This post picks up where my Berlin Marathon race report left off.
Monday, September 30
Monday morning. Tom and I
took a train to Munich. We got to the
train station early and bumped into a mutual friend, giving us a chance to hang
out and talk until we needed to board our train.
The train ride took four
and a half hours, but the train had wifi, and we had seats with a table, so I
was able to do things on my computer to pass the time.
We arrived at the central
train station in Munich at 2:00. From
there, we were able to get to our hotel on the S-Bahn.
We each bought a weekly
pass for the Munich transit system. It’s
cheaper than paying for individual rides, and it’s also more convenient. I do the same thing whenever I’m in Boston.
When I travel
internationally, I always buy an international travel plan for my phone. In foreign cities, I rely heavily on my phone
for both transit and walking directions.
My phone was working fine in Berlin, and it was working fine as we were
going to our hotel in Munich. When we
left the hotel to go into town, none of my apps would work. They all said I had no internet
connection. I was connected to the local
phone network, but I couldn’t use any of my data apps.
I later learned from Deb
that Verizon was having a major outage.
That may have been the cause of my problems. Oddly enough, Tom’s mobile carrier is also
Verizon, and he seemed to be unaffected.
I had been doing all the
navigating, but after that, we had to rely on Tom’s phone. I eventually found a wifi network I could use
when we were in the city center, but other times I was flying blind.
In the late afternoon, we
went to Marienplatz, which is a town square in Munich’s old town. We arrived in time to see the Rathaus Glockenspiel,
which re-enacts two scenes from Munich’s history every day at 11:00 AM, 5:00 PM,
and 6:00 PM.
First the top part
depicts the marriage of Duke Wilhelm V and Renata of Lorraine. Then, the bottom part depicts the dance
of the coopers guild.
We met three other
friends for dinner at a restaurant on one side of plaza. We had seating outdoors, and the weather was
nice when we arrived. By the time our
friends arrived, it was raining. Our
server moved us to some seats that were farther under the canopies. It got chilly, but with good food, good beer,
and good friends, we still had a good time.
Tuesday, October 1
We were staying at a
hotel where breakfast was included, and they had an extensive breakfast
buffet. We started our day with a hearty
breakfast, knowing we probably wouldn’t eat again until much later in the day.
We met our other friends
in Marienplatz, where the five of us all took a free walking tour of the old
town.
Our tour began just 15
minutes before the 11:00 Glockenspiel show.
We saw it again, but this time our tour guide gave us the history behind
it.
Our next stop after
leaving Marienplatz was the former cattle market. Now it’s just a town square, but there’s a
statue and fountain, which are a nod to the area’s history.
Our next stop was the
farmers’ market.
After the farmer’s market
we went to Peter’s Hill, where we saw these two churches,
Then we went to the Hofbräuhaus,
where our guide told us all about Bavarian beers. Our friend Susan was dressed in traditional clothing. Here she is, with two of the guys in our tour
group.
After taking a short
break, we continued to Max Joseph Platz.
There’s a statue to King Maximillian, and we were also next to the
National Theater.
Our final stop was
Feldherrnhalle. This is a monument to
the Bavarian army. This area also happens
to be the site of Hitler’s 1923 Beer Hall Putsch. Earlier in our tour, our guide talked at
length about post-war reconstruction and the multigenerational debate about how
to move on, while still acknowledging Munich’s role in the rise of Naziism.
After our tour, we went
back to the framers’ market for lunch.
We each bought bratwurst sandwiches and then went to the beer garden.
We were worried about
rain, but we had pretty good weather. We
felt a few drops during our walking tour, but it only lasted a few
minutes. For the rest of the day, it was
a nice day to be outdoors.
After lunch, we made our
way to the festival grounds where all the Oktoberfest tents are set up. After strolling through the grounds, past all
the carnival rides, we made our way to the Löwenbräu tent. We were there for about an hour and a
half. We each had a liter of beer.
Next, we went to the
Augustiner tent. Some of us had more
beer. I think I was the only one to
order food, We had a late lunch, so I
just had dessert: apple strudel with vanilla sauce.
Wednesday, October 2
Wednesday was the only
day that we didn’t have plans. After
breakfast, I did some exercises and went for a short run.
It was raining off and on
until about 10:30. We waited for the sun
to come out, and then we went into town.
We stopped by the Hofbräuhaus to have a beer. Then we had lunch at a restaurant in the old
town.
After lunch, we went to
the Oktoberfest grounds. We spent most
of the afternoon at the Spatenbrau tent.
Susan met us there.
Finding a table in one of
the big tents is difficult. Most of the
tables are reserved, and the ones that aren’t get taken pretty quickly. We found space at a table that had just been
vacated.
We shared the table with
another group who arrived a few minutes after we did. They all live in Munich, but it was
surprising how many things we had in common.
The section we were
sitting in was reserved for another group at 4:00, so we eventually had to
leave. Then we went to the Paulaner
tent. We couldn’t find anyplace to sit
inside, but we found room at a table outside.
We spent the rest of the day there before going back into town.
There are six breweries in Munich that brew beer specifically for Oktoberfest: Hacker-Pschor, Löwenbräu, Augustiner, Spaten, Paulaner, and Hofbräuhaus. I wanted to try all six of these Oktoberfest beers during our stay in Munich. I had one with dinner on Monday, two in the Oktoberfest tents on Tuesday, and two more in the tents on Wednesday. The only one I had not yet tried was the one from Hofbräuhaus. We couldn’t get a seat in their tent, but I knew they served that beer at the Hofbräuhaus in the old town, so we went there in the evening. I could've tried that beer when Tom and I were there earlier in the day, but they only serve it in liters, and I didn't want to drink that much before lunch.
Thursday, October 3
Tom had an early flight, so he had to get up early. I woke up just as Tom was leaving. My flight wasn’t until noon, so I had time to have breakfast at the hotel before packing up and taking a train to the airport.
When I got to the airport, I was pleasantly surprised to find out there was a KLM/Air France lounge. The lounge had a beer tap for the Augustiner Oktoberfest beer, but I had my fill of beer over the previous three days. I started my long travel day with a bottle of Coke instead.
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