The cab cost around 10 Euro and took about 10 - 15 minutes to arrive at the station. On the way, the driver was talking to me and at one point I mentioned that "I would love to come here for Octoberfest". He told me "there are many Australians here for Octoberfest and they drink a lot of beer". I laughed. He asked about the weather back home and told him it was "30 degrees everyday", he said "Ahh, very nice"and I added "Perfect beer drinking weather". I arrived at the station, I found the ticket office and once I worked out that the entrance was on the opposite side of where I was standing I entered. I took a ticket from the machine and waited about 30 seconds for it to be called.
I headed over to counter 8 and spoke to the young woman. She spoke English fluently but because of her accent I couldn't understand sometimes. I gave her the dates and times that I needed to travel and she found me the prices for that day. She was very helpful. The first was Munich to Berlin on 26 February and Berlin to Hamburg on 1 March. 112 Euro for both tickets was reasonable.
After I got the train tickets I walked around the station looking for the tour centre office. I went through every exit I could find. No sign of it anywhere.I tried to decipher the tiny map on the tour brochure that points to where the office is. It appeared to be hidden away in a corner half way down one of the train platforms. I walked down the platform and about halfway down there was a cut away with more platforms, hundreds of bicycles and an alcove with some shops and an exit from the station.
Sure enough there was the tour office. It was about 8:45 by the time I found it. I entered the office and the guy at the counter was talking to some Spanish people. He didn't speak Spanish so was trying to make them understand in English. They spoke English but sometimes it seemed there was a breakdown in understanding. I looked around the office while I waited. More people started coming in. Behind the counter there were 3 people just standing around talking in English about movies.
The guy finished with the Spanish couple and I approached the counter. I said "I am interested in the Beer and Food tour". He said "For tonight, it's running and there a few people already booked". I payed the 29 Euro for the ticket and he told me to come back to the office at 6:00 PM that night for the tour.
I left and stopped in a shop I had passed earlier to buy some souveneirs. The two middle aged German women were laughing when we struggled to understand each other. They thought I was English and asked me "How is England?". I answered, "I am Australian". To which they said "Kangaroo" and "Kakadu". They asked me whereabouts in Australia I am from. I usually just respond "Sydney". It's easier than trying to explain the complexity of me being between places at the moment. They said "Very nice" and asked about the weather there. I had no idea really so I usually just say it is 30 degrees. This makes them happy and they joked "Can we swap lives with you?", and we all laughed. It's something I would definitely, consider if I thought it was at all possible. I payed the 15 Euro for the souveneirs and left.
I had done everything I wanted to do and was still tired so I caught a Taxi back to the hostel. It was around 10 Euro again, so German taxis are obviously reliable. I went upstairs and wrote the story about the train trip.
The restaurant (Caffeteria) at the hostel apparently opens at 12:00 for lunch. I am not sure if that included weekends or just weekdays. I went downstairs at about 12:15 but the restaurant doors were closed and their didn't appear to be anyone in there. I went outside for a cigarette. Across the road is a BP Service Station (Gas Station). It also sold some food. I went across, finished my cigarette and got a Mediteranean Panini. I could tell the woman was getting frustrated with the communication problems and she couldn't see what I was pointing at. In the end, we worked it out but I don't think she was too happy with me. I paid my 1.50 Euro and went back to the hostel.
I was starting to get tired and wanted to be reasonably fresh for my night of German beer drinking, so I slept for about an hour. When i woke, I played around on the laptop for awhile. At about 4:30 PM I had a shower and a shave and got ready to head off. I locked my laptop in the wardrobe in my room and headed off to get a taxi.
It was dusk and the temperature was dropping. I got to the taxi and the driver was watching a football game on a little screen attached to the dash, he quickly switched it off when I opened the door. I asked "Who's playing?", he told me it was second division. We talked about Bayern Munich for the rest of the trip as they were playing that afternoon. Allianz Arena, the home ground for Bayern Munich is not far from the hostel. It was Bayern Munich Vs Werder Bremen. It would have been a good game.
I think Werder bremen won the Bundasliga (the German first division football competition) last year and are obviously a good team. Throughout the afternoon I had seen people coming and going from the hostel all kitted up in their Bayern apparel. I asked the taxi driver if it was hard to get tickets for Bayern Games and he said "Yes, most people buy all the tickets at the start of the year". I guess it's the same all around Europe for the big teams, they have so many members and season ticket holders.
I arrived at the train station and made my way to the tour office. Their were a few other people already waiting when I arrived. After a couple of minutes, the woman inside the office came out and invited us to wait inside if we were cold. We all went inside and after a couple of minutes of us milling around. The woman asked us if we wanted a beer while we waited. The group consensus was 'Yes". After pouring some beers the woman came over and we all grabbed one. The woman came over and introduced herself as Amanda, our tour guide. Amanda spoke fluent English and I thought she sounded a little British.She explained the German tradition of Prost! (like cheers but a bit more passionate). She explained the tour and some history about the beer we were drinking called 'Augustiner'.
Augustiner is the best beer ever and apparently the breqery gives something like 49% of the profits back to the community. That's pretty awesome. Before you all rush out looking for Augustiner, apparently it's not sold outside of Munich. There was a lot of humour and tongue in cheek in the background that Amanda gave us. It was actually enjoyable listening to the history.
Beer is a big part of the history and culture of Bavaria, the region of Germany that Munich is located. Munich is where the annual Oktoberfest celebrations are held each year which people from all over the world come to participate in. There is a lot of tradition and pride put into the brewing of German beer, or more precisely Bavarian beer. We went around the group and introduced ourselves. There were 2 American couples, A Spanish couple, A New Zealand couple, 2 Brazilian guys and me. Me and one of the American guys, named DJ, had been making jokes a lot.
After we finished the beers we waited outside for Amanda to make some phone calls. While outside, DJ called me over and I began talking to him and his partner Roseann and the other American couple. I am really bad with names and unless I use them within 10 minutes, tend to forget most names. As such i forgot most of the names of the people on the tour (Sorry guys if you are reading this). We made some chokes and got to know each other a little bit, then Amanda came out and off we went. We went down into the subway and got a train. Once we exited the train I was talking to Amanda and it turns out she was Australian, from Adelaide. The first Australian I met since I had been in Europe.
We headed to a place called the Bier Oktoberfest Museum. It is one of the oldest buildings in Munich. It is a pub but it also houses the Oktoberfest Museum.
We entered and navigated some winding wooden staircases with low headway clearances. The pub was full and eventually we arrive at a table at the back of one of the rooms that had been reserved for our group. We sat down and we were given 3 small beer glasses of 3 different types of beer. One clear (Lager), one cloudy (Ale) and one dark. We tasted them one at a time and did a different traditional Bavarian chant with each one. What goes better with a beer than a pretzel, the waiters brought out some pretzels too.
I sculled 4 beers, my 3 and then someone gave me one of their dark beers. I had a nice little buzz happening but wasn't drunk. After we finished we were taken through the Oktoberfest Museum and given a more in depth history about the Bavarian breweries, the beer barons/baronesses and Oktoberfest itself with various photographs and artifacts. Amanda knew a lot about the history of Bavarian beer.
The movie Beerfest may have been a comedic and fictional plot, but as I heard some of the stories of the rivalries and connections between these breweries, I did see where they had created the plot from the true Bavarian beer history. After leaving the Oktoberfest Museum we took a tram to the Hofbraukeller. It is the site of the old Hofbrau brewery but is now a beer hall and restaurant.
Once there, we were provided with a traditional Brotzeit platter. It has different sausages, proscuitto and cheese. Then the waiters brought out a pot of hot water with Weisswurst. A white Veal sausage. There is apparently a special way to eat this but we weren't told until me and the guy from New Zealand had already eaten ours. We also got to buy one drink. Most of us ordered the 'Special beer'. Apparently this only served during certain weeks of the year. I don't know if I believe that, but I guess it makes it a special experience.
The 'strong beer' is a dark beer. It's 8% alcohol volume. It is sweet, not like other dark beers and it also doesn't seem so heavy. It is the best beer I have ever tasted. It was 3.90 Euro for a half litre.
During dinner I spoke with the Brazillian guys and the guy from New Zealand. The couple from New Zealand are heading to Berlin a couple of days after me. Perhaps I will run into them again. I spoke breifly with the Brazilian guys about football, but one didn't speak any English. The other didn't speak very much English at all.
After we finished dinner, we were all preparing to leave. I decided to go out the front for a cigarette. I thought the group had to come out this way anyway and they would find me. Wrong!!!!!! I finished my cigarette and thought I would go back in to see what was happening. As I re-entered the restaurant, Amanda was standing there with an unimpressed look on her face and pointing through another set of doors. She told me that they left without me and she had to stop the whole group to look for me. She was not happy at all. I apologised. As we rejoined the group a little way up the street, everyone was joking that I was in trouble. I joked, "Yes, I have been sent to the principles office".
It was all in good spirits, but Amanda was worried about problems with the timeframe that my delay had caused. We walked a bit further to another tram stop and after about a minute a tram arrived and we boarded. No drama, crisis averted. On the tram the guy from Spain pointed at me and laughed I just laughed back. We got off at the next stop and walked a little until we arrived at the Hofbrauhaus. This is a famous beerhall. A lot of dignitaries and important people have visited here. The beatles drank here once and i think it may be the beer hall where the Nazi party was basically formed.
It was destroyed by bombing raids in World War 2, but has since been rebuilt. We walked inside and there were literally thousands of people. The entire hall was filled with rows and rows of long tables. There were waiters walking around with trays of drinks. Apparently you can only get beer by the litre here. In the middle of the hall on the ground floor, was a traditional Bavarian band. There were a lot of people taking pictures. I'm not sure if it was of the whole band or just the super fat trombone player.
We walked quickly through the middle Aisle. It was very hard to get through as there were people everywhere. Once through the other side, we walked outside and Amanda told the group the tour was over. It was about 9:30 PM. We could stay if we wanted or go back to the train station with her. Everybody else decided to go back to the train station, I decided to stay. I think DJ wanted to stay also but he had a train to catch.
I said goodbye to everyone and they all left. DJ came back and gave me a 'Manhug' and wished me luck for the rest of the trip, then everyone left. I went back inside the beer hall and walked around for awhile. There were so many people there I couldn't find an empty seat anywhere. After about 15 minutes of absorbing the atmosphere, but unable to get a drink, I left and looked at some of the other beerhalls which all seemed full too. I thought, "Fuck it, I'll just get a beer at the bar at the hostel". I guess you need to arrive at these places fairly early.
I walked around the corner and got a taxi back to the hostel. It cost me around 13 Euro. I headed inside and went down to the bar. I got a Paulaner beer which is local dark beer. I sat in the booth near the door and drank it. There were a few people in the bar, but not many. I was sitting in the booth when some guy in his 40's came in and sat in the booth I was. He started speaking German. I said, "I don't speak German". He tried to speak English but it wasn't very good. He said something about coaching in England and Tottenham Football Club. I couldn't understand a word he was saying.
At one point he started apologising and saying he was drunk. I said,"It's ok". Then he started saying I was a good man and touching my arm and shoulder. I don't know if Germans are just touchy feely when they're drunk but it was fucking creepy. I finished the rest of my beer and excused myself. After I got up, he sort of just took off. After that, I sat at the bar for the next 2 hours and drank a few more beers.
I went to bed at about midnight. I wanted to do the walking tour in the morning, but had a feeling it wasn't going to happen.
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