Mayhem in Munich

Been a little bit, coming at you live from the laundromat in Munich (but finished on the train to Salzburg, final one of the trip). Getting in to Munich was smooth and we got some logistics done the first night getting our lederhosen outfits reserved, cash out for the fest, and enjoyed a proper German schnitzel meal. Haven’t had many schnitzels in my life but that was the best one I can remember. The place was called Gorreshof Wirsthaus. A nice hearty meal and a night of rest before the fest.

We woke up and got the lederhosen on in some chisky 40-45 degree weather. We decided to uber there after starting the morning with a couple walks for coffee and to pick up the outfits. On my earlier walk for coffee I did notice a parade of police vans about 10 long speeding somewhere. Every time I hear that European siren I think that Jason Bourne must be on the run again. Turns out those sirens would play a factor in the day for us. Someone set off an explosion in a domestic dispute that killed a person tragically.

As we got out of our uber at the Fest we saw some people dressed up walking in the opposite direction and quickly heard whispers down the lane that the fest was closed until 5. We were there at 1015ish and due to a bomb threat related to that explosion they were delaying the open. It was a scene watching everyone literally all dressed up with no where to go. Forced to pivot we walked towards old town for a nice breakfast. We also saw the little merry go round type performance at the Marienplatz.

We got into the main beer hall one of the biggest breweries, Hofbrau Haus around 1230 and it was musical chairs as the tables filled up in a hurry. Place is a maze too they somehow have 3400 seats inside. Massive scale. Tommy and I found two bar seats upstairs and just hung out there sharing our first liter of festbier with a big prost.

We had all kinds of characters coming up being at the bar there dancing and yelling. We met an older couple that has been traveling the world, a couple girls from florida who we were hanging with, our Pittsburgh friends again later as well as Leo and Donna another older couple.

The staff there was obviously overwhelmed as the delayed open at Oktoberfest had everyone rushing for the beer halls. We ended up holding down a booth for another couple hours there sharing some enormous bavarian pretzels. Eventually we did make our way to the actual Oktoberfest and it was mayhem at the entrance. People everywhere with no one directing anything. Thankfully we had a group and could send scouts out to see where we needed to go to get in the right line.

Finally getting into the madness of that festival was a hell of a feeling and we walked down the main road and headed for the Lowenbrau tent. I thought the beer halls were massive but the tents were another game entirely. It was even more insane than I had imagined. Every table was full and thousands and thousands of people all in the same bright tent with a 20 piece band on a circular stage in the middle playing American hits on brass. Hilarious. We somehow got a table with our squad of six and added another 4 random German dudes to that. They were really nice and were answering all our dumb questions about the festival. Many prosts, a whole lot of hooting in hollering and laughs. The standing on benches was amazing too, at points there were entire sections of tables all standing yelling and singing. That, with the song EIN PROSIT sung about once every 5 minutes. I think it'll be stuck in my head for life.

Country roads also played a bunch. John Denver was actually John Deutschendorf so they love their german folk superstar. We hit another tent, the Paulaner, that was more of a bar vibe with no lights, but everyone still standing on benches and American music still blasting nonstop. Insanely long day for us and when we finally made it home safely it was about 115 am. Marathon to say the least. Tommy and I were both hurting at breakfast but soldiered on through the day.

Going to Dachau the next day was what we needed because it forced us to get outside and not waste the day. It was a good experience, granted extremely sad. A lot of head shakes and “man, that is incredibly messed up” as we took the guided tour. The camp was massive. The fact that you are walking through buildings created by the hands of enslaved, tortured and killed humans who were just like you is an eerie, disturbing feeling. It is good to see and remember though and definitely hits you in a different way seeing it physically than reading or watching.

It was an early night for us with zero alcohol consumed. We decided to go to a unique persian restaurant that we had walked by before and saw it was popping every time. The lamb and chicken skewers I had were unreal, Tommy went a little too adventurous with his order. Finished the night with some homemade ice cream that was also fantastic (shout out pizzo my ice cream maker if you’re reading this). 

Our final day was a ton of walking and another quick tour through the jam-packed fest. We checked out the German surfing spot, the Munich Castle and gardens, and a couple churches along the way.

We didn't stay long at Oktoberfest as it was another order of magnitude more crowded than the first day. German Unity Day, a nice Friday holiday, had all of the locals out of work and at the Oktoberfest to kick off its final weekend. We ended our day with another 3 piece brass band playing at the beerhall closest to our house and a final traditional German meal. We will see what Salzburg has to offer soon, and I'll check back in when I feel like it.