Oktoberfest and Munich, Germany

I promised an exclusive post on our Munich adventure, so here it is. :) We loved Germany...the food...the atmosphere...the beer...the people (All of it).  Oktoberfest was the biggest party and full of fun and people. It exceeded my expectations ten fold, and Kevin's by 20 fold. Our first full day we took a day trip to explore Bavaria. We went to see two Royal castles- Neuschwanstein Castle and Linderhof Castle. They were both designed by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. We also went to a town called Oberommergau and got to explore it. When we first got on the bus, our tour guide gave an introduction and told us there were drinks for sale on board. Her direct quote was, "We have water and Coke on sale, who am I kidding, we don't have coke! We have water and beer on sale on board. Here beer is considered water. Welcome to Bavaria." :) That was a great way to start the trip. Although we did not take advantage of this perk, it was still fun to know that it was available. The first castle we went to was Neuschwanstein, and I thought it exceeded the word beautiful. My favorite castle I have seen thus far.  This is the castle that inspired the Sleeping Beauty Castle.  As we were able to explore the castle- it is only about 1/3 complete on the inside due to King Ludwig II untimely death. The rooms were magnificent though. Kevin and I thoroughly enjoyed learning about King Ludwig II and all of the conspiracy theories about his death and about how he lived his life while in Rule. The grounds are beautiful, and the castle is set up in the mountain so you get awesome views from it. The mountains in Germany were just magnificent, and I wasn't expecting them to look so different than those in Norway. Linderhof was another one of his castles and although smaller and a different style, it was just as pretty. It was a French style castle with extraordinary decorations. The king spent most of his time here, and was mostly nocturnal. It is more hidden the Neuschwanstein, and it has lovely grounds with big fountains and flowers. Check out the pictures below. :) I don't think they can do them justice at all. 

Neuschwanstein Castle

Views from above

The most Beautiful view taken from a window in the Castle! 

Linderhof Castle

A view from Below :)

Linderhof Castle 

 

The small town we got to visit, Oberommergau, was a quaint town that we had the opportunity to shop around and explore. There is a story about this place that our guide told us. In the year 1633 the town was taken over by the plague and poverty.  They made a vow to God that they would perform the Passion of the Christ play every 10 years. They survived it, and in return they performed their first play in 1664. They are still doing it to this day every 10 years. Only people that are born in the city or that have lived there for at least 25 years are allowed to perform in it. Our guide said you can always tell when the play is close because all the men have their beards grown out.  They have a big theater there in the center of town, and there are costumes on display there.  They are known for their wood work/carvings there as well, and also for painting on buildings. We loved the buildings there and all the cute shops. It was a lovely town. 

The theater where they play takes place

There is a cross set up on this mountain

Love this, ha. 

The cutest buildings

It was an amazing day trip. After that, we had to find Kevin some lederhosen :) We had ordered some for him online, but unfortunately 1.5 months was not enough time for it to come in. :/ However, we were extremely successful and got them on sale! Afterwards, we HAD to go to the Hofbrauhaus (famous beer hall in Munich).  On the top floor it was set up very similar to the inside of the Oktoberfest tents- long tables, German band, toasting, singing, delicious food, and giant beers. We had a great time! It was a great pre-game before Oktoberfest the next day. 

Hafbrauhaus!

Oktoberfest-- We were there for the opening day, September 20th, when the mayor tapped the first keg. They had a parade with the kegs of each tent being pulled in by horses, and some were even big enough to need oxen.  Each tent also had a band that led the kegs in. The amount of people there and that can fit in a tent is incredible-- hundreds and thousands. We went into multiple tents, all unique and beautifully decorated. The Oktoberfest grounds are covered with food tents and fair rides of all types. I have to say everyone (but the security guards) were in a good mood. Great atmosphere--rain or shine.  

 

Part of the parade- you can see the wooden barrels on the float

Oxepulling a giant barrel

   

Kevin with a bratwurst and me with a big horse! Below are just some pictures of the Oktoberfest grounds!

 We were able to experience both sitting outside the tents in the beer garden and inside the tents. There are 14 big tents total at Oktoberfest. The waiters/waitresses were amazing. And by amazing, I mean strong. We could not get over their ability to carry five beers in each hand, or four beers and balancing the 5th on top, or holding their arms out in a pose...etc. The beers were so heavy. They definitely got a great work out all day. Everything was just bigger there...beers, pretzels, meat... About every 15 minutes a song called, "Ein Prosit" plays--which everyone sings swinging their giant beers back and forth doing a cheers (Prost) at the end.  It is very easy to make friends with those around you when you are constantly clicking glasses together. There was also a challenge that people participated in when they got new beers. If they stood up on the table with a fresh beer, that was a sign that they were about the chug it. That cued everyone to clap and cheer until complete. There was a guy that did this three times is probably a 2 hour period. (Mind you these are 1 Liter beers). After the third he was walking around, shaking people's hands like he was famous. There was a group of boys from the Netherlands near us at one point. One of the boys did the challenge twice. He was only successful the first time, and I'll let the unknown details of the second attempt explain themselves. We also met some people from Munich that were very nice. The Bands did play a lot of German music, but there were also a lot of great well-known American songs played such as some Michael Jackson, songs from Grease, Country songs, and the Lion King etc.  (Ha) They also played some Beatles. And I tell you EVERYONE was singing along and dancing. 

Paulaner Beer Tent

10 beers!

This lady is a champ!

Our waiter showing off!

The Band in the Paulaner tent!

 

I do have to commend their food in the tents and at Oktoberfest too. My half roasted chicken was delicious. Kevin indulged in bratwurst, pork knuckles, and goulash. And I tried them all; big thumbs up all around. It was amazing how well the food was when they were serving so many people, and the menu was actually pretty big. 

Half a roasted chicken!

Chicken and Pork Knuckles

Kevin's White Sausage

We were able to meet up with 4 of our friends from Norway there, which was fun to be with a group of people at times as well. Kevin and I dressed up, and it was so much fun. I had ordered my dress ahead of time, and it was perfect. I have to say that will probably be our Halloween costume for years to come. And we don't mind at all. We spent all Saturday and Sunday at Oktoberfest. Although it was a slow start on Sunday morning (we were tired), and we spend a little time at the Paulaner Brewery first (My favorite beer).  My Dad said he was able to find it at Habano's in Slidell, so that is exciting. 

Fun with our friends! And yes I was the only girl, ha. 

Yes, Kevin is dancing on a table!

Kevin was able to purchase the Oktoberfest brew from many of the tents so that was a fun souvenir to bring home....Along with a Paulaner liter sized can of beer and mug! We waited until my dad was here to start the taste testing. All, of course, were awesome!

Some of Kevin's Souvenirs! 

We spend our last day exploring the city of Munich. We went to Marienplatz, which is where the Town Hall is located. They have a large clock on the town hall tower, which of course has performances at certain times of the day. It was so unique--the music/chimes and performance with the life-sized figures. It was entertaining to watch, and lasted a lot longer than I thought it would. We also went into about 4 different unique churches in the area. Some of them showing the destruction that World War II had on them, and how they were reconstructed. They were beautiful. We also ate at the Hacker-Pschorr Brewery where we had traditional Bavarian food, and explored some outside markets. The brewery featured one of the coolest things we saw while in Munich.  They were serving beer out of wooden barrels. Our table was set up right next to the bar. We thought for sure that there was a keg under the barrels and they were just using it as a tap. We were extremely wrong though. We started watching him tilt the barrel and then they rang a bell when it was empty. The most interesting thing was watching him tap the next barrel. He had to hammer the faucet into the barrel, and beer flowed out fast. It was pretty fascinating. It was an all-around awesome trip. Kevin said it was his favorite so far! :) Enjoy the pictures! There is also a video below!

 

The beautiful town hall in Marienplatz where the clock performances for held. 

Pretty Churches!

 

The Brewery we ate at!

Pouring the Beers

Changing the Barrels

 Watch the video below of the man changing the barrel: