Münich - Day 3 - Marienplatz

Münich - Day 3

Jon and I didn't get out of bed until 3:00 in the afternoon.  2 days of Oktoberfest bier was enough.  We were all exhausted, broken and battered & had had enough bier to last a very long time.  

Today was for relaxing, hydrating and seeing the city, and that's exactly what we did.

The famous Glockenspeil built in the 1600's (rebuilt after World War II)

We took the S-Bahn to Marienplatz and wandered for a while downtown. 

Marienplatz square. 

Downtown Münich 

Lunch was had at the original Haibrauhaus near Marienplatz but today, no maß's were drank.  

Robb and Dan did find the motivation to drink a pint with lunch though.  

We later in the evening had dinner at the only open restaurant we could find.  A Chinese buffet located in the Bahn station.  I'm pretty sure one of us ate cat, and there might have been dirt in it.  

Sleep was attempted around 11.  We needed sleep badly.  

Good night.  

Oktoberfest - Day 2 - A Memoir by RG

Tuesday...

For as much bier was drank and as hard as we partied the day before, we all felt considerably decent after some water and food.  It was 4pm and we decided to go back to the Weisn for round 2.  After all, we flew 5,000 miles to be here! 

The evening started at the Haufbrahaus.  By this point we knew our way around it well & knew we would like the bier.  

The first Maß went down a bit slow, but once the bier started to flow we were ready to go!  

Above is a picture of Robb's "shoulder contest" with a random woman at Haufbrau.   

After 2 maß's we were ready for some dinner and to see some other tents.  We ventured over to the Paulaner tent where we were approached by 2 German girls selling bier tickets at a discounted price.  Dan and Robb bought 2 and we entered Paulaner the Paulaner tent.  

After pushing through the crowd we finally found a waitress and were told the tickets weren't good there!  They were for another Tent called "Hacker".  Looks like we are going to need to visit that tent and have a 4th Maß in a bit, after all, we can't waste these bier tickets.

We spent 45 mins or so in Paulaner and went over to Hacker.  Hacker was a locals place as it was all in German and extremely crowded.  Crowded beyond any comprehension of safety or fire code in the USA.  So crowded that the temperature inside was hot from all the body heat.  We drank our 4th Maß, ate some dinner and went back to the Haufbrau tent.  

We spent the next 2 hours at Haufbrau (until they closed it at 10:30).

Tonight the band was playing mostly American songs from the 70's, 80's and 90's, all in silly German accents.  

We sang along like fools, still toasting our maß's @ every "Ein Prosit" song and every time someone would yell "PROST!" 

Blow up costume on HB stage. 

At this point we were 5 maß's in and knew the words to every song they played and if we didn't.  We made up our own version.

They played a series of AC/DC hits, Michael Jackson, John Denver, Gloria Gaynor, 99 Luftballoons and then it happened.....

"We are the world....  We are the children...."  The entire tent erupted in chorus and we laughed and laughed.  The Germans knew every word and they loved it.  

Picture above was Robb throughout the entire song of "We are the world."  Lol

Guy on right was from south Florida.  We spent some time with their group late in the evening. 

Of course there was Maß stacking. 

Around this time Dan took his train to sleepy town (Choo-Choo!) and headed back.  

We closed the Weisn at 10:30.  We were 5 Maß deep and weren't yet ready for bed.  Definitely not after sleeping in so late.  

We followed a large group of people out of the festival on foot.  We didn't know where we were going, but we weren't staying here.  

We bought bottles of bier from a street cart vendor outside and followed the crowd.  

About 10 minutes later we heard a commotion happening behind us.  We stopped to see what was happening and realized it was a drunken fight.  As quickly as we realized what was going on, security (Policie) ran in and split it up. The men scattered on foot and one of the guys involved barreled into me.  He literally slammed me like a football player attempting a tackle.  Not purposely, it's just the way it happened.  Some how I managed to stay standing, but the impact took out a few ladies near us, the man who hit me fell, Jon fell, and the hardest knock went to Robb.  

We all helped each other up, but Robb stayed quiet for a moment.  He was the last to get up.  Jon and a few local guys helped to stand Robb as he said, "What just happened?"  Robb had been briefly knocked unconscious by the fall.  A lady asked if he wanted paramedics, and his first reaction was yes, but after checking himself out for a moment he determined he was okay.  

(Robb was sore from this for the rest of the trip & had a sweet bruise on his hip the size of a softball.) 

After the "knock out event" we continued walking with the crowd.  

We soon heard a crowd of people gathered around a guy playing the guitar.  I guess we were in the mood to keep singing & drinking because that's exactly what we did.  For at least 10 songs we stood in a large group singing along, jumping and dancing.  I want to believe the guitar player was talented, but honestly after 5 Maß & a pint everything sounds good.  

After leaving the guitar crowd we decided to have a late dinner prior to heading in for the night.  We found an Italian place that was still open, crowded and serving dinner.  I had some awesome lasagna and of course, another Maß.  

While eating the guitarist from outside came in.  Jon invited him to sit with us and bought him dinner.  I can't remember his name, but he was a really appreciative and friendly guy from London who was passing through Münich, living in his van.  He shared stories of his travels and counted the money he had earned playing tonight.  It was almost 200€ in coins.  Not bad for a homeless guy! 

After the guitarist left, Jon brought in a random Irish straggler named Johnny.  I don't know what this guy was wanted for in Ireland but he would not share and was very serious that his crimes were severe and he could never return.  It's probably best that he didn't share.  

I wish you well Johnny, you paranoid little Irish man! 

We returned to the hotel around 3am.  Didn't mean for it to get so late, and even after all the maß's we drank, none of us were nearly as intoxicated as the night before.

Oktoberfest day 2 was a success! 

Oktoberfest 2014 - Memoir by RG

I figure I will take this time to catch up on my blogging as I have 8.5 hours to kill on this direct flight from Dublin to Orlando.  

Oktoberfest 2014 - My story.

We all met up @ the airport in Munich around 11am.  It didn't take long to find Robb, get back and find the S-Bahn (train) into the city center where our Hilton hotel located.  

Although Robb was clearly the most tired of our group, we were all travel weary yet excited to finally make it to the festival.  

The trip to the hotel took about 45 minutes.  For whatever reason we decided to buy all day train passes, but quickly remembered that nobody in Munich actually pays for the train.  I'm still confused by this, but nobody buys a ticket.  Ever.  You can jump on and off the trains in Munich all day long and nobody would give a damn.  

We checked into our hotel around 12:30, changed clothes and headed for the train station.  Prior to leaving, Jon bought authentic lederhosen and actually wore it.  I had considered it, having been to the Weisn before, but at the last minute decided against it in fear that it wouldn't fit me.  

As we navigated the train system over to Theresewiesn (the festival grounds) we saw more and more people wearing lederhosen and other authentic Bavarian costumes.  We knew we were getting close & I was getting excited.

It was 2:00pm when we finally entered the festival.  I was a bit concerned that it may be too early and that nobody would be there on a Sunday afternoon.  Was I ever wrong.  

We pushed our way into the Wiesn (Oktoberfest) fair like cattle being organized into a gate.  On the other side were thousands of people moving in every direction, carnival rides with bright lights flashing, the loud ringing & dinging of games being played, children running around eating cotton candy, families waiting in lines to buy sausages & drinks from food vendors, early day drunks staggering from one beer tent to the next.  Everyone in good spirits, laughing, dancing and singing.  

We decided to head for the Haufbrauhas tent as Dan and I had great memories of it from last year.  It was time for our first Maß (1 litre of bier).   

Behind the Haufbrau Tent is a large hill that exits the fair in the direction of downtown.  It's a gathering place for people as well as a place for the drunks to take a break.  Many times the partiers who have "over imbibed" on the strong German bier, end up falling alseep on the hill.  It was still early this day, but around sun down the hill can be quite full of passed out partiers and some of the finest people watching I can remember.  

We entered the Haufbrau tent from the back side by the hill and walked a lap around the tables (sitting & standing) and band.  We located the WC (water closet) and decided on what area we wanted to spend some time at.  At this time the brass band was loudly playing authentic Bavarian music, the sea of people in costume were singing along in German, high fiving, hugging, dancing and swaying and every 10 minutes would sing "Ein Prosit" which ends in a cheer & a sip of bier with your friends.  

Dan and I knew from last year that we had to aggressively push our way into the crowd and force ourselves into standing by a table in order to purchase a drink.  The bier servers can only serve patrons at tables and must set the Maß in the table.  So we did just that.  Within a few moments we were ordering our first Maß & quietly observing the loud crowd of people who were obviously much more intoxicated than us.  

Our server, Sid & Louis from New Zealand pictured above. 

It didn't take us long to make friends and get into the spirit of Oktoberfest.  Maybe it's the friendly attitude of everyone or the music & food.  Nah, what am I saying...  It's the bier.  The German bier is strong and its flowing as fast as you can drink it and everyone is drinking it.  The songs are about drinking, people are playing games encouraging drinking, people are standing on tables having Maß drinking competitions with each other, the servers are calling you a wimp if you aren't ordering more.  It's all about the bier.  Bier and more bier.  

So we drank bier.  

A lot of it.  

We tried our best to sing along with the German songs & got excited when they would play a silly version of an American song.  It didn't matter though, we were making friends, eating German food and having a really good time.  

Robb's wrist fitting through the handle of the Maß. 

Friends we made from Oregon.

As Americans (and Dan & I being big guys) we stood out a bit to other Americans.  As the day progressed many others made their way to our table & introduced themselves.  

We even had a friend from Italy offer us all a white powder substance he placed on his hand for us to snort up our nose. 

I think we were all equally shocked when this happened, but later realized this is a commonly used tobacco product in Europe known as "nasal snuff" not an illicit drug.  Lol.  No, we didn't partake. 

After 3 Maß.. My bladder was full.  I had no choice but to leave my friends behind for a few minutes and use the facilities.  I remembered just how disgusting this process was from last year and held out as long as I could.  After telling the guys to "stay right here", "do not leave" I ventured into the land of filth known as the Wiesn water closet.  

After first entering the woman's restroom not knowing which was which in the crowd, I was pointed in the direction of the "troughs".  

As you can imagine this is a vile place and I'll spare you the details which included the man at the trough next to me splashing vomit on my shoe. 

After leaving the trough I was encountered by a man who paid me 10€ to punch him as hard as I could in the stomach.  After turning down the opportunity to slap a man in the face earlier (who asked me not to spare him) I decided to earn some cash this time.  If the drunk Europeans thought of me as an arcade game and wanted to pay me to smack them around, I might as well make some € for doing it. 

As you can imagine, I had quite a story to tell when I found my friends back at the table, and was ready for Maß 4. 

Maß stacking with friends. 

Maß 4 and 5 took place between 6 and 7pm.  I can clearly remember finishing #5 and thinking to myself, "I'm hammered!" The rest of the night, well...  Let's just say it's fuzzy.  

We stayed at the same table until a tired Dan left us around 9. 

A woman standing on a table chugging her Maß. 

Above is the last picture I took this night.  

I have hazy drunken memories of losing Jon, wandering around the Wiesn with Robb in the dark after it closed, losing Robb, wandering the streets of Münich, taking a cab all the way to the Airport Hilton and realizing that wasn't my hotel, then having to drive 30 more minutes to the right hotel.  Fortunately the cab driver only charged me for the ride from the airport back.

I figured there were about 3 hours of memory brain cells that died on Sunday night.  At 12:00am I sent a text to Robb from my Hilton bed asking if he was back? 

Jon wasn't in his bed & Robb wasn't yet back and his phone was dead.  Some how, even after my adventure, I was the 2nd person to return. 

.......

Tuesday

I woke up to a snoring Jon around noon.  My body felt like it had been through a war & there wasn't enough water in the sink to quench my dehydration.  My eyes were bloodshot & I had a morbid stench of piss, stale bier & German sauce about me.  Holy hell I felt bad.  

By the looks of my shorts and shirt worn the day before, it appeared I had fallen down a few times on my journey to the hotel.  There were hand marks, shoe prints & massive HP Sauce stains on my shirt.  The shirt smelled like stale bier & Sauce.  It was so foul, I had to get a picture to show the others.  The others.....  Were they back?  I see Jon, but where was Robb?

I quickly checked my phone and saw a single text from Robb @ 1:05am. 

He had made it back & charged his phone.  All were accounted for and it was a new day.  

We still have 2 more days in Münich! 

Time to do it again! 

Man Out

This is the universal sign for exiting around Europe. It doesn't seem to matter where you go this sign is there. It doesn't register in my mind as exit since it isn't the bright red lettered words "EXIT." 

When I see this sign I literally think oh I need to follow the Man Out sign to exit. Well this blog entry is a quick bid adieu to Europe. Man Out via 767-300 and back to the U.S.  I'm glad to be almost home... take me home tonight - Delta! Beeee my favorite airline!

Man out.

Norwegians day 2

Since we had so much fun on night 1 the girls from Norway wanted to get together on Day 2 also since they were leaving. We had breakfast at central station which for me was only 2 bananas another surprise bottle of bubbly water! I don't mind the carbonated water if I know I'm getting it but to be surprised with it I don't like that. 

We then took the subway to MarianPlatz and looked in some shops and shoe stores. I was really shocked at the prices of under armor stuff in these shops. The girls said the Birkenstock shoes were a steal at 60 euros and they bought 2 pairs and said they are double the price in Norway. 

One of the girls had an engagement ring on (Alice) and she said it wasn't an engagement ring because in Norway (the only place in the world) the engagement ring goes on the right hand ring finger. 

We went back to central station to drop off the stuff they bought and then back to MarianPlatz. We considered hopping on a sightseeing bus but they had already done that. 

Lunch and beer it was instead. I had this fabulousness:

Which is a pork shank and those yellow things were like soft bread but not really potatoes as the English menu called them. I really needed to be able to speak more German for the simple task of ordering food. Between the beer and the food my stomach never felt good in Germany. 

After lunch we went walking and sight seeing and came to this church / cathedral looking building. 

There was a band playing so we decided to sit and get another liter or two of beer. Finally the day was ending and we headed back to central station after a great day of sight seeing. We all became great friends and they invited me and friends to come to Oslo, Norway. We took the train to central station and then headed towards the airport. We said our goodbyes on the way and I hopped off at rosenplatz station and headed for Gastieg / Hilton. The girls from Norway were really nice people and they never once road the train without buying a single 1 way ticket for each trip.

I changed clothes and went back to central station grabbed the U5 train for the Wiesn and wandered around forever until I found Gummer and we started our night. 

I'm sure someone else already blogged this so I will sum it up to say Rich the English guy playing guitar and singing, dinner with Rich, Irish Johnny and the Jameson. You don't talk about the Irish troubles, please. We all ended up sticking together tonight and everyone was accounted for. No disasters or worry about each other like the night before. 

Sleep!

No More Planes, Trains or Automobiles...

So the end is near as I have about a hour left of my flight from Philadelphia to Atlanta. I cannot remember ever wanting off of an airplane more than I do right now. 

But I also can't remember looking forward to a trip more than I did this one, at least not in a very long time. The convergence of events and flights and timing and generosity that allowed me to take this trip were unique...and do not go unrecognized. 

Many firsts for me. 

My first passport. My first trip to Europe. My first time getting utterly and completely lost in another country. So much fun. 

There is a woman next to me on the plane in the aisle seat across from me who has made it her mission to talk to me incensantly. She's a little loud...has cursed a few times...and has told me her entire story of how she just took her dad to Scotland this past week. I can sense people around us were initially probably annoyed by her talking so much and I am sure they could see me being courteous and reapectful and engaging her in some conversation. She has shown me pictures of her trip, told me how to prepare schnitzel, talked about who is picking her up in Atlanta, mention three times how horrible her flight was to and from Scotland. She also introduced herself, shook my hand and asked me my name. She is hitting on me a little and that's ok....the point I am making is that she and I both just got back from doing something that we greatly enjoyed. She wants to share it with me...and telling me about it is how she chooses to do that. I choose to use words on this blog...because I also want to share it with others. So for these reasons, I have decided that this does not bother me. 

She just woke up from sleeping the last half hour or so...immediately reached over and grabbed my arm and asked if she was snoring.  Her name is Victoria and she also wants off this plane just like I do. 

We are about land. What a great trip. 

Headed west. Back to Dublin.

I was feeling peckish on my flight to Dublin so I got a Cheesy Mister!  To my delight it wasn't half bad.  

I'm so tired today.  Hardly any sleep this week.  I'm not sure how we are all pressing on, but we are.  

Pressing on...

I wish Robb the best on his 9 hour journey back to Philadelphia.  I don't envy him at all.