Oktoberfest in Munich, Sun World Cup 2004    [ Travel ]

A week ago today I was on my way back from Munich, and after being sick this week, dealing with my busted leg, and just the normal stuff associated with returning from vacation, I am just now finding the time to post something about the trip here.

It was a truly amazing trip in countless ways. Thanks *so* much to my new friend Michael Loebmann for hosting me at your house for a couple nights ... hopefully I can find a way to repay you some day. Cheers and godspeed to all the different travellers I met during my stay, it is always a pleasure and may we meet again some day.

As for photos, well, all I can say is that I am a pretty lame photographer. I think my biggest problem is that I consider it a hassle to stop and take out my camera to use it as well as carry it around all the time. Despite that I did manage a few photos here and there which are in my Munich Photo Album.

It really is my greatest joy to travel. Read on for more details if you like.

!!--

Okay, so here's some more details about the trip.

Itinerary:

Sep.23 - Depart OAK @ 8:30am
Sep.24 - Arrive MUNCHEN @ 9:00am
Sep.24-25 - Home stay with Michael ... you're the best!
Sep.26-30 - Oktoberfest ... yes, I went every day ;)
Oct.01-02 - Sun World Cup 2004
Oct.03 - Depart MUNCHEN @ 11:00am ... Arrive OAK @ 8:30pm

Oktoberfest stats:
[ 1 beer = 1 liter (1 liter ~ 2.1 pints) ]

# beers drank ~ 22 (roughly 6 gallons or 45 pints)
# beers drank in 1 day ~ 7
biggest night - Sep.29, Sep.30 (too close to tell)
# mornings with pounding headache - 2
# of days off from drinking - 1 (ah c'mon, it was for the tournament)
latest night ~ 4am

*Note that stats represent 6 days starting on Sep.27 and all quantities are conservative estimations compiled days after the fact.

Summary of Events:

Okay, so the trip started off with a rather reasonable flight from CA to MUN where I arrived on a Friday morning. From there I proceeded to the Sun Munich office to meet Michael, hang out a bit and have lunch, and eventually catch a ride back to his place. I was pretty tired after the flight, but managed to muster enough energy to go into the city for a bit and walk around.

Saturday and Sunday were my big tourist days. I had heard that the Oktoberfest is overcrowded on weekends and so I figured I would lay low and do the touristy stuff over the weekend instead. So I did all the main museums, churches, and walking tours over my first weekend.

Monday was my last real touristy day where I spent all day doing more touring, and then that night began my Oktoberfest. So, beginning monday night and through the week my level of intoxication could basically be viewed as a sin graph with various levels of amplitude peaking on Wed & Thurs nights.

Tuesday was a very cool day because I joined the Sun Munich office at Oktoberfest for a number of hours when they had a reservation, then left the Oktoberfest to go immediately to the FC Bayern Munich vs. Ajax Amsterdam Champions League game.

Wednesday I don't really remember what happened, but I know that I met a group of people at the hostel next door and spent the night with them & many, many beers.

Thursday was my longest day at Oktoberfest, starting at 2:00, where I went with Markus and Axel. It was a bit tough to get started that day, but it was well worth it. To make the day even more classic we ended up at a really killer bar after the festival where I met a couple of girls who were excellent dancers, very fun.

Friday I rested for the tournament, so no beer, then on Saturday I messed up my knee in the first game :( Then as usual everyone from the tournament went out together on Saturday night and had a great time, luckily it wasn't too late of a night.

Sunday I was up early and on my way to the airport. Then to make things interesting I realized about half way through my flight home that my whole leg was swollen and gross and had to get a bunch of assistance from that point on to get my leg elevated. It was a pretty shitty day.

So that's the summary. I'll leave all the really good details in my head where they belong ;)

Posted by agilliland at October 10, 2004 3:09 PM