MUNICH/OCTOBERFEST
When we touched down in Munich, the first thing we had to do was pick up our rental car. I am forever ruined from rentals in the states after this. Everyone in Europe seems to drive a Mercedes or a BMW and they are seen everywhere. Our chariot for the Autobahn was the Mercedes CLS 350 . Driving on the Autobahn is infamous for not having a speed limit – spoiler alert – it’s not like that everywhere… just in marked zones that are pretty wide open. Driving 120 MPH was a thrill I’d recommend to anyone, car enthusiast or not! Going that fast in a sweet ride is amazing – going the speed limit at home just doesn’t do it for me anymore!
After picking up our rental cars, we went to the BMW Welt (museum) which was very cool. The obviously have tons of cars and at the time had a motorcycle display like Tom Cruise’s in Mission Impossible. The Welt is a great place to check out the cars, some of which aren’t available in the US, grab a quick bite and pick up a few souvenirs. Even if you don’t care about cars that much, it’s still a pretty cool stop. We then traveled to Maria Gern (I’ll post about that separately) where we would be staying over Oktoberfest’s opening weekend.
We took the train into Munich again for Oktoberfest… and let me tell you. Going is a must and I will definitely find a reason to go again! We were there the opening weekend and it was insane. There were at least 10,000 people there in many tents set up by each brewery. The tent idea freaked me out reading online until I got there and realized they are basically buildings with row after row of tables. I highly suggest making reservations in advance, especially if you are in a group and/or getting there early. We didn’t have reservations and never got to sit down, but it was fun either way. You MUST tip the waitresses to even get their attention and generally order as a group… bring euro! It is so much fun and everyone dresses up in lederhosen or dirndls. I ordered mine from Bavaria so it was authentic, but you can also rent them at the festival.
ASHBEARS TIPS FOR OKTOBERFEST
- Wear an authentic dirndl or lederhosen to fit in… please don’t be the tourist in a trashy Halloween version. EVERYONE will notice and not in a good way!
- Tip the waitress closest to you FIRST THING. They will treat you as if you were invisible otherwise. Tip well and they will serve you well.
- Eat while you drink – pretzels and the roasted chickens will hit the spot! And drinking a liter of beer at a time will catch up with you…
- Make reservations if you can – the tents fill up almost a year in advance! Otherwise, sneak in and try to grab spare seats.
- Get in line for the restroom if you even think you have to go – the ladies line is always long!
ashbeartravels.blog 