If you are ever in Germany during the last two weeks of September then you must go to Munich. Why you ask? Well for Oktoberfest of course. Yes, it is actually during the last two weeks of September (to avoid inclement weather). So since we were in Germany at that time, we went to Munich to start our vacation.
On our first day in Munich we headed down to Marienplatz to see the old town area. The centerpiece of the area is the world famous Glockenspiel that resides in the New Rathaus. The characters on the clock actually on go around twice a day and perform. We were not able to catch the show, but the building and clock are beautiful. As you would expect there were wonderful churches on every street corner as well. The area is now closed to vehicles and home to a lot of shopping.
After a quick tour of the town we decided to hit the big show, Oktoberfest. We headed over and arrived around 6:00 pm. Part carnival, part out of control fraternity party, Oktoberfest did not disappoint. We wandered the grounds took in the many sights and the amazing beer halls. Every hall and garden was different and yet the same. They all had giant mugs of beer, half a chicken dinners and no empty seats (unless the person in the seat happened to be dancing on the table). Everywhere you looked, people were having fun. Authentic Bavarian dress was the ensemble of the day and the locals were all dressed to the nines.
After an hour or so Lisa took Siena on a kiddy train ride (I think it went about 50 miles per hour, everyone was holding on for their life) and then we decided to try to eat. It was then that we quickly learned that the Germans do not appreciate small children at Oktoberfest. The beer halls were too crazy to go into and even the outdoor gardens were not child friendly. The folks there flat out let us know that they thought we were out of our minds having Siena there after dark. Not safe!
So, we ate at a few of the many food stands, fed Siena, watch the drunk people pass out on the hill beneath the statue of Bavaria and then headed home. Day one was in the books and we had consumed all the pretzel bread we could eat, some good bratwurst and of course, German potato salad.
