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| Glenn's Journal for 10-05-02 - Munich Saturday morning in Munich and what are we up to on a somewhat overcast day but the Oktoberfest!!! Need I say more. We started the day off enjoying a wonderful breakfast that Andreas and Helena had prepared. After breakfast the four of us headed out to the Oktoberfest which was just a U-bahn ride away. We decided to get there early to beat the evening crowds and before the beer tents became full. We walked straight off the U-bahn and up the escalator and what lay in front of us but this huge festival with many rides and games, along with a few beer tents (They were actually beer halls as huge as each tent was). We walked through the more carnival like section with all of the rides and games. Erin and Andreas enjoyed a rollercoaster ride that definitely looked fun. A little farther down the way Erin and I went on aother rollercoaster ride similiar to the ones at Six Flags where your feet hang loose. It was a lot of fun. We then continued around the carnival checking out the other rides and games while getting in some people watching. At this point the crowds were not too bad, reminding ourselves that this is the final weekend of Oktoberfest. When we finally made it around to the beer tents area did things change. The area was "chock a block" full of people. The strip was packed but we continued through this area in checking out a beer tent. In passing each and every beer tent we found the tents closed to new entries. This meant that each and every tent was completely full at 1:30 in the afternoon. I can't imagine what it is like at night around this place. We continued our walk through this area with no luck on getting into a beer tent. By the time we reached the end of the festival we decided to head on to a nearby Biergarten. We climbed back on the U-bahn and headed to Odenplatz and the Marienplatz area. Here is where we walked by the Residenz, Neues Rathaus, and towards St Peter's church. We continued through the Viktualien markt before coming to the biergarten that we were looking for. We stopped for beers and some of the local German food including traditional white sausage and of course beer. After lunch we made our way back to the U-bahn and returned to the apartment. By now it was around 4:00 pm. Helena and Andreas went food shopping while Erin and I went to a nearby internet cafe to try our luck at uploading some pictures and journals. We had some wonderful assistance from a resident computer knowledgable person who helped us add the capability to upload some photos but with no luck to upload journals. The journals are written on the PDA in a version of Word made for PDA's. Then we have to convert the .pws file to a .doc file which usually automatically happens. In this case the computers were not loaded with the conversion capabilities so no file conversions for journals. We did manage to upload some pictures but ran out of time. We needed to make it back to the apartment by 8:00 pm to meet Helena and Andreas for dinner. Dinner tonight was cheese fondue which I had not had since I was a kid living at home and Erin could not remember having fondue before. Along with a salad and wine dinner was simple but enjoyable. By the time we finished dinner and talking it was almost midnight. We all called it a night. Erin and I read for a little while before falling asleep. |
| The view from St Peter's Church overlooking Munich!!! |