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Europe Fall 2022

August - November 2022
A 77-day adventure by Dave Read more
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  • 39footprints
  • 10countries
  • 77days
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  • TravelerEurope Fall 2022
    Day 23

    Feel The Bern

    September 13, 2022 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    What a lovely city. Situated on bluffs above the Aare river, Bern is Switzerland's capital. It's less than 200,000 people, but seems much larger because of tourists and the fact that most people use public transportation. We had 2 perfect weather days and booked a new, trendy hotel high up on a hill with great views of the city and Alpine peaks from the rooftop terrace. We walked around the city a lot and there was a family bike riding event going on. There were bike riding demos, stages, and blocked off streets kind of like Ride The Drive in Madison.

    We opted to rent a car to see the village where Deanne's Funkhouser clan came from. It was my first electric car, and I loved it. The best part was not having to find a station and then pay for expensive gas ($8+ a gallon?) We had plenty of range to visit an Emmentaler cheese factory.

    What we call Swiss cheese is Emmentaler, from the valley (Tal) of Emmen. At the adjacent restaurant, we went full Swiss and ordered fondue and raclette, which is cheese and bread and cheese and potatoes. Oh, they included some pickles with my raclette. Kidding aside, it was delicious but not something we can eat often since it was so rich. Outside our windows, we could see the cows grazing as the bells around their neck created a steady chime.

    The Funkhousers came from nearby Strub and Fankhous. So, not only is Deanne a cheesehead, she's a Swiss cheesehead. Fankhous itself had about 9 houses and was along a stream that was bone dry when we visited. It's an absolutely gorgeous area though. From there we just drove around the area admiring the wonderful houses with blooming red flowers in the window boxes.

    We meandered up to a ski village called Sorenberg. There were hikes from here, but we didn't have time. So we drove back to Bern to drop off the car and have some wine from our hotel rooftop. In Europe, breakfast is included in most hotels, and unlike American hotel breakfasts, these layouts are pretty impressive. Uusally, there are high-end cappuccino machines making a variety of coffee drinks at the press of a button. There's lots of fruit, muesli, yoghurts, cheeses, sliced meats, eggs, etc.

    It was a short but sweet visit, but a couple days was probably enough, especially since the Bernese Oberland was waiting. We plan to spend 4 nights there to zip among alpine peaks on trains, cogwheel trains, buses, and cable cars, and to get some hiking in. The forecast calls for rain for 3 of the days, but we bring the sun.

    More photos and videos are here. https://photos.app.goo.gl/NstrJB17J9Dfcz6m9    Read more

  • TravelerEurope Fall 2022
    Day 25

    Grindelwald and the Jungfraujoch

    September 15, 2022 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    Jungrfraujoch is a mountain pass here in the Bernese Oberland. It means "virgin" and it's the location of the highest train station in Europe. We chose the village of Grindelwald as a base for 4 days and nights here to hike and explore the Alps. Our Eurail passes don't cover this area's transportation, so we bought another pass for the myriad of trains, cable cars, buses, and cogwheel trains. It's pricey, but now that we've been here, I can say it's well worth it. It costs about what ski passes cost at most resorts. For 4 days of unlimited travel and one trip to the top of Jungraujoch, it cost about $270 each. That allows you to start or end your hikes at train stations or cable car stops. Even if you can't hike, the cable car rides are majestic and make the pass well worth it. A season pass for the spring - fall cost only $400, so if you can afford to spend more time here, that's a great deal.

    Our train from Bern didn't take too long to get to Interlaken, a town between Lakes Thun and Brienze. They're both bright blue, long, and narrow mountain lakes that frame great views of the mountains in the distance. From Interlaken, we bought our new rail passes and rode another train up to Grindelwald. We rented a small apartment with a wonderful view of Mt. Eiger (of the Eiger Sanction fame.... horrible movie BTW).

    This town allows anyone who spends the night to use the local buses for free. We actually pay for it in our hotel taxes, and it's a great idea. We need to use that bus since we're staying a mile above the village. For our first trip, we just showed our reservation to the driver and grabbed a seat. After checkin, we got a pass to use.

    We hit the ground running on day 1 since it was the best weather day of the 4. We went from Bern to our apartment and immediately took off to catch a bus, a cable car, and a train to get to the Jungfraujoch while the sun was still out. It was amazing. The whole setup is quite the engineering feat. It looks like a James Bond villain's evil lair. Inside there is an underground train station in the mountain, an ice tunnel and caves you can walk through, a Lindt chocolate demo and store, several Swiss watch stores, 3 restaurants, small bars, a light show, and more.

    But the best part is looking down on the largest glacier in the Alps, the Aletsch Glacier. It's slowly melting, but it's not disappearing as fast as many others. From the top, we could see pretty far in all directions and got to walk out on the glacier. The vast majority of the tourists here in September are Chinese, followed by Indians. I hear quite a few American accents also.

    After that, we went back down the mountain and jumped on a random cable car that took us up another valley. We got out and hiked a bit and then zigzagged our way back to our rooom and made dinner.

    On Day 2, we got lucky on the weather and did some more cable cars and hiking. On a small trail down towards Grindelwald, we stumbled on a quaint restaurant with amazing views and opted to have a late lunch/early dinner there with a carafe of wine. It's surprising how there are these tiny restaurants and cafes in the most out of the way places.

    On Day 3, we had a rainy, cold weather day. I had my heart set on doing the classic Schynnige Platte to First hike. We took a train down towards Interlocken and then took an old, narrow-gauge cogwheel train up to Schynige Platte to start the hike. Deanne's shoes weren't the greatest and she did an about face after an hour. I trudged on.

    The views of the lakes and valleys were good for another hour or so, but then it got cold, wet, and windy. A perfect day for hiking! I did the 16 Km hike and even went to the top of Faulhorn. And even way up top, there was a small hotel and restaurant. I couldn't believe it. I had to stop in for coffee. And I was shocked they it cost the same as in the village. I had to ask if they use mules to bring up supplies and she said "No, they used to a long time ago, but now we use helicopters."

    At home, we made spaghetti and enjoyed the views of Eiger with our wine. Restaurants aren't really too expensive here, considering tax and tip is included. I'd say a meal without alcohol costs 10-20% more than a high quality restaurant at home. But we've got an apartment and cooking is a real treat when you're traveling for 10 weeks.

    On Day 4, we visited several villages via cogwheel trains, regular trains and cable cars. Most of the villages are quiet and quaint and are ski towns.

    Wengen was probably the nicest. We ate in Murren above a scenic valley. Lauterbrunnen had too many tourists and not much to see in town. We ended our last day by going all the way back down to Interlaken to see the 2 lakes and take the funicular to Harder Kulm, a line with a 64 degree grade! What views from the top.

    Grindelwald and the neighboring valleys were all that we hoped for, and more. I'd love to come back for skiiing sometime.

    More photos and videos are here. https://photos.app.goo.gl/nPCBkySzBTm8keqf6    Read more

  • TravelerEurope Fall 2022
    Day 27

    Zermatt and the Matterhorn

    September 17, 2022 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 34 °F

    We left Grindelwald early today and took a couple of trains to get to Zermatt, the home base for sights of the famous Matterhorn mountain. We chose not to spend the night here, but stopped in for a few hours and locked our luggage at the train station. There was some light snowfall up there last night, and a lot of it was blowing, so we only got partial views.

    Zermatt had lots of tourists and lots of tourist shops. It's kind of what we expected, which is why we only stayed here a little bit. We took in the sights and snapped our photos and then got back on a train to start our "Glacier Express" on the cheap trip.

    The Glacier Express is a Swiss Tourism creation that allows you to go on one tourist train from Zermatt to Chur or St. Moritz or the reverse trip. It's one of the world's great train rides, and while you won't see any glaciers from the train, the views are out of this world. Our pass covers it, but we would need to pay a $45 reservation fee. Two weeks ago, I found out that the Glacier Express trains are booked up 3 months in advance! I was bummed.

    But, I found out later that anyone can take the local trains on the same route. The only difference is that you need to change trains a couple times and the normal train cars don't have the larger windows and a partial glass ceiling. Since we have a first class Eurail pass, we ended up having a better experience, I think. Our first class car had large glass windows and there was hardly anyone on them! So instead of a full car with an assigned seat, we could change to wherever we wanted on an almost empty train car.

    We'll break up this normal one day trip into two days, and then do the same thing on the Bernina Express, another classic Swiss train route that goes from Chur to just over the border to Tirano, Italy.

    More photos and videos are here. https://photos.app.goo.gl/fK4MoVKjXtRN2WFk6    Read more

  • TravelerEurope Fall 2022
    Day 27

    Andermatt

    September 17, 2022 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 43 °F

    Andermatt is about half-way through the Glacier Express route and it seemed like a good place to spend the night. It's a ski town, but it's September, so it's pretty quiet. We checked into a nice, small hotel and took a half hour to walk around town. It's quaint, and not too touristy. We found a great restaurant run by a Swiss guy who married a South African woman and we were intrigued by the menu that had Swiss and South African dishes.

    The train out of Zermatt followed the Matter Vispa river down and back towards Visp and then Brig before heading up to Andermatt. We had good weather and great views on our near empty train compartment, but the best views will be tomorrow.

    More photos and videos are here. https://photos.app.goo.gl/dBcFJ1VSpXFa2QtH8    Read more

  • TravelerEurope Fall 2022
    Day 28

    The Glacier Express to St. Moritz

    September 18, 2022 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 46 °F

    You could say I've been training a lot for this. We're almost 4 weeks into our 3 months Eurail pass. We have broken even just one month into it. But we're not sick of trains yet. And this is what I've been waiting for.

    From Andermatt, we quickly climbed up to the Oberalppass, the mountain pass on the way to Chur. They had some light snow up there last night. It's only 2,044 meters high, or 6,700 feet. So about 1,000 feet higher than Denver. Impressive views though.

    Not long after the pass, we followed a small river called the Rhine. You might have heard of it. It's origin is up here and they created a reservoir, dam, and power station nearby. It truly is the hardest working river in Europe.

    Father down, we're saw kayakers on the river. Then came some large white bluffs, which they call the Grand Canyon of Switzerland. That's a bit of a misnomer, but they were nice.

    We changed trains in Chur, a nice sized city that happened to have a busker festival going on. It's the same day as the Willy St. Fair in Madison, so we got a similar experience, if only for an hour. We caught a few songs from a Cumbia band from Columbia, bought some wine, and jumped on the last leg to St. Moritz.

    We ate a picnic lunch and enjoyed our wine and the stunning views. Bringing your own food and alcohol on board is not a problem in European trains.

    Soon afterwards, we passed over the famous Landwasser viaduct before entering a long tunnel. Upon arrival, we checked into our hotel in St. Moritz and walked around town a bit. It's a ritzy town with lots of high end shops. It was dead on a Sunday afternoon, which was nice after dealing with crowds in Grindelwald.

    We stumbled across the "stadium"where the 1928 and 1948 Winter Olympics were held. Most high school fields are much larger! I'm not sure, but this might be the 5th winter Olympics city I've been to. But never to the Olympics itself.

    After a fine dinner downtown, we went back to our hotel and enjoyed a long sauna and called it a night. This is our last night in Switzerland. Tomorrow, we take the Bernina Express to Tirano, Italy. And the day after, it's a 7 hour trip to Innsbruck, Austria. Ok, make that 6 winter Olympics cities.

    More photos and videos are here.
    https://photos.app.goo.gl/9kdGnQkhKYgSocCc8    Read more

  • TravelerEurope Fall 2022
    Day 29

    The Bernina Express to Tirano, Italy

    September 19, 2022 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    Once again, we're winging it. The Bernina Express is another world-famous classic train ride. Our Eurail pass covers it, but not the $25 seat reservation for each person, each way. We're getting so used to just jumping on any train, that we didn't bother with the reservation. And we like the extra space in the first class compartment of the regional train.

    From St. Moritz, we headed south and soon encountered the first glacier we've seen from a train: the Morteratsch Glacier. It's lovely, but I just gotta say that the Glacier Express we just completed yesterday allows no views of glaciers and is by no means an express. It's like the Holy Roman Empire over here, in that none of these words describe reality. I'm not complaining, because we love the slow trains. But be warned that the Glacier Express is just a branding term.

    For most of the ride, there was just one other couple in our compartment. They were German and only the woman spoke English. They had traveled quite a bit in the US and were on a short vacation to Switzerland and even she commented on how expensive Switzerland was. All of us were excited to see the scenery and we had plenty of room to move around the compartment to change seats. They're from Straubing, in Bavaria and mentioned that their 50th wedding anniversary was this Saturday. They met at the Octoberfest in Staubing, the 2nd largest Octoberfest in Europe. Long live beer!

    There were dozens of bridges and tunnels on this stretch, and the engineering feats were impressive, especially towards the end of the ride at Busio, where the famous Busio spiral viaduct takes the train down at no more than a 7% grade in a corkscrew ramp. We ended at Tirano, Italy, which lies just south of the Swiss border. What a difference! It was under 40 degrees when we woke up in St. Moritz and we arrived to sunny 70 degree weather in Tirano. But that's not the only difference we noticed right away. Literally right after we crossed the border (no checkpoints, this is all the Schengen visa area) I noticed a shirt drying on a balcony. In the 10 days or so we were in Switzerland, I never saw laundry drying. Is there a law against it? It's not like they use clothes dryers a lot in these parts.

    People were more animated. They talked with their hands. Wine was literally 15 - 25% of the cost in Switzerland, just 5 miles north. Food was much cheaper at the store. Unfortunately, we've only got one night here. But we'll get back to Italy at the end of this trip.

    We walked around town after the other Bernese expressers caught trains out of town. Deanne stole a grape from a vinyard. Kids played in the park. Local guys drank and sang loudly at 4pm at the pub across the piazza from our apartment on a Monday. What a contrast to the reserved Switzerland we just left.

    We scored big time on the apartment I booked. It overlooks the main piazza near the station and was recently remodeled. And it's big by European standards

    In the morning, we backtrack on the same route we took, up to Chur. From there, we'll pass through Liechtenstein and make our way to Innsbruck, Austria. It should take about 7 hours. My thoughts on Switzerland are that it is indeed expensive. It wasn't much of a shock coming from Sweden and Denmark. However, it's a once in a lifetime experience for me. The air and water are so clean and everything just works. I've never seen such well-marked trails and signs. The cost of visiting the Grindelwald area is high, but considering the cost to run the trams and trains and the trail maintenance, it's well worth it.

    More photos and videos are here. https://photos.app.goo.gl/6WmXt2fgvJPUwwsz8    Read more

  • TravelerEurope Fall 2022
    Day 30

    Liechtenstein

    September 20, 2022 in Liechtenstein ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    We're taking a train through Liechtenstein to get to Innsbruck, Austria. We decided against stopping here. We've been on the go for several days and we're looking forward to staying put for 3 nights.

    Even though we're not spending the night, it's country number 71 for me.    Read more

  • TravelerEurope Fall 2022
    Day 31

    Innsbruck, Austria

    September 21, 2022 in Austria ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F

    Innsburg was a nice break. We did a lot of nothing here, which was fine with us. It's located in a broad valley between mountain ranges. Deanne scored a huge apartment in the center of the old city, facing the famous "Golden Roof." From our 3rd floor windows, we could look down on the hordes of tour groups and people watch. After all the hiking and trains and moving around, it felt great to just chill out. We had time to plan the next week or so of the trip. Of course we couldn't sit still for long. We took a bus to the south of town and then walked up to the Bergisel ski jump.

    Innsbruck has hosted 2 winter olympics and the ski jump platform offers tours. The views of the city and mountains were spectacular. From the top, if we turned around, we could see the downhill ski run where Franz Klammer won the Gold in the 1976 Olympics.

    We walked back to the old town from there. A bus took almost as long as walking. The old town is car free and very pleasant to stroll around. We decided to leave it for a traditional meal away from tourist hordes and weren't disappointed. Lunch was pork-laden, heavy, and delicious. Food and wine prices here are sooooo much cheaper than Scandinavia and Switzerland. Who knew that Austria could be seen as inexpensive? It helps that the dollar is strong now compared to the Euro. They're about equal. A fine beer or glass of wine is $3-$4 and a meal with tax, tip, (about 10% here) without drinks can be had for $13-$20.

    We made it to one museum, the Hofburg palace. It had a lot of period piece furniture and portraits from the Hapsburgs. It's large and was well-done. But based on what we saw, it looks like this was little visited by the Hapsburg royalty and I got the impression that Innsbruck was seen as a backwater to be visited on the way to or from somewhere else in the sprawling kingdom. Vienna and Budapest were were the action was at, I think.

    The views from most places in Innsbruck are out of this world. Imagine looking up to see snow-capped mountains in the background against a blue sky. We didn't get tired of it. We're staying above a nice cafe that makes fresh Apple Strudel every day. People are very friendly, even those that cater to tourists. I can't recommend Innsbruck enough. We're not doing a lot that the city has to offer. Instead, we're just walking around enjoying the sites. Today we walked along the Inn river toward the University and then strolled back a different way.

    Tomorrow, we take a 2 hour train to Salzburg, home of salt mines, a fancy archbishop, Mozart, the Sound of Music, and the St. Rupert's fair.

    Deanne was 16 going on 17 when she was an exchange student in Austria. And she played Mother Abbess in her high school production of the Sound of Music, so let's just say she's a little more excited to see certain sites than I am.

    We hope to spend more time at the fair than any of the other sites of interest. It's a beer-fest that's supposed to be like a mini-Octoberfest. Our United airlines pilot friend Louie, from New York, is meeting us with a friend for the festivities.

    See more photos and videos here.
    https://photos.app.goo.gl/CmHuQMLBz8KgkuHx8    Read more

  • TravelerEurope Fall 2022
    Day 35

    Salzburg

    September 25, 2022 in Austria ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    The train was a short 2 hour ride from Innsbruck. This was one of our first packed trains in awhile, but we still found seats. This week is the St. Rupert's Fair, which is like a mini-Octoberfest. Local transportation is free, but we decided to get the Salzburg card anyway. These cards can be great value or a tourist trap, depending on the city, so you need to do some research. Even though the buses and trams are free, it's still a great deal for 48 hours. Go to 3 museums or sites, and it pays for itself.

    We booked an apartment about 3 miles south of town, which is starting to hit farmland already. We wondered if that was a mistake, since we'd be shuttling to the fair on buses. We were met by Monica when we got off the bus after Deanne texted our ETA. She spoke broken English, but was very sweet. The apartment is only 2 years old and Monica has a nice design taste. It's perfect! A coffee machine with pods, plenty of room, right on the busline, and the best part was when she offered a dozen farm-fresh eggs. We didn't have time to stop at a store on the way in and it was as if she read our minds about breakfast.

    We went back to town right away to meet up with our friend Louie and his friend Michael at the funicular to get up to the Fortress Hohensalzburg, the big fortress on the biggest hill in town. Louie's a like-minded traveler who takes breaks from his job as a pilot whenever he can. He met us in Barcelona this winter. His friend Michael is from Denver.

    We walked through the St. Rupert's fest area to get on the funicular. Dirndls (traditional Bavarian and Austrian dresses) and Lederhosen are in! About half the people we saw were wearing them. I read an article in a newspaper this year that they had come back into fashion in the last 10 years or so after being NOT COOL for a few decades. I'd love to buy some Lederhosen, but they run $200-$500 and are kinda heavy. I'm gonna pass.

    Unlike Octoberfest in Munich, this is a low-key family affair with rides for kids. There are beer and wine tents, but I'd say there were about 2,000 - 4,000 people drinking and eating when we got there at about Friday happy hour time. The fortress had great views of the city and there were several small museums tucked into corners.

    On the way home, we stopped at the Augustiner brewery, which was right on our busline. It was our first Bavarian style brewery/ beerhall. Even though it was late, the experience was fun. After you walk in, you grab a mug from a shelf on the wall. Then you walk up to a cashier and pay. With receipt in hand, you walk up to the bartender who's one job is to "Fill up der Stein." He makes a show of sliding it across a metal table with holes in it to catch the foam. The beerhall was huge and has plaques on the wall for various drinking clubs, many of which give their hours: Stammtisch Pensioners - every 2nd Thursday of the month from 4:00.

    The lights started going off at 10:45 and at 10:55 all lights went off and a guy walked around the room telling everyone to get out.. A table next to us had a group of about 8 teenagers drinking. They were probably 16 or so and were much better behaved in a bar than my friends and I at 25.

    The next day, we all hung out and walked around town and saw the sights, stopped for wine at cafes and markets, and pretty much avoided the fair area. It was hard to get a beer and they didn't have bathrooms! There were no porta potties and just one public restroom that I could see and they charged 50 cents. The line was so long, we know better than to order a drink there, so we went to a restaurant.

    After saying goodbye around dinner time, we went back to the Augustiner beer hall again, because, why not? What a difference it was to get there by 8 pm instead of 10:30. The place was packed. There are small cafeteria style kiosks on the first floor with various food items. I got some ribs and kraut and we drank a few steins. They had run out of brats already

    I counted six large rooms on the first floor that were full. There's also an upstairs and an outdoor beer garden. This is all at the same time as the fair going on in the center. We know now that after grabbing mugs from a shelf, you're supposed to rinse them in cold water to cool the mugs.

    On Sunday, we headed south of town to take a gondola up to a peak called Untersberg. The views were partially blocked by cloudcover, but what we saw was impressive. There was snow on the ground and we were right on the border with Germany. The small restaurant on top was cheap and delicious. We still can't believe how cheap the food is compared to the first part of our trip.

    Afterwards, we took a bus to see Schloss Hellbrunn, the palace grounds of a Prince Archbishop who was especially playful. He had these trick water fountains installed that used hydrolic pressure to power toys and to squirt unsuspecting guests. The gardens were impressive and Deanne got to see the glass gazebo used in the film The Sound of Music where Liesl sang 16 going on 17.

    Tomorrow we are checking our bags at the station for a quick tour of Munich and a few hours at Octoberfest. Rooms are full or too expensive, so we're spending the day there before heading to Fuessen for the night.

    More photos and videos are here.

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/TbUwwNrcN7PkNF8K9    Read more

  • TravelerEurope Fall 2022
    Day 36

    Munich and Octoberfest

    September 26, 2022 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    We finally found some lockers that worked at the train station. Most were full or broken. Looks like we're not the only people who are doing Munich and Octoberfest in one day. After locking up our bags, we walked over to the Marienplatz to check out the Glockenspiel at noon. It's a carousel of dancers, a wedding party, and some jousting knights that perform a couple times a day for tourists from high atop the Rathaus in the central square.

    Seems like Germans and Austrians don't always accept credit cards at busineses, so we had to do a bit of research to find an ATM that didn't charge exhorbitant fees. That's a big contrast to the Scandinavian countries, which are mostly cash-free now. We meandered to the nearby victuals market and found a cheap place to eat after getting some Euros. Gotta love the 1 to 1 exchange rate!

    Then it was a long walk to the Theresienwiese, or Octoberfest grounds. Locals abbreviate the festivities to the "Wiesn" after the park. We stopped by a very small and interesting church on the way, the Asam church. The eccentric brothers who funded it used a hodgepodge of architectural styles. Let's just say it looked busy.

    And then, FINALLY. The Mother Church of all things beer.... the famous Munich Octoberfest. We purposely chose to go on a Monday and just for the day. Rooms were sold out way in advance, or were outrageously expensive. Weekends are absolutely crazy and you can't get a seat in any of the beer tents. It proved to be a wise decision. We lucked out on the weather also. After a brief shower, it was sunny and warm the rest of the day. We had no idea that it was really a huge carnival with beer tents. We walked around a bit and poked our heads in a few of the tents. Six Munich breweries each have a huge tent. And it must be a tent. According to tradition, there aren't permanent buildings on the grounds. They all come down after the fest is over in early October. But they sure look permanent. And no other beers can be sold. And you can't walk around with beers. You must be seated in a tent to get a beer. So it's a mad rush on opening day and on weekends. Going at 1;30 on a Monday was a no-brainer.

    We chose to go to the Augustiner tent, since I read in a blog that it had the lowest gluten content of the six. I found that I could get away with a few with no issues. So, after we walked in, we were promptly seated at one of the dozens of tables. Looks like were were in the cheap seats with other foreigners. Many families and companies pay big bucks to reserve tables a year in advance for seats near the band in the center, or up in the makeshift balconies. Steins of beer are sold only in the one-liter size and cost $12.80 or about $3 more than at the Augustiner beer hall near the center of town, or about double of what it would cost at a local pub. But it was well worth it for the atmosphere and fun. We knocked back a couple, sang "Ein Prosit" quite a few times, and chatted up some guys next to us.

    Then we went out to explore the carnival and went on one ride. The complex is pretty huge and we walked around quite a bit before heading back for another Augustiner. We sat outside in the sun with a group of civil engineers from a local company and shot the shit. By 6:30, we were walking to the station just as the crowds started getting bigger. By 7:30 we were on a train heading SW to Fuessen, two hours away. And by then I was never happier to see a bed in my life. What a day. Octoberfest is something everyone should try at least once in their life. And the place was packed with foreigners from all over the world. About half of the attendees were wearing dirndls and lederhosen and everyone was laughing and smiling and having such a great time. I don't know if I'll make it back. Maybe if I get some Lederhosen......

    More photos and videos are here.
    https://photos.app.goo.gl/vcTGKhpBrnYtzPep6    Read more

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