Munich

The next stop on our Big Adventure was Munich. Even though we have have visited this city several times since our arrival to Germany, we always seem to enjoy ourselves and find new things to explore with each visit. On this particular visit our mission was three-fold: introduce our friends to this wonderful Bavarian city, take a day-trip down to the famous Neuschwanstein castle, and attend some Oktoberfest celebrations. 

Shortly after arriving in the main train station we headed over to Mike's Bike Tour.....a fun and entertaining way to see Munich while getting in some light exercise.  We enjoyed the bike tour on our last visit in May, so our friends were solo on the adventure for this trip.  Besides, this allowed Andrea and I to schlep the luggage to the hotel via the trains.  An entertaining venture in itself, I must add.  Especially when you only have a rough idea of exactly where the hotel is in relation to the train station (uh yeah.....1.2 kilometers is in fact a good distance when carrying lots of luggage).  

We were quite fortunate to have great weather on the first day which provided ideal conditions for our friends on the bike tour.  After the tour was complete we wandered around near Marionplatz where the Farmer's Market takes place.  We arrived on Day 1 of the 2-week Oktoberfest celebrations...which was great! 

More Liederhosen and Dirndl's than you could shake a stick at. 

Even the flower dude was wearing his finest Liederhosen.

After a late afternoon snack we thought it would be fun to visit the International Headquarters for Oktoberfest: the Theresienwiese (which translates into "Theresa's Fields").   So what is Oktoberfest and why is it so popular?  Great question.  The first festival was actually a wedding celebration.  The groom, Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, wanted his people to share in the celebration of his marriage to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen in 1810.  Prince Ludwig organized a horse race, invited all the people of Munich, and hosted a party of the century to the 40,000 that showed up to the fields in front of the city gates.  The party lasted five days in the first year and was such a success that the Prince decided to host an anniversary celebration the year following that included a horse race.  The anniversary celebration grew over the years to include an agricultural display, amusement rides, and competitions such as tree climbing, wheel barrow and sack races, mush eating, barrel rolling, and goose chases.  The annual festival continued to grow in days and was eventually moved to September to allow for better weather conditions. Today, the last day of celebration is the first day of October.

OK, so you mentioned you were heading to the 'Theresenwiese'.  Is this Oktoberfest?  Yes, the Wiesn, as the locals refer to it, or 'Theresenwiese', is the official site for the Oktoberfest celebrations.  The Wiesn was named after the wife of Prince Ludwig, Princess Therese.  Between the amusement rides, beer tents, and other attractions, the grounds for Oktoberfest are over 103 acres....not a small venue by any measure.

People watching at the Wiesn is slightly entertaining.  Some locals, some tourists, some people dressed up in Liederhosen and Dirndl's.......but everyone had one common goal: to have a good time.  It is quite common to see total strangers smiling and laughing and perhaps even hugging all while attending the Wiesn.  No fights here....only laughter.

So much for the great weather......in the distance you can see a big storm cloud fast approaching......

A few more shots of the tents...

We really enjoyed watching people on the ride Toboggan.  For over 75 years this ride has been providing a challenge for the riders while also providing quality entertainment for the audience.  The concept is simple: challenge people to "jump" on a fast-moving conveyor belt that is slanted upwards.  The result is watching person after person reacting the wrong way and watching their feet go over their heads as they do a backward somersault.  A prime example Tobaggan ride Oktoberfest.

The next day we headed out to the Neuschwanstein castle (next post) but on day 3, we returned for the Wiesn for some more fun and entertainment.  Inside the Spaten tent before the festivities get underway.

The four of us enjoying a break from the rain in the Hacker-Festzelt tent.

Festival in full swing in the Hacker-Festzelt.  If you didn't have a good seat by 11am on a Monday, then you were most likely out of luck.

In all it was a great visit to Munich in spite of the wet weather that rolled in the last day of our visit.  Lucky for us the years of training in Seattle helped us manage it all with relative ease.  Marking Munich off the list, we headed back to the main train station to visit the next city on the itinerary: Berchtesgaden.