest, although we appreciated the less wild parts of the city most!