Following the Dream

Christian October 26th, 2008

While in Europe in October, one must of course visit Germany during Oktoberfest.  Having decided this months ago, we also decided that staying in Munich was way out of budget. Hotel and hostel prices are extremely exaggerated and booked months ahead of time. Some places charged almost $600 a night in the city ($200 or more for a hostel). So we opted for staying about an hour outside of Munich by train in the little known town of Garmish-Partenkirchen. We knew very little about the town before arriving as most guide books devoted about one paragraph to this city to mention that it hosted the 1936 winter olympics.  We were a little scared by what we might find since my only experience with Germany was 5 years ago and left me with a vastly different impression.

Once off the train we saw with relief a Burger King, giving us hope of a relatively normal town.  There was no information booth so we had to walk around town lost for about 15 minutes before we got our bearings.  We made it to the historical center which is pedestrianized and full of tons of small shops and restaurants. As we continued towards our hotel we were very happy looking around at the small village feel of the town surrounded by the alps.  We checked into our hotel with the help of a lady who spoke great english and were pleasantly surprised.  Our room was on the 3rd floor and was huge especially by our usual small hostel room standards. We had a slanted wooden roof, small sofa and table along with cable TV. (With our usual one english speaking channel being CNN) Casey was very happy to have our own private bathroom complete with fully operating shower and hot water.  We were pretty tired after traveling all day but did a small walk around the town to explore and find some snacks and a cash machine. (No one knows what an ATM is in Europe) We discovered an ALDI food store and stocked up on tons of cheap snacks and water. We looked at lots of dinner menus posted in English for the tourists as we walked around and saw lots of good options. We decided on a tradional Barvarian restaurant.  The atmosphere was nice and the service pretty good. I got a large german beer in preperation for Oktoberfest and Casey splurged on a $5 Diet Coke.  We received bread for an appetizer and when our meals came we were not disappointed. I enjoyed beef served in a dark beer gravy with dumpling potatoes while Casey enjoyed Pork Schnitzel with fried potatoes. Both meals were huge portions and probably some of the best food we ate our entire trip. We both left very happy and satisfied. We went to bed early excited for our next day at Oktoberfest.

We discovered breakfast at our hotel cost about $15 each a person so we stopped at a bakery on the way to the train station and enjoyed some very good pasteries and a carbonated apple juice (whoever heard of such a thing?) The ride to Munich wasn’t too bad spent listening to our ipods. On the train other people were dressed for the occasion in tradional clothing obviously on the way to Oktoberfest too.  At the station we followed the mass of travelers in the general direction of the fairgrounds which was close by.  The entrance we entered through was similar to entering a fair or canival back home. There were ferris wheels, roller coasters, and food stands everywhere.  As you continued down the main avenue you started to encounter the famous beer “tents”.  The tents are more like huge airplane hangers some of which can seat up to 10,000 people.  We first entered the famous Lowenbrau tent, which is a favorite of Germans. We weren’t sure if we could just sit down anywhere so we walked around a little and found an empty spot at one of the tables. Within 5 minutes a beer “wench” served us and we were happily drinking away at our 1 liter beers.

There was a live band playing and plenty of lively people watching.  We grabbed a huge soft pretzel from a passing vendor and enjoyed. The band continued to play and groups of people would start beer chants that almost the whole tent would join in on.  It was such a great atmosphere.  We decided to check out another tent, where most the “foreigners” are usually hanging out. On the way we kept passing delicious looking food vendors and finally grabbed a Bratwurst that was very good. This tent holds a mere 5,000 people but was packed. There were definitely plenty of drunk people wandering around. We found a small corner table empty and were promptly served 2 more liter beers. I drank mine quite quickly and then had to help a struggling Casey, (who didn’t enjoy this tent’s beer as much) with her beer.  A group of 6 Italians had decided to join us at our table and we were all having a good time watching people throw various pieces of clothing onto ornaments hanging from the ceiling.  The Italians who had been enjoying some food and were sniffing some suspicious substances off the table were a little surprised when by accident I spilled what was left of Casey’s beer onto their laps.  It happened in slow motion.  I watched as my hand turned the mug on it’s’ side onto the Italian’s lap.  He seemed a little pissed at first, but I just laughed about it.  Honestly, if you were watching this go down, it would have seemed as though I looked at the guy, slowly and intentionally spilling my beer onto him, laughing afterwards.  I was a little slow to respond and Casey and I quickly evacuated the tent. After stopping for my 5th bathroom break of the hour Casey and I grabbed some roasted peanuts and enjoyed a walk around the fairgrounds.  I was past my limit, and realized that maybe I should have eaten before drinking, not after.

We decided to call it a day with me weaving on my feet (after 3 liters of beer in 2 hours) and walked back to the train station.  I saw a cool german style hat on the ground, until I walked over to discover it full of puke! Little did we know this was a preview of what was to come. At the station we grabbed a huge “funnel” of fries for only $2 and enjoyed lots of ketchup, mayo, and curry sauce on them. (Free condiments is very rare in Europe) This may have not been the best decision of my life.  We were seated comfortably in first class with only 2 other people in the car with us.  All was well for the first 30 minutes.  The train was a bit spinny, and I felt a bit woosy.  However after having my head on my arm for 30 minutes, enough was enough.   I quickly grabbed my empty fry funnel and emptied the contents of my stomach into it.  This was a huge funnel, but still did not seem to contain it all.  There was vomit everywhere, with the muffeled sounds of me puking and the smell of curry sauce fries filling the first class cabin.  Casey got up and made a run for the bathroom for paper towels that were unfortunately 4 train cars away. By the time she got back there was quite a mess as the poor funnel was overflowing. We shoved the funnel-o-puke into the small trash can by our seats. After mopping up the mess we were forced to move seats to get away from the overwhelming smell of french fries and curry sauce.  Luckily, the other 40 minutes of the train ride I mostly slept away in a coma. We made our way to the hotel where I promptly showered and passed out in bed by 7 pm to sleep the rest of the night away.  It was wonderful.

The next day I was feeling much better but not ready to drink beer anytime soon so we enjoyed a pastry at the local bakery.  Casey and I then hunted around the local shops for souvenirs, and postcards. This was our last stop in Europe so we planned to send a package home of anything we had collected throughout our European travels. We didn’t end up with too much but we did each buy a book to read for our 22 hour flight to Australia. We then made the trip to Burger King looking for some buffalo chicken strips we had seen advertised in Switzerland. We each got a cheeseburger and split an order of the chicken strips, avoiding french fries at all costs and then headed to Aldi for some snacks for our travel day to Frankfurt. Once back in the room, we wrote some emails to friends and family and enjoyed our free wi-fi, but we were disturbed by a maid knocking on our door. Once in the room she proceeded to have an entire conversation with us in German that we understood not one word of.  She would gesture at the beds and we would shake our heads no, then at the bathroom, and then the towels, meanwhile chattering the whole time while all we could do was shake our heads and try not to laugh. The best part was she went to the windows where she then laughed hysterically at what we could only guess. When she left we were both left staring at each other trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

For our last official night in the Barvarian Alps we decided to enjoy one last dinner out at the same Barvarian restaurant. Once again the food was delicious. I enjoyed a sirloin steak with baked potato and caesar salad, while Casey had a green salad and homemade spinach noodles with cheese and onions. We ate till we could eat no more and rolled ourselves back to the hostel to watch some TV and relax.  The next morning we took a train to Frankfurt where we stayed in a hostel called the Easy Bed 24.  It was a funny name since it was right in the middle of the red light district, complete with a strip club next door.  We had some terrific views of the city at night, however we also had views of the brothel windows across the street.  Let’s just say there was plenty of “red light specials” happening.  Our night in Frankfurt was pretty uneventful, just a stop before catching the long flight to Sydney Australia.

We absolutely loved our stay at Garmish- Partenkirchen and could not believe how incredible the views were and the nice people.  The town was very “cute” and we would definitely visit again sometime.  It would be great for snowboarding in the winter or mountain biking in the summer.  Oktoberfest was amazing, I just have to remember to pace myself next time and eat a bit before hand.  It would be an amazing event to go to with a group of people.  We loved our time in Germany.  It really topped off our time spent in Europe.  Now it is off to Australia for a while.  See you down under.

• Germany
• Comments(2)