travel

Folks who knew me from my youth might remember that my absolute favorite ride at Busch Gardens Williamsburg growing up was the giant spinning swing in the Germany section.

Did you know about 1/2 of the Oktoberfest grounds is a carnival that would rival most state fairs? I mean, imagine our state fairs with German engineering! Imagine my excitement seeing that Oktoberfest has a 90 meter tall swingset!! (Actually there are two of them — there are multiples of many of the most popular rides). The one we rode was called the “Kettenflieger Bayern Tower.” (Kettenflieger translates to “chair-o-planes”.)

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Yesterday (Saturday) was the opening day for Munich’s Oktoberfest. It opens with a parade that takes the kegs of beer, via horse-drawn wagon, through the streets of Munich, to be delivered to their respective beer tents on the Oktoberfest grounds.

After the parade, at noon, the first keg is tapped by the mayor of Munich. That officially opens the beer service at the event. At our hotel, the manager hosted a beer tapping at noon for the hotel guests. Free beer, yay!

We had a 2:30-5:30pm reservation at the Marstall tent, which featured Spaaten beer. We enjoyed food and beer and so much music. Afterwards we walked around the Oktoberfest grounds some and met up with Air Force friends who were just wrapping up a week of training down the road in Oberammergau and made it to the Wiesn for the evening. The day ended with the Bayern Tower ride.

It was a long day but Dave and I had the best time. And OMG so. much. beer… #oktoberfest? #oktoberfest2024 #oktoberfestmünchen

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This was a welcome dinner for everyone here for Oktoberfest? opening weekend with our Tour Group from Bucket List Event.

We took up most of this part of the beer hall. Met some great folks Friday evening. The wienerschniztel was ??????.
The kegs tap at noon Saturday!

#oktoberfestmunich #oktoberfest2024

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Thanks to jet lag messing up our eating schedule, and knowing that our tour package will ramp up the Bavarian meals starting Friday, we opted for an inexpensive “fast food” dinner Thursday night: we are about 1/2 km from the Munich Hauptbahnhof (the main train station) so we found a stand that sold lavash flatbread wraps and sat on a bench to watch the busy train traffic for a while.

Then we wandered back to the hotel, stopping at a “EuroShop”, the equivalent of a Dollar General. That was an…experience. #oktoberfest? #daves50th

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On to happier stories. We found the birthday boy a real live German model train store! This is right outside the Munich Hauptbahnhof…

This has to be the most pristine model train store I have ever seen in my life (and I have seen MANY…).

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We walked the outer perimeter of the #Oktoberfest? grounds this afternoon — only employees are allowed inside the perimeter until Saturday. We are in awe of the expanse of the beer halls and the huge carnival rides.

We had the chance to visit the Bavaria statue, along with two memorials right by the main entrance commemorating a September 1980 bombing — by a right-wing extremist — that killed a number of Oktoberfest guests. The 1980 Oktoberfest closed for only one day after that, their philosophy was that if they closed any more than that, the terrorist wins.

I’m glad to have seen those memorials before the crowds really start up on Saturday.

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Wandering Munich while waiting to check into our hotel.

Enjoying cappuccinos to force ourselves to stay awake today.

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