Coming from Marrakech I had some concern over the customs, but as we had a connecting flight in Madrid, we appeared to come from another EU nation and there is no customs between EU borders here, so it was just pick up the back packs and we were off- relief haha! I couldn't believe the differences from Morocco to the EU that we noticed straight off the bat. The EU appears as though they have actually thought out the layout of things, signage, conveniences and info desks. In Madrid our connection got moved from Terminal 1S, gate 58 to terminal 4, gate 69- That place tripped me out. Everything was new, the signs for directions and flight times were everywhere and everything seemed bright and happy- except for the train operators that were now out of a job with the completely automated underground system they had between terminals. Each terminal was about 5 storeys tall, eco friendly and had all sorts of wierd stuff like floors made of glass so they are skylights for levels below. We arrived in Madrid from Casa and came across a large group that we are still trying to guess what they were- All the guys had the exact same blue carry-on baggage. It gave us a laugh seeing a flock of 100 odd little blue suitcases being wheeled through the zig-zag security queues prior to the screening points. I thought it may have been an olympic team or maybe half the choir from the polyphonic spree or something- Lynda is determined they are a religious cult.
Munich has been great so far- though that may change this arvo after I pick up the hire car for our cruise of the "romantic road" which is not actually one road, but 300+km of black top... We stayed in an etap hotel in Putzbrunn. Its kind of the outer suburbs of Munich. By outer I mean its like the bunbury of perth. The local council did rubbish pickup with a tractor, we are surrounded by corn fields and pumpkin patches and the taxi ride from the nearest main station to our hotel is 17 EUR. We tried the buses to the hotel instead of the taxi- that ended in us hiking a few kilometers down some black forest cum pumpkin patch road after our driver pulled up at a stop, everyone got off and he shut off thee engine and lights. You can imagine our surprise when we saw him drive past us towards our hotel full of people about 10 mins later. I'd have thrown a pumpkin at him, but these things are enormous.
The first day in Munich we headed into the city for one of the New Europe free city tours. These are the best things ever! The one we did in London had a chick that knew her history inside out and was pretty funny to boot. This one through the Munich city centre was no different, and the chick that took us about was pretty switched on- she just graduated uni studying Physics and German Studies- gut feeling says that involves a few pretzels and amber ales. The tours themselves are a great idea- It runs on a tips only basis, so theres no staff/payroll/whatever for the company, and if you are a dud tour guide then you wont get tips from the punters and you'll be hunting for another job pretty soon.
We met up in Marienplatz main square and kicked off the tour. During World War II, 80% of Munich was flattened by bombing, so virtually everything in town is new. There is an existing church that is older than the war, and it has 2x huge towers with domes on top- They were left intact by the western alliance to be a landmark for bombing runs haha. We ran into a couple of blokes from Israel that were on our tour and had a beer with them after at a pub with 6 EUR all you can eat stew and a beer. Yep- there was a 4-way stew off. The only loser that day was the publican- He left the 50 litre stock pot on the bar after a while. The blokes gave us a heads up on what to expect for oktoberfest too- They were telling us about all the injuries they saw. Mostly grazes and blooy faces from drunken stacks, but also gashes from people getting a bit too keen on bashing the 1kg beer steins in cheers.
After the tour we headed for the St Peters tower that looks over Marienplatz. Lyn counted 308 stairs- I lost interest at 11. Whilst up the tower looking over Munich, we saw army and coppers shutting down the Marienplatz square, putting up bollards, fencing, and noticed virtually every single vehicle around was a copper van. Still no idea what that was about. Its elections here so maybe just a public speech or something. Personally, I'd be backing Thalhammer. With a name like that you know he'd be roaming the countryside ruling with an iron fist and dishing out hard justice to his opposition. Just the man.
That night we headed to oktoberfest at about 8pm to see what all the fuss is about. We knew we were getting close by the amount of lederhosen on show, and the blokes that were crab walking around the place. As soon as we got off the train at the oktoberfest station I saw a bloke walking along towards a pillar, and insead of dodging it, all he managed was to turn sideways and slam into it. Good effort. The party starts when the first keg gets tapped by a bloke with a wierd wooden mallet, and from there its 1 litre steins flowing until the keg runs out and another is wheeled off the wagon to replace it. The bar doesnt exist- instead its just hundreds of tables inside tents the size of hangars (some that hold 15,000 people), and beer wenches that serve the punters at those tables. If you are not at a table, you arent getting served. Simple. If you want the beer wench to come back to you, you tip. The beers are 8.30 EUR- easy maths says they are 10EUR including a tip. Thats $17 for 2x pints. Ouch.The workings of the tents are something else. In the kitchens, there are walls of full height rack ovens roasting sausages, chickens and every other kind of meat you can think of. Kitchens are the size of half a basketball court and theres a steady stream of waitresses with laden platters heading out of there. The stein filling points- I counted 4 of them in one tent, look like a work of art that only germans could pull off so efficiency. Theres things that look like commercial pizza ovens, with a conveyor belt feeding through a big stainless box- The dishwasher. As glasses come out they are grabbed, held under a steady stream of beer flowing from a wooden keg, then slammed onto a big table where waiting beer wenches pile them up and run off with them. Im still not sure how, but each stein is a kilo, it holds a kilo of beer, and the wenches are running around all day, dodging drunk clowns while carrying up to 10 of these. Impressive! We pissed off one of the wenches when we sat down at a reserved table to try and get served. "Helga" was not one to be messed with- we ran away quietly and she didn't crush us with her monstrous man hands.
After the first scout of oktoberfest, we set aside the entire next day to worship the amber ales and headed into the party at lunch. It took us a while to find someplace to sit to get served, and I was struggling to find any english speaking people but not long after that we were sitting amongst a group of aussie blokes and girls and everything was cool. Ollie, a bloke from Sydney went a bit hard for breakfast, and after 5 beers did his impression of Wilko's worm and then ejected his stomach lining as we all bolted. It was a pretty funny start to the day. Security rolled around a few minutes later, and with practised finnesse the wenches had a few steins of sawdust on the floor and the group that had that table reserved 10 minutes later were none the wiser. We were on the lookout for sawdust from there on.
After stein number 4 and the jagirs the birds from Tassie insisted on it all gets a bit hazy, as do the photos and bank balance. We met some great crew from all over the globe- UK, US, Aus, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, Russia... Got a fair few travel tips and had a fat night. This gig is definitely something I'll be back for. I somehow lost Lyn at closing time, arsed up bus numbers and forked out $70 AUD for a taxi home at 2am. Going by my now unhealthy looking wallet, I got through 9 Litres, and it felt like it the next morning too. The lies I was told that "german beer doesn't have preservatives so you dont get a hangover" are laughable- or would be if I could crack a grin at the moment. That buffet breakkie went down a treat and even lynda skipped the jams and was resorting to the 6x different flavours of meat spread that the hotel offered for breakkie. Lyn's been trying to talk me into driving to denmark to watch the Copenhagen FC after meeting a couple of the players last night. Maybe after we hit some cafes in amsterdam...
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