Munich

Ah, Munich. Ah, Germany. Ah, beer.

After our lovely visit to Prague, Mike and I jumped aboard a train to head south to Munich for Oktoberfest.

I spent some time in Munich back in college and have always enjoyed the town. The camraderie developed under the chestnut trees of any beer garden is a special sort that transcends all sorts of demographic lines: age and nationality come second to the happy feelings produced by the beer, served a liter at a time. But it's not a complete drunkfest. The Berlin Symphony Orchestra holds auditions to see which members get which street corners on which to play in Munich during the summer.

We were suprised by the crowds and hilarity brought on by the festival. This was the wildest part of our trip, a time when we were both tired and road weary but not about to let a little thing like that come between us and an awesome experience. In the words of our friend Matt - we'll sleep when we're dead.

To make the trip even better, the usual touristy places to visit like Marienplatz, Frauenkirke, Peterskirke, the Residenz, and Schloss Nymphenburg were basically deserted, so we had the best of both worlds. Our favorite restaurant, the Bratwurst Gloeckl behind Frauenkirke, was a particular treat.

This is our collective drunkface.

Yes, Mike bought me a dirndl.