Oktoberfest and Other Bits of Germany 2

I thought I better finish this trip before I head out to Germany again and get even more behind on my blogging. I intend to have posted about all the trip days I've taken this year (including catching up on Japan and Shanghai) before returning to Vancouver. Let's see if that's at all possible (judging from my last exchange... no).

SO! The day after Oktoberfest, we decided sleep in a little and wake up at *cue drumroll* 8AM! But I'm sure the shock has worn off since bernZies has already posted about that on his blog (I will not get killed for this ridiculous nickname =D). This travel buddy was good enough to wake me up so I could see the sunrise, which at the beginning just looked like an orange blob to my sleep heavy unfocused eyes. He promptly told me to go back to sleep while he headed out with his camera to take photos (bernZ was actually the one who said you're going to mention this on your blog, aren't you? So I had to write about it).

Yes, I am bitter because the view was amazing and he
actually told me to sleep instead. (This is our hostel!)

Anyway, the breakfast was delicious and strangely German, but in a homey way (how? I don't really know, I've never had a German cook me a home made meal...). Anyway, we proceeded down the mountain and was greeted by this gorgeous sight that we never saw in the dark of the night. Needless to say, we spent longer than anticipated just taking photos.

Slightly random photo of a guy hang gliding near where we were.
Some dorks beside me clapped when he landed... 

Schloss Neuschwanstein was our intended destination of the day. We were forced to give up a few other attractions given our time limits, but Neuschwanstein was not to be missed. On our way there we stopped by some gas in Austria.

Random photo from Austria just for the heck of it.

And Neuschwanstein was definitely worth that one hour drive from our hostel in Garmisch. The castle, though stunning, totally paled in comparison to the breathtaking scenery. Have I mentioned that in my other post? I can't remember...

A section of Neuschwanstein against an amazing backdrop.

A work of art that could only be crafted by a creative maker.

After our short stay (about 2 hours? definitely would've liked more time!) at Neuschwanstein, we had to drop off my travel buddy at Stuttgart Airport so he could make it back on time to make his presentation! Time was a lot tighter than we had planned (I'm sure I mentioned the pains of construction on the autobahn. What Is that?! It should be outlawed), and by the time we got to the terminal, bernZ had to sprint to the departure gates.

I guess that was a slightly unnecessary side story. But because of that delay, dinner was late. The GPS also gave us instructions to drive into a road the opposite way because our lane was closed... So we were head to head with another car that doesn't speak English, so we half guessed what they meant and backed out of the road...

Anyway, going past the handful of GPS problems we had, we landed at Paulanner for dinner! Had no beer though... as usual.

A few more interesting side stories ensue to delay our arrival back in Maastricht... like one car needing gas but another car didn't know and overtook us as the leading car... then having to catch that car, make them pull over, and force them to stay behind us for the rest of the journey (or something like that, I can't quite remember anymore). But we did end up here safely (as you can obviously see) at approximately 230AM, marking the end of my journey to Oktoberfest. I apologize for this wordy, lengthy, and not very interesting post. Next up, my solo trip to Luxembourg!

By fishii with 1 comment

Oktoberfest and Other Bits of Germany

Oops, looks like I've been MIA for a while. Anyway, this post would go back to October 1 when I set out to Oktoberfest with bernZ and the whole of Singapore (there were at least 10 Singaporeans, I swear). Unfortunately for me, the reservation for an automatic car apparently didn't go through, and so I don't get to drive... Oliver (as bernZ named our Opel Astra) was a manual car. I had to learn two days later in a parking lot how not to stall constantly.

Oliver.

The first day was mostly driving: driving to Stuttgart airport to pick bernZ up after my class ended at 11, driving to Garmisch-P almost immediately after that because where's too much construction on the autobahn. Seriously! Construction on the autobahn is the worst kind of pain. We got a little lost trying to locate our hostel, but a kind man at another hotel helped us call the hostel owner and gave us instructions on how to get there. It was amazing how hard the staff tried to help us! We finally arrived at our beautiful hostel atop a hill at 11PM.

A 6 person room all for the 4 of us.

The other cars weren't so lucky. They, for some reason unbeknownst to me, made a pitstop in Munich at 1030PM, and thus had to sleep in their car for the night.

That aside, we set out again the next morning at 4:30AM? I can't quite remember anymore, but the sky was still dark when we left the hostel to the closest Park and Ride for the Munich subway system. When we got off the train approximately half an hour later emerging onto the site of Oktoberfest, the sun was finally rising from its slumber.

 

A gorgeous site until people flooded the festival grounds.

bernZ and I didn't manage to get into a beer tent that day. Some fowl luck broke us apart from the rest of the group and all we got to do was stand in line for hours. We finally gave up at 11AM and headed to the part of Oktoberfest that was actually meant for us: the children's section (insert maniacal laughing here).

Ride #1

Oktoberfest wasn't all about beer (there was also a befuddling number of people who looked to be stoned), there were rides too! I loved this huge slide, the momentum builds about half way down the slide and it becomes as exciting as a roller coaster. Give me that slide any day!

The view as you get up to ground level from the subway.

Alas, there weren't enough rides to keep us entertained for very long (they were also expensive...) so we headed out to Munich town centre to bask in the atmosphere of Germany itself. Though... I do admit that town centre is more of a tourist trap than anything nowadays. Loved the architecture anyway.

Alliance arena for my favourite PP, though I never went inside...

Ahh I wanted to cover the whole Oktoberfest trip in one post, but that didn't work... I'll post the rest soon (hopefully). It's good procrastination.

By fishii with 3 comments

Prague Day 3

This really shouldn't warrant its own post, but I don't remember why I didn't post it last time. Anyway, on Day 3, I got tired of the rain and we went to Karlovy Vary (well, sorta, but not really the reason...). It was about 2 hours away by bus, and I slept through most of the ride... Where was the scenery?

Karlovy Vary is a famous spa town, but I wasn't really in the mood for a spa. There's geysers shooting up and the like, steam coming out of the ground, the usual... I enjoyed wandering through the town, though it was a freezing 8 degrees celsius (in September!!!) and the rain made the weather that much more unbearable...

bernZ also decided to attack pigeons... wahahaha. (the end result turned out to be a little reversed...)

There's this cool plant... calendar thing too... I wonder how early they change the arrangement each day...

We returned to Cafe Louvre to have some desserts. I don't remember what they're called anymore... ^^;;

Anyway, the last day I woke up early to try and see the sunrise on Charles Bridge, only to be greeted with rain... so I went back to Maastricht begrudgingly to attend my boring Brand Management tutorial. Stupid class...


Such a lazy post, I must apologize... but I need to do more reading, and hopefully get to posting about Germany soon! Since I'm taking a break from serious travelling this weekend, it should be ok? Next up, Oktoberfest!

By fishii with 1 comment