Prost!

Cheers!

Well we are back from Oktoberfest and are now fully recovered!

We headed off last Thursday avo, crossing the ditch to France on the ferry and driving through the night, passing through France, Belgium, (though it was almost into Holland instead when our dumb and dumber drivers Phil and Phil got us lost in France!) and down through Germany. Only highlights of this 20 hour drive, made that long due to the 2 hourly smoke breaks for 20 mins, were being reprimanded at the border for speeding and trying Spag Bol flavoured chips in Belgium. Dull.

We arrived into Munich and we're dropped at our hotel around 10am. Ryan and I were the only two of the 24 odd people on the bus staying at the hotel. The others were split into a group of 7, 13 and 2 unlucky sods got to go to the hotel with Phil and Phil. Needless to say, our impression of the tour company was plummeting, given their booking of us into 4 different hotels across the city!

After being dropped off, we found our way to the nearest supermarket, grabbed some food for lunch and then figured out our way into the city centre and Beerfest grounds at Thereienwiese, thanks to the directions of our b&b owners.

The grounds were massive. Kind of like Mystery Creek back home if you've ever been! But instead of tractors and farm equipment, this was beer halls and carnival rides, food stalls and the like! We wandered round taking it all in the avo before opening day and the crowds. Did a spot of sightseeing, taking in Munich's St Paul's church and an enormous statue which was the symbolic figure of Bavaria. Or some such thing.

Turned out our hotel was in Pasing (west Munich) so after we'd had enough wandering round, we trammed back to our b&b. Found a cafe/restaurant where they could understand I was asking for the menu, and made out enough of the German on the menu to order a pasta dish and pizza (Italian in Germany, go figure!) Had some delicious beers with dinner, a Radler that you could drink like lolly water and a VERY nice beer (better than speights???) rated by Ryan, a HefeweiBbier naturtrub. Mmm.

We hit Opening Day of Oktoberfest bright and early to be able to get a table. We joined the line for the Lowenbrau hall (supposedly popular with Antipodeans) and were let in at 9am. Then we waited and waited. Until 12pm for the keg to be tapped and the festival to start and a beer to be set down before us. We chatted to the aussie couple and two German couples who had sat down with us at the table. We ordered a large pretzel, mainly for the novelty factor. We spotted several people we knew in the crowds and caught up with them. And finally it was 12. After a rousing speech, of which we couldn't understand a word, the festival was opened and our beer wench turned up. Oh dear. Ryan was hoping for a busty local gal, but lucked out badly!! She must be the oldest, ugliest beer wench out. Short and dumpy and no cleavage. But she brings us beer! We prost each other and settle in. Feck those steins are heavy! Ryan made short work of his first and I get to the bottom of the litre eventually! One of the German gals is drinking lighter coloured beer, so we question her and she owns up to be drinking, how you call it... Shandy! So I promptly ask her if she can order me one for my next drink. We dine on hot chickens and sing and dance on our benches. We learn the drinking song:

Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, der Gemütlichkeit

Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, der Gemütlichkeit

Oans! Zwor! Drei! Gsuffa!

It doesn't translate exactly but generally means this:

A toast, a toast, to happiness (or good cheer/the good atmosphere/fellowship/sociability/cosiness)!

A toast, a toast, to happiness (or good cheer/the good atmosphere/fellowship/sociability/cosiness)!

One, two, three, drink!

Its played VERY regularly, and is followed by Prosting steins with everyone around you within reaching distance of clanging your great stein with and drinking.

We meet lots of new people and have a fabulous, fabulous time! We satisfy our munchies by grabbing a 50cm long Bratwurst sausage on our way out of the grounds and head home to sleep it off!

On Sunday we head to Dachau concentration camp, Germany's first camp and spend several hours there taking it in. Very sobering place, and mad to think people could put their fellow man through such violence, indignities and atrocities.

Then we head to Munich Olympic Stadium for a bit of a wander round and then the BMW museum/factory. We wrap up the sightseeing and our drivers get us lost again getting us back to our various hotels, (they maintained their perfect record on getting us lost every time they drove us somewhere, by getting lost leaving Munich the following night)!!!

On Monday, we kill time waiting for our luggage to be picked up by watching some great cartoons, The Smurfs, Goofy, Tom and Jerry and Sesame Street. In German of course! Watching The Cosby's in German also gave us a laugh! We head into the Beerfest for a second go. We were hoping to do some of the carnival rides, but the day is a shitter, raining and miserable, so instead we head into a hall from the get-go and order steins. Twist our rubber arms! We drink in several tents, and late avo find ourselves drinking with some more aussies and a dutch couple. We run into our bus tour buddies and find out we are in the tent where if you're a chick and don't want your panties ripped off you, best take a chaperon to the toilets! By 7pm the giant figurine hanging from the ceiling of the tent is draped in ripped undies and panties - chaos! We move to another tent later in the night before leaving around 10.30pm to catch our bus back to London. One of us is definitely the worse for the wear, after about 5 steins. Needless to say, it is not a fun bus trip back to London for this bloke. I have a delicious breakfast somewhere in France, while Ryan sips on water. 17 hours after leaving, we are back in London, and shortly after that, crashed out in bed!

Fun times all round, and would definitely go again! Just not on a bus with Phil and Phil and not with our tour company European Encounters! Check out our pics on Facebook!

Started new job at Hounslow Council the next day, and yawned my way through it. Really like it so far, so think am going to enjoy my time there. Ryan's still working away at White City Westfield.

Will leave it there,

Rach and Ryan