We have been in Germany for about two weeks – which is nowhere near enough time to explore everything or sample the thousand types of sausage. We started in Munich, went to Salzburg for a day, then Ms. Katie and I went on a four-day road trip with Alice, while Dan went to a conference in Berlin.

Oktoberfest

We met up with esteemed guest, Katie, in early October in Munich, and caught the tail end of Oktoberfest. I wanted to see it, but also hate crowds, so there were mixed emotions. It was awesome.

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When we got to the grounds, it felt like a state fair with less fried food. There are huge “beer halls” everywhere. They are not permanent structures, but look like the should be. We were told it takes three months to build them, they are put to use for two weeks during the festival, then it takes three months to take them down. I’m not sure I totally believe this story.

We couldn’t figure out how to get inside any of the halls – they were all packed with lines of peoples waiting to get in. There are outdoor beer gardens just outside each of the halls, but it was cold. We got a tip to go to Oide Wiesn, old/traditional Oktoberfest, which costs three euros to get in and is slightly more mellow. It was great. Pay the three euros. We started off outside, and then moved our way into the hall at some point in the evening. You cram yourself onto a bench with a bunch of other people, drink liters of beer, eat delicious pork knuckles and strudel, and make friends.

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We went two days in a row, and that was quite enough. We sat with Germans both days, and had a great time. Everyone was welcoming and fun to drink beers with. The outfits are amazing. As are the weird traditional dances they randomly get up and do.

Everyone buys these hearts and wears them around their necks, so I demanded one. It says “much luck”.

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Inside some beer halls.

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Munich

It rained much of the time we were in Munich and was really cold. I loved the English Garden – a traditional English landscape garden – which is huge, with rivers flowing through it.

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Everything in Munich is pretty compact, so it’s easy to get a lay of the land pretty quickly. Couple of photos from Viktualienmarkt (a market in the city center) below. It was also very easy to get to Oktoberfest from the city center – probably 15 minutes by tram.

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Salzburg

So much rain … Salzburg is a day trip from Munich – about an hour and a half by train. I’m betting it’s really nice on a warm sunny day.

Two highlights: 1) they sell Mozart chocolates, which are one of my favs (pistachio, marzipan and chocolate); and 2) we visited the cemetery that inspired the movie set cemetery the Von Trapps hid in in Sound of Music. Apparently, in real life, they did not need to hide in the cemetery, because they just got on a train out of town. A little less dramatic.

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Road Trip

Katie, Alice, and I made two stops – Rothenburg and Koblenz – then took the train to Berlin. Towns were great. Here’s our route.

Rothenburg

Rothenburg is a really well preserved medieval city, where a guy dresses as a night’s watchman from the 1500s and takes you on a tour of the city at 8pm. It’s also Xmas headquarters for Germany, so lots of good shopping.

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Mosel and Rhine

We stayed in Koblenz, a small city that sits right at the intersection of the Mosel and Rhine Rivers. It’s really beautiful country. We went to Berg Eltz – a castle that has been in the same family for 800 years, and has never been destroyed. The family lived there until the early 1800s, and it is filled with all their stuff collected over the last 800 years, like Ottoman weapons they brought back from the crusades. Pretty neat.

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We then spent half a day trying to go about 15 miles to get on a river cruise leaving from Bacharach (another medieval town). In short, original train went to a different track than advertised so we missed it, next train didn’t have number on it, and so we missed it. When we finally got on a train, the electricity went out. We got off said train and onto a bus, only to watch the train then continue on to our final destination. An adventure. But, we finally made it to Bacharach, had another riesling tasting (still don’t love it), and got on our boat cruise home past lots of castles, cute towns, and vineyards.

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I’m sure Katie will comment on everything I’ve left out. Like what a perfect travel companion Alice is.

Berlin

Berlin is really nice. Katie had to go home after a few days, but Dan and I stayed the week. Wish we could have stayed longer. It is huge, and packed with things to do, fascinating history to learn. Plus the weather has been warm.

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Tomorrow we head to Amsterdam for a few days, then on to Paris – our last stop before coming home in December!

I’ve been all over Germany and, I have to say, it’s good. The Germans tell me that I am “perfect”, and that it is “impossible” I am 12. I know this, but it’s nice to hear other people say it.

One issue – no one told me this wolf was trying to eat me. Narrowly escaped.

I like all the sausage here. Lots of variety.

Alice

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We left sunny Bordeaux at the beginning of October to head to Germany for a few weeks to meet up with guest of honor, Katie Skordal, at Oktoberfest. (She demanded to be written about with reverence, and as one of five regular blog readers, she might just get it.)

En route, we stopped for a few nights in Strasbourg, which is currently a French city, but has flip flopped back and forth between France and Germany a few times over the years. I’d heard nice things about the city, plus it is in the Alsace wine region and I got excited about the opportunity to try enough riesling to convince myself I like it.

The historic center of Strasbourg is on an island in the River Ill, which is a little offshoot of the Rhine. Le Petit France is the oldest section of the city, with a bunch of canals and lochs running though and around it.

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I did not realize it at the time, but Strasbourg was the first of what would be many Medieval cities in the weeks to come. Get ready for lots of half-timbered houses, or Fachwerk.

We went on a fun food tour and ate some Flammekueche, or tarte flambée – a thin pizza-like dough covered with creme fraiche, cheese, onions, and bacon. Not bad. They make a kugelhopf, which is tasty. I liked the food. A good mix of german (pretzels, sausage, kraut) and french cuisine (fancy pastries and bread).

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Strasbourg has its own Notre Dame Cathedral, with an old astrological clock. The Cathedral was built around the same time at the Notre Dame and is great; made of pretty pink limestone. It was started in 1015 and finished in 1439. I think it should get more credit.

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The Cathedral only has one tower because when they tried to build the second, they realized it was too heavy and would sink the building. We climbed 300 stairs to the platform at the base of the tower, which has amazing city views. They claim you can see the Alps on a clear day. We did not see them.

Watchmen used to hangout on the platform in a little guard house and look for fires in the city. If they saw one, they sounded horns. The watchman were also apparently in charge of keeping time and ringing the bells on the hour, so there are all sorts of sundials.

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Here are a few pictures of the clock. It dates from 1843. It looks pretty cool, but we couldn’t figure out if it actually does anything anymore.

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Strasbourg is also supposed to have a really nice Christmas festival, which I am planning to attend on a quick day trip from Paris. Very excited for all the treasures I will try to cram into my luggage to take home.