Germany Day 15

Sept. 24, 2011. I just left Oktoberfest and am still a little dazed and confused - total sensory overload on every level! It was followed by the Bataan Death March. I guess I am going to have to explain.

We left Salzburg this morning for the 1-1/2 hour drive to Munich. We knew it would take a little longer since we had to avoid the Austrian Autobahn on the first leg of the journey. We're on the lam from the Austrian police, you remember, due to running the toll booth when we entered the country. So instead of pedal-to-the-metal on the highway, we meandered through the bucolic setting of Bavarian farms and towns. We had misty mountains to our left, rushing streams with picturesque waterfalls, and tidy alpine farms and villages with their ubiquitous cascading flower boxes to keep us entertained while we searched for a German Autobahn entrance. Success at last, then we were actually on our way, well...except for a quick bathroom break. We finally arrived at our hotel 3 hours after leaving Salzburg.

The hotel is not within the city limits of Munich, so the next leg of our trip was by shuttle to the train station. There is only one van, so it took 3 trips to get all 18 of us there. The train was full of workers and/or partygoers headed for Oktoberfest in their festival garb of lederhosen and dirndls. We got off at the city center to meet Toni, a friend of Jens' who was kind enough to show us around Munich a bit. The city was really crowded for a number of reasons: it was Satuday, there was a soccer game, and Oktoberfest. There were entertainers and vendors and thousands of people rushing here and there and we had to watch carefully to keep our group together.

Like so many of the places we've been, Munich is an ancient city, originally settled around 1150 by an order of Benedectine monks. Much of the architecture we were seeing, Toni explained, was much newer, dating only as far back as the 1800s. More of the city was even newer than that, having been lost to bombs during WWII. However, some old buildings remained and Toni took us to St Michael's, a Jesuit church built in the 1500s with incredible Baroque architecture. The facade is under restoration, and has a false front of canvas or plastic printed with the actual design beneath. St. Micheal's

We stepped inside another magnificent church, Frauenkirche, an immense cathedral with two towers that reach 358 feet above the city! This church dates to 1468 and can hold approximately 20,000 people; Catholic Mass is held regularly. The new town hall, well, relatively new as it was built in the late 1800s, has 400 rooms and amazing Gothic architecture. The best part was all the gargoyles leering from the parapets! The building is so ornate I am at a loss for words to describe it. It boggles the mind! Gargoyles!

After sight-seeing, we stopped for dessert and to rest our weary feet from trudging over the stony streets. Once we had fortified ourselves with something sweet, it was back on the train to the next stop - Oktoberfest!

The world's most famous beer party.The largest party in the world. It was so big, so over-the-top that I think I can best describe it as a montage of images. A state fair on steroids. Carnival rides. Souvenir stands. Neon lights. Food. More food. Sausages and fries and brats and sandwiches and pretzels and sugared nuts and cookies and pork and chicken and beef and veal and weiners. Beer, More beer, Even more beer! People eating. People drinking. People falling. People vomiting. People holding hands. People walking, stumbling, running, fighting, hugging, laughing, pushing and singing. Walking on garbage. Kicking broken bottles. Running into people. Eating. Shopping. Walking. More walking. Lederhosen, short, medium and long. Gingham shirts. Wool socks, ankle length, knee length or around the calf with no foot part at all. A rainbow of dirndls and aprons. Silly hats. People, people and more people!!! What an experience! Oktoberfest!

Then the Bataan Death March. Ok maybe it's an exageration, but finding the train station meant even more walking for already exhausted Americans and someone made the comparison and...well, it somehow felt apt at the moment! Trudge, trudge, trudge. Would we ever find it? Trudge, trudge, trudge. Ask someone! Trudge, trudge, trudge. Can we take a pimped up pedicab? They were quite unique - everyone had decorated his with his own personal style: flashing lights, flowers, astroturf, fur, boom boxes. Trudge, trudge, trudge. Finally! Train, 3 shuttle runs, home! Did I say exhausted? Good night!