After our time in Budapest, we took a train run by an Austrian company, that in the middle of the journey sat on the tracks for 2 hours without any explanation. We expected this out of maybe the Hungarian, Polish, or Czech trains, but not Austrian. We finally arrived at the Munich train station where our family friend Sonny and Vince’s aunt Ophelia were waiting. Sonny, his wife Fe, and daughter Janet put us up in their home in Aschheim, a suburb of Munich.
The next day we went to the opening day parade for 200th Anniversary Oktoberfest (had no idea there was even a parade). It included horses pulling beer barrels, marching bands, and floats with traditionally dressed Bavarians. There are tons of people walking around dressed in traditional Bavarian Lederhosen.
After the parade we went to the Oktoberfest fair grounds where the beer tents, food, and rides are. It was so packed, it reminded us of Hong Kong.
The beer tents were full so we walked to the famous beer garden Hofbrauhaus, which was also packed. But we got a seat and were able to enjoy the beer, food, and antics of drunken Italians.
From there we visited an outdoor market and walked by this, the Rathaus of Munich.
Another day, we rode bikes to Munich and were given a tour of all the major sites in the city by Janet, including the Chinese pavilion (note: old German dudes drinking beer at noon on a weekday fail to capture the entirety of background pavilions) in the English Garden, which is 10 times larger than Central Park, and the the famous, double-towered Munich Frauenkirche.
Vince’s parents came a few days later to Munich and we visited the Olympic Tower in the Olympic Park, built for the 1972 Summer Games. We also visited the adjacent BMW museum that had a lot of cool exhibits about “The Ultimate Driving Machine”.
Later, the youngins worked their way into the Spaten Beer Tent at Oktoberfest. It was an amazing time with the bands playing and people singing along, while drunkenly balancing themselves on the table tops. “Country Roads” by John Denver is a confirmed hit among Germans, even though they don’t really know the words.
The following day we visited Nymphenburg Palace, a main residence of the Bavarian Kings. The palace sits on 490 acres of impressively well-manicured gardens. It is one of the few palaces we could take pictures in, the interior picture is the Stone Hall. Also included is the Gallery of Beauties, a set of 40 paintings of Bavaria’s most beautiful women of the time, commissioned by Ludwig I.
No comments:
Post a Comment