Munich, Germany - Oktoberfest and the End

Hey Cool People!

So Munich was the last stop on this crazy journey around Europe. We were ending things with a bang, by partying it up at Oktoberfest. It was an out-of-this-world experience. Here is how we spent the last week of our journey.

Day 123 Friday, September 18th – Today was another crazy travel day, and the last time Lydia, Jess and I would be on Big Blue, the Busabout bus. It was a bitter-sweet moment for all of us. It meant we were getting closer to coming home, but that our trip was also coming to an end. Busabout has been an amazing way to travel around Europe and I would recommend it to anyone.

Our last Busabout bus. It was bitter-sweet. It meant we were getting closer to coming home, but that our trip was also coming to an end.

Well, we started the morning waking up in Lucerne, Switzerland and we would be traveling through four different countries that day alone to get to Munich, Germany; traveling through Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria and Germany. We made a few service stops along the way, stopping in the small country of Liechtenstein for some lunch before continuing onward toward Munich. Lydia and I even got passport stamps from the tourist office in Liechtenstein.

We arrived in Munich around 5:00 p.m. and the city was buzzing with excitement as Oktoberfest started the next day. During Oktoberfest, the population of Munich doubles with the amount of people coming in for the festival. The hostel we were staying at was pretty nice. It was located about 2 blocks from the festival grounds, which was really convenient, and had quite a few amenities for what we were paying. The price to stay in Munich skyrockets during Oktoberfest and I searched for ages to find something cheaper, but this was the best bang for our buck. A few locals I talked to told me their neighbors rent out their flats for the couple weeks Oktoberfest goes on, while they go on holiday to avoid all the chaos.

Lydia and Jessica wanted to get dirndls for the festival, so when we arrived, we quickly ran to our hostel, dropped off our bags and went shopping. After walking around a little bit, the girls ended up finding their dirndls at a shop in the ground floor of the hostel. Two friends, Alex and Kym, that Lydia and I had met earlier on our trip, during our Ireland tour, were currently living in the U.K. and were joining us in Munich for Oktoberfest.It was really excited to meet up with almost them three months later.

Kym and Alex met us at our hostel right when Lydia and Jess were finished shopping for their dirndls. We didn’t do much on the first day.  Once we met up with Kym and Alex, we all walked around the festival grounds to get a look at everything before the madness set in the next day. After that, we were all getting a bit hungry so we went to the Augustiner beer house. We got some delicious food; goulash, pork knuckles and, of course, beer.

Day 124 Saturday, September 19th – Today was the big day! Opening day of Oktoberfest!!!!! Lydia, Jess and I woke up pretty early to get ready before meeting up with Alex and Kym around 9 am; the beer doesn’t start to flow until the Lord Mayor taps the first keg at noon. We were initially going to go watch the parade in the morning, but we decided to get a spot at table at the Augustiner beer garden while we could. At Oktoberfest, you can only get served beer if you are seated at a table, and it can be hard to find a seat when it is busy and even harder when you are with people.

Well, when noon came around, we all got our first stein of beer! The Augustiner was good and going down easy. We made a few rookie mistakes, however. We, one, didn’t eat and, two, drank a lot in a very short period of time. Lydia and I were in bed by 4:00 pm opening day. Jess and Alex stayed out until about 9:00 pm and around 10:00 pm I went back to the festival ground for some food, but it was a short, but fun day.

Day 125 Sunday, September 20th – Today all of us took things a little easy. We slept in a bit and went out for lunch with Kym and Alex in the early afternoon. We walked around the city center a bit after lunch and made our way back to the fest to check out the ride and the atmosphere during the day. We rode the giant ferris-wheel and got an amazing view of the festival ground. That night, we went out to dinner at a local German restaurant recommended by the staff at our hostel, and it did not disappoint.

View of the Oktoberfest ground from the ferris wheel. 

Day 126 Monday, September 21st – Today all of us decided to go to the Neuschwanstein Castle. This is the castle that inspired Disney’s Cinderella Castle. It was about a two hour train ride out of Munich, so we got up somewhat early. We got into Schwangau, Germany, where the Neuschwanstein Castle is located, around 12:30 pm. The day felt like we were waiting in queues all day. When we got off the train, we had to take a bus to the town. Well, everyone else on the train was doing the same. Then, when we got to the town, we waited in a queue to get tickets to tour the inside and because it was so busy, the next available tour was around 5:00 pm. It was a long day of waiting. After we got our ticket though, we got some lunch in the town. We all had skipped breakfast and were pretty hungry. After lunch, we waited in another queue to grab a horse and buggy ride up to the castle.

The castle was beautiful. It was surrounded by the most scenic landscape. When we finally got inside, we learned a little more about King Ludwig II who built the castle. The inside was very dark, opposite of its outer structure. However, it was still very beautiful and elegant.

L to R: Kym, Jess, Lydia, Alex and Me.

After we ended our tour, we made our way back to the town and down to the train station. Well, we just missed the train back to Munich, so we had to wait about an hour and half to 8:30 pm to catch the next train. It ended up being a pretty long day by the time we got back to Munich. When we got to Munich, we went back to Oktoberfest, before saying goodbye to Kym and Alex who were flying back to the UK the next day. It was pretty sad to say goodbye because it is going to be a while until we have to opportunity to see them again.

Day 127 Tuesday, September 22nd – Today Lydia, Jess and I went to Dachau concentration camp. It was a very overwhelming experience to see and hear about what life was like at Dachau. This would be something I would definitely recommend someone go see at least once in their life, to see and try to understand the terrible that we, as humans, are capable of doing to each other.

We left Dachau around 3:00 pm and made our way back to Munich, where we got dressed up and went out for one last time at Oktoberfest. We went out with some of the people we had met in the hostel. It was a pretty crazy night in the beer tents; dancing on tables, singing and a lot of drinking. I think I was able to put away about 5 steins. After we left the beer tent, we got some food and had a little after party in our room before heading to bed.

Day 128 Wednesday, September 23rd – Today was our last full day in Munich. We slept in a little and got some lunch, before making our way to the festival to grab some souvenirs. That afternoon, we sorted through our bags and did a proper repack. Lydia and I were flying home the next day and Jessica was heading to Frankfurt for a few days before flying home herself.

That night, we grabbed a schnitzel sandwich from the fest before heading to bed early. Lydia and I had to wake up around 3:45 am to get ready and to the train station. We had to catch a 45 minute train to the airport for our 7:15 flight out of Munich.

Day 129 Thursday, September 24th – Today was the day Lydia and I headed home. It was a crazy, bitter-sweet morning. We were sad to be leaving, but also excited to be going home. We said our goodbyes to Jess, as she was staying for a few more days before heading home herself, before heading to the airport and finally home.