Apart Hotels & Residences, Munich-Giesing

... who were picking me up to look for a large van. Natrually, they pull up in a 2 door Fiat complete with 3 large Germans and my American buddy, Jon. I squeeze into the ***** seat for the 4 hour cruise down the Autobahn to Munich. My legs are falling asleep, but at 110 mph the Oktoberfest brew is getting closer and I am getting thirsty. We finailly roll into Munich a little past Noon after getting rather lost looking for our place ...

... 4 of us all got tradtional german (drinking) hats so we looked the part! we headed back to the campsite around 11pm after a solid 11 hours in the beer hall. on sunday we got a bit of a sleep in (unitl 7:30!) and when we got to the festival we had a bit of an explore. it was really amazing, all the beer halls are proper structures that get put up and pulled down each year, takes about 3 months, and theres lots of rides and food & souvenier stalls. that day ...

... that are then hung on the inside and outside walls, ceilings and where every there is space. Some are very, very old.

The tradition of Bavaria calls for the heart of the king to be placed in an urn and kept at the chapel here. The heart of "mad" king Ludwig II of Bavaria, the builder of Neuschwanstein castle lies in this chapel along with that of his grandfathers and father.

People have also left ...

... paper and soap.

-beer is cheaper than soda.

-Germans love their carbonated water. Tap water is fine in all the countries I visited. If I needed to buy bottled water and didn't want the "fizz" I was told to squeeze the bottles. If it is hard as glass it is carbonated.

-Munich and Vienna are expensive. I blew my budget of $100/day here (this budget includes room/food/drinks etc.) as the sights are expensive, and food is pricey if you eat out ...

... Czech trains ... German beer. Those of you that know me well know that I am NOT a beer lover. There are very few beers I like and will drink willingly. I can now add two to the list. Pilsner Uruquell from the Czech Republic and some kind of hefenweisen they serve at the Hard Rock Cafe Munich. I forgot to have beer in Berlin, so I had another opportunity and couldn't pass it up. Of course, I should have understood the difference between their ...

Friday 3 August Today we woke up feeling a bit under the weather. Not to sure why, must have been something we ate.... On a completely unrelated matter last night we went on a 'beer tour'. You turn up at 1930 and they have a little beer garden set up where you try all sorts of different beers in Munich. We tried a wheat beer which tastes like baked beans or bananas. Then they take you to some different beer gardens and give you facts and history of beer ...

... time is nothing but fun and revelry. I dance with locals, sing the beer songs, meet tons of nice Munich folk, get my butt whooped in arm wrestling by a 60 year old woman, take tons of pictures, eat pretzels bigger than my head, eat meters of sausage, and yes, drink a bit of beer. During the day, I split up from all the people I went with just to meet back up with them 10 times throughout the day while also meeting tons of locals and just having fun. I knew Oktoberfest would be a good ...

... ingles, ni idea como se dice en castellano, una plaza seca, que era el patio de entrada en la residencia del Rey. La iglesia es la Theatiner, y es bastante linda por adentro, no tanto de afuera, tiene un estilo Italiano (la contruyeron italianos en el 1400 algo). Mientras buscaba la fecha, me di cuenta que en aleman Calletano es Kajetan!, la iglesia cajetuda, buen sigo. Lo mas impresionante de las iglesias, es la reconstruccion, muchas estaban totalmente destruidas salvo los sotanos ...

... the beginning of the next stage of my cycling trip - The Alpenstrasse. This is an area of countryside that lies at the foot of the Alps. The gently rolling hills are almost an unnatural shade of green. In a word, lush. Wangen and Isny are both walled towns and Wangen town centre is peaceful and pleasant. I took pictures of the main square where everything seemed to be happening. Isny has a similar ...

... we entertained ourselves drinking to our last night in Germany together. Tomorrow morning I'm off to the airport to commence the long trek back to Japan. I wish I could stick around longer - it's gone far too quickly. I'm not sure at this point when we'll be able to do this sort of thing again, but it was a fabulous time while it lasted. I won't be making it back to Oktoberfest in the next couple years, I imagine, but sometime, someday I'll be sure to get on a Munich-bound flight for another go at it.