Munich, Day One

As you know, I arrived in Munich by OBB Railjet at about 10:30 AM on Sunday, 9/23. I stopped at the tourist center, snagged a city map and an Oktoberfest guide, and hoofed it from the Hbf to my hotel. I couldn't check in, as you already know, so I left my bag and went out into the city.

I've been here before, last year, but it was only really for a day and a half. Some things looked familiar, and other places were fresh. This is especially true because I thought I remembered which U-Bahn stop was the right one, but I was wrong and I ended up at the way other end of my hotel's street, and it's a long Strasse. Here in the photo I passed Karlsplatz, which is a good 1200 meters (roughly 4/5 of a mile) from my hotel!

I stopped for lunch at a cafe, and then I meandered for a bit. Then I decided, "why not?" and I made my way by U-Bahn (I had bought a Tageskarte for the day - unlimited travel by public conveyance for €5,60) to the Oktoberfest grounds. 

The place was mobbed, and there were near-constant mini-parades going through the streets of the festival grounds, making getting around difficult. According to the Oktoberfest literature I had picked up, the parade of the proprietors of the tents had been yesterday; today's parades were traditional bands, riflemen, pikemen and musicians, each representing a different historical "faction."

The tents were pretty much impossible to get into without a reservation, so instead I cruised the avenues, back and forth, of the grounds - which are pretty darned extensive.  I did look inside a tent or two, but they were just too mobbed to even make an attempt, and I already had plans with the two couples I had met in Salzburg for Monday, anyway. 

I spent a few hours taking in the sights outside the tents. I felt a perverse joy at seeing one area, outside the back of a couple of the beer halls, on a grassy hill at the outskirts. You see, there were dozens of younger partygoers in various stages of advanced enebriation standing, lying, swaying or vomiting there. Ah, youth. No one in that area seemed to be over 24. I didn't take a picture (but how did I want to!) for fear that a belligerent drunk would take exception. 

Truth be told, according to news sources, there are actually very few arrests, little theft, and seldom many brawls on the Thereseweisen each Oktoberfest. The main culprits are usually foreigners, with Australians being the largest portion of the offenders. Aussies also tend to lose things. According to one of the locals I spoke to who read it in the newspaper, the Australian embassy set up a temporary consulate just outside of the festival grounds this year because a significant number of Aussies lose their passports during Oktoberfest! I'd rather think that it's a novel excuse for the embassy workers to get a free trip to Oktoberfest. 

Hofbrauhaus, Munich, Germany, September, 2012

I left the grounds in the late afternoon and decided to try Munich's famous Hofbräuhaus, a venerable biergarten and one of Hitler's old haunts. The place was enormous, and had indoor and outdoor seating for hundreds. 

There I had a couple of dunkle lagers (dark beer) and enjoyed the oompah band and people watching. It wasn't too crowded, as I think Oktoberfest drew many of the tourists away. 

Finished with my beer, I sauntered around Marienplatz, Odenplatz and the main shopping boulevard in between the two - Kaufingerstraße. I stopped at the tourist information center at the Rathaus in Marienplatz and picked up information for the Dachau Concentration Camp tour, which I plan to take on Tuesday. I headed back to the hotel, finally checked in, got sorted out, and went for dinner at a nearby restaurant. Nothing spectacular, but filling.  I went to bed soon after. 

 

Oktoberfest tomorrow!

Baaderstraße 1, Munchen, Germany. 

In Munich, Day One

As I mentioned in my last post, I arrived in Munich on Tuesday, 9/27, at about 10:15 AM. I went to my hotel, got there by 11:00 AM after a stop at the tourist information center for a map, Oktoberfest info, and a Tageskarte (one day ticket for U- and S-Bahn and trolley services). The hotel is in a great location - less than 5 minutes walk to the Deutsches Museum, and about 7 minutes to the Viktualienmarkt, where all the food is. A trolley stops right in front of the hotel, and the U-Bahn station is just around the corner. The center of town is just two stops on the U-Bahn.


See the sign for the hotel above the entrance? My room is immediately above it, with a balcony!


That's a Braeburn apple on the pillow, in case you're wondering. As you may recall from my last post, I couldn't check in immediately, so this picture is out of sequence. I did it for the flow of the story. Another first - the hotel gives you two beers in the mini fridge for free as a welcome! I would hope so, for $200+ per night (Oktoberfest hotel prices are ridiculous). Wi-Fi is gratis, as with all of the other hotels except in Heidelberg.

The people here are warm and friendly. They smile, they're animated, they are ready for fun. I saw a lot of people wandering about in their lederhosen and in bust-revealing dresses, a la the St. Pauli girl. Can't complain about that.





I had to take these pictures on the sly, to avoid any trouble. Just a quick snap of my shutter from where my camera hung from around my neck, casually, while I walked around the Viktualienmarkt after visiting the Deutsches Museum. I'll be all-out bold once I reach the Theresienwiese, the Oktoberfest grounds, tomorrow. I actually have an appropriate shirt, as blue and red checked shirts are de rigeur for the event (I have a blue one, which seems more popular anyway) and I have a great pair of docker jeans that are a brown akin to leather. I did look at some lederhosen as I passed by some shops, but I'm not going crazy for €130+.


The Deutsches Museum is a huge complex with dozens of exhibits focused on the history of technology, from primitive to modern. Of course, with nearly all of the museums I visited (or tried to visit!) some of the exhibits were closed for refurbishment, including the planetarium and the chemistry department. I understand that the exhibit featuring my brother is not quite ready.


But otherwise the museum was comprehensive and awesome. Here are pics of a few of the exhibits:





Exhibits featured the history of electricity, piston and water power technology, and wind power.


There was also a large aeronautical and astronautical exhibit, some of my favorite stuff. Here are some more pictures:

















The space stuff was especially neat, even though several of the objects were reproductions (they obviously didn't have Sputnick in their collection). It was also interesting, from an American perspective, to see how the emphasis here was on the European Space Agency's contributions to specific scientific payloads aboard the space shuttles, and to the German contributions to the European module of the International Space Station.

There wasn't too much on early German rocketry, which surprised me, except for the V and V-2 rockets from World War II. They did have, however, one of Dr. Goddard's early liquid-fueled test rockets, so there's a tie back to Worcester for you.

I spent almost four hours perusing the exhibits, which also included an extensive maritime exhibit. Interestingly, in the section on the inter-war period, the placards explaining the models were at once apologetic and frustrated, with several references to how Germany had been limited at the conclusion of WW I to the size and scope of the navy it could have. The information also disclosed, however, some of the advances Germany had made to get around the interregnum restrictions.



After the Museum I walked to the Viktualienmarkt and had some dinner - a Paulaner Heife-wise bier along with a Kartoffelsuppe mit brochen (potato soup with bread). I treated myself to dessert, too - apple strudel with vanilla sauce and creme frais - yum!!

Following dinner I walked throughout the Marien-Platz and took in the sights, sounds and smells (sometimes the body odor can be horrific!) of the old part of the city.








Tomorrow will be Oktoberfest and my last full day in Germany. My flight leaves Munich at about 9:20 AM on Thursday, so this will be it. I'm unsure whether I'll post my Oktoberfest report tonight after I get back to the hotel, or after I land back in the US, but in either case I promise you'll have it!

Location:Baaderstraße,Munich,Germany