Munich 1-5 Oct

Munich pics http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021203&l=5c97b&id=220000480

Oktoberfest pics http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2021215&l=6c294&id=220000480

Was awesome to spend some time in Munich (and my visit just happened to conincide with Oktoberfest) Gow had just moved down a couple of weeks ago and was lovely enough to let me crash at his and Andrew had come down from Sweden and Nina from Goettingen so it was an awesome little reunion. The boys picked me up off my train, welcoming me to the city with a beer and we had a great evening catching up.

Mon 1 Oct
Wanted to actually see a bit of the city with Andrew before going to Oktoberfest so took the train out to Olympiazentrum and checked out the Olympic grounds from the top of the tower (pretty amazing views!) and also the BMW Museum because we could : ) Had a huge bretzel for lunch in Marienplatz and saw a few of the must-see's in the area; St Peterskirche, shopping Street Kaufingerstrasse, Munich's landmark church Frauenkirche (if you stand at a certain point in the entrance you cant see any of the amazing stained glass windows), Michealskirche is Germany's grandest renaissance church, Kalstor (old city gate) and Richard Strass Fountain before watching the Gockenspiel at the neo-gothic Neues Rathaus perform at 5pm - bit of a let down to be fair so we decided it was time for beer. Had a great first experience at Oktoberfest, Andrew and I ended up making friends with a table of German and Irish guys and having a fun night

Tues 2 Oct
One of Nina's friends had booked a space inside one of the tents from 12-6 so we jumped on the bandwagon and soaked up the atmosphere with a couple of their other friends from NZ, Ben and his sister Francis. Oktoberfest really is an awesome vibe, its so much more than just drinking (although that is the main order of the day) with a huge theme park outside waiting to suck up all the drunken monkies' monies. Had a great time with Nina inside the tent with live music and the most amazing grilled chicken youve ever had in your life, the beer isnt even that expensive at 8euros per masse (one litre). Met Gow (after he finished work) in the biergarden outside and continued to have a pretty good night with free gingerbread hearts : )

Wed 3 Oct
A public holiday in commemoration of the reunification on this date in1990 so we decided to take a break from the beer and enjoy a picnic in Englischer gardens all afternoon and then we made a huge chicken salad at home for dinner, great to have a day to just chill with good mates in this pretty city

Thur 4 Oct
Nina was heading home today so was cool to hang out with her for a bit and also to get a few jobs done (my first time to wash clothes in a bathtub and then hunt down a laundromat to dry them - it was like an American movie but i didnt meet any cute guys while I was waiting for my spin cycle). Checked out the last few things around Marienplatz that I had missed on Monday - Adamskirche which was amazing and so ornate you wouldn't believe it was a church inside, Stadtmusuem was interesting with one crazy and one boring photo exhibit, an awesome musical instruments section and some scary puppets. Last church in the area was Hellinggeistkirche and then wandered through the cool open-air market that is Viktualienmarkt before spending a quiet night in

Fri 5 Oct
Okay so I didnt really plan to stay in Munich this long but I was having a great time hanging out with Gow and Paul and Hayley had just arrived in Munich last night so I wasnt going to pass up the opportunity for one more Oktoberfest experience. Checked out the Deutsches Museum in the morning before meeting them though (so I didnt fell completely uncultured!) and was really glad I went. There were exhibits on everything; glass, paper, textiles, the environment and of course being a science and technology musuem there was a lot of technical stuff I didnt understand but also some really cool presentations of things like the high-voltage unit - awesome! Any museum that can hold boats, planes, rockets and a planetarium is pretty impressive. Later that afternoon I was back at Oktoberfest with Paul (my cousin whose living in London) so it was awesome to see him again. Hayley and a few of her mates showed up a little later in matching dresses and they looked gorgeous and we had a great night chatting, eating, drinking, dancing and just enjoying the atmosphere - good times! Check out the photos at the link above ; )