I had some difficulties trying to pack for Munich and Berlin, especially since I have literally no winter clothes brought over from Vancouver. The thickest jacket I brought to Barcelona was a denim jacket. So after managing to find a decent looking peacoat (and still warm) from H&M, I was ready for a weekend of german beer and sausages!

Our flight was quite early in the morning (7am), so Miya stayed over at my flat and we were basically outta my place by 5am. Thank goodness, we have a train that goes straight to the airport (not expensive either), so it was very convenient to go back and forth. En route to Munich, we flew with Vueling (Spain’s discounted airline) and for some strange luck, just as we boarded the plane and sat down, we were told to evacuate the plane. Apparently, at the end of every night, each plane must be inspected and checked for safety, and if not done, the plane cannot leave the airport. Our plane happens to have missed it’s check, so we waited for their inspection and it wasn’t until 9am, when we eventually got onto the plane and took off for Munich. First time flying with Vueling and I guess you can say it was a horrible start. Other than that Vueling is a decent airline (much better than RyanAir for obvious reasons) and the service is one of the most friendliest I have encountered in Europe. They even play top 40 on the plane!

Me in Lederhosen

It was pretty cold when we arrived to Munich, definitely a change from Barcelona! Their metro system was a little confusing at first, but thanks to google maps, we got to our hostel safe and sound. We were staying at Jaeger’s Hostel and it was literally 5 mins away from Oktoberfest. The rooms were clean and fully equipped, downstairs had a bar and if you’re staying at the hostel, the first shot is free! The staff were super friendly and although we were early to check in, they gave us lockers to drop off our bags, so we can explore the city. They even gave us wristbands with the hostel name and address in case we get obliterated and smashed out of our minds, and hopefully someone will find us. Everyone that had gone to Oktoberfest before told us the same thing: “You gotta get there early to get a table”, and because we arrived around 11am, our luck of finding a table was pretty slim. Regardless, we went to check it out.

On our way there, we saw several costume shops that sold Lederhosen and Dirndl (super expensive), so we thought it would be fun to at least try one on and if we like it, we should buy it for the festivities! But the sales people were super pushy when we were trying on the clothes and they even try to trick me by getting me to try their socks and making me pay for it. Of course I refused and stormed out—what are they gonna do about it? So let this be a warning when you’re in a foreign country/city, they will haggle you for money (in anyway they can) and if you’re feeling uncomfortable with how they are treating you (like touching you or grabbing you), just leave. You’re not obligated by law to purchase their stuff and if I’m paying good money, I expect good service and quality products, so should you! At least I got some pictures before it got weird…

I did not know Oktoberfest was actually a giant carnival! It reminded me of the PNE back home. They got rides, food stands, cafes, souvenir shops, and games. Of course, giant tents (more like houses) with hundreds of tables all in a row. We grabbed some giant pretzels, hot dogs made with german sausages, and fruits covered in chocolate for lunch—yums! Once in the tents, we could see beer maids carrying unbelievable amount of beer in their hands and some sort of roast meat on every table. The decoration was unique to every tent and there was just so many to visit. Some requires reservations and some are just walk-ins. I really liked the Ochsenbraterei Beer Tent. The blue and white decor and not to mention the live band, food, and beer! Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a table here, so instead, we wandered around the carnival and decided to push back Oktoberfest and explore the city instead.

We took the metro to the city centre of Munich and took pictures of the Rathaus-Glockenspiel, a well-known clock tower that chimes at every hour. But more importantly, the puppets on the tower puts on a show (tells a story) at certain times of the day. We were just lucky enough to see it. I have no idea what the story is about, but its amazing how much thought was given into the construction of the tower and the planning of the puppet show. It’s not a surprise when you’re taking a stroll in Munich—maybe even Germany as a whole, that you’re randomly find clock towers at almost every corner. Very rigid in time perspective, something that Spanish is completely the opposite. Truthfully, ever since coming to Spain, I haven’t been very punctual and I hate how relax everyone is, just like they don’t care (sometimes I find myself caught up in this too). Very bad indeed.

What I’ve noticed from Munich is that the streets are very clean and the buildings are relatively new looking and well-taken care of. The architecture is very boxy and built very high. After walking for hours, we stopped at a coffee shop called San Francisco Coffee Company for their coffee, tea, and free wifi (something we are in desperate need when travelling without data). I got myself a green tea latte (been craving some green tea ever since leaving Vancouver) and we literally sat for hours. The sofas were super comfortable and I could lounge there for days. Everyone was just chilling and updating their social media.

When came dinner time, we went to Hofbräuhaus, a recommendation from one of my friend. The place, which was like a mini Oktoberfest, was extremely packed. We stood around for tables and we ended up sharing a table with a group of friendly Germans. Most of them have been drinking since the morning and a couple that spoke pretty good English. We had their beer—I had two, and we ordered their famous ½ Roasted Chicken with mashed potato, Schweinshaxe (Roasted Pork Knuckle) with potato dumpling and Weisswurst (white sausages). Our favourites were the chicken, it was meat was tender and juicy, while the skin was flavourful and crispy. I am drooling just thinking about it. The potato dumpling was also very memorable. It had the consistency of pudding bread and it tasted amazing because it soaked up the sauce from the pork knuckle. The pork knuckle was very good too, the skin was a little tough to eat, but surprisingly, there was so much meat attached to the bone (we couldn’t finish it). The white sausages was disappointing to say the least, or maybe it’s because I’m not a huge sausage fan. It tasted quite bland and I couldn’t tell whether it was pork or beef…or like any animal.

Free shots!

After a dinner full of booze and delicious German food, we walked around and back to our hostel to get ready for bed since we were all pretty exhausted after travelling all day. But before actually going to bed, we took our free shots and we made Miya try her first Jägermeister. She hated it of course haha!

The next day, we woke up early to grab quick breakfast before heading down to the tents (Ochsenbraterei). Even though it was early, there were so many tables that were reserved, but I managed to snag an empty table. I’ve never drank so early in my life before. A beer at 9am, that’s a first. I also had a meatball soup to warm myself because it was pretty chilly in the tent. As more and more people came, the tent started to get warmer and we ordered ourselves more beer, two ½ Roasted Chicken, a couple of sausages, and potato dumplings. It wasn’t as great as Hofbräuhaus, but still good. It must be the beer and stomach full of food, because I was in a food coma by 2pm. So I went outside to grab a coffee and we stayed in the tent until almost 4pm. We walked around the festival some more and we all got some Oktoberfest postcards and mail it at the office. We went to city centre again and “attempted” to shop, because Miya (silly girl) didn’t bring enough winter clothes with her, so the whole time she was freezing her bum off. We ended just sitting at our favourite cafe again and leeched off their wifi.

Instead of having a sit down dinner, I grabbed some pizza and ate at the hostel since we were catching a night bus to Berlin (saving money off a night in hostel and commute). Strange luck again, the bus was an hour late! A company called Meinfernbus (from Munich to Berlin) and you would think that since Germans are so strict and time-bound that they wouldn’t have any delays, well wrong, we were very wrong. It was in fact so late that we all took the bus that was scheduled after. This was pretty much the only company we found that offered night commute at a cheap price, so I guess I can’t complain that much. The bus was pretty disgusting with garbage and empty beet bottles everywhere on the ground and it smelled like shit. Sleeping on the bus was very uncomfortable (no adjustable seats), I never felt like such a hobo before haha.

Finally arrived to Berlin, we took the metro to our hostel and once again, it was too early to check in, so we just locked up our bags in their storage room. The hostel we were staying at was called The Cats Pajamas Hostel and I highly praise this accommodation. One of my best hostel experience…ever! The hostel was cat theme, so the walls are painted with cats and the kitchen/dining room area was filled with pictures of cats. Definitely recommended for cat lovers! The staff were superb! They offered us free breakfast (usually not included, especially since its the first day of checking in) and our rooms were were well furnished (kinda small) and the washroom/showers were shared with the whole floor, but it was cleaned daily and I didn’t encounter any issues with busy washrooms/showers. Very comfortable stay indeed and their wifi is great! A+++

From recommendations of friends, we went on a bike tour (a company called Fat Tire Bike Tour) and it was so much fun! I personally love riding bikes and being able to explore and learn about the city’s history at the same time is such a bonus! I definitely recommend taking bike tours, because I got to see around the city and learn about famous landmarks from knowledgable tour guides in such a short amount of time. The people leading the tours were super friendly and approachable and they have an answer to all your questions about Berlin and Germany. We biked around and visited the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, Hitler’s Bunker, Watchtower, Luftwaffe Ministry, Victory Column, Soviet War Memorial, Reichstag, Museum Island, Bebelplatz, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews. A jam-packed tour and there’s bound to be one in every city. We also learned about the cold war and how Germany and Berlin was divided into West and East.

Later that afternoon, we went for lunch at a beer garden…more sausage meat and beer. I was pretty tired of the having meat every day in Germany and I was beginning to crave vegetables and fruits (ridiculous right?). We also met a really nice Australian girl (Maddie), and we were gonna meet up afterwards to go to a club crawl, but we couldn’t find and contact her through Facebook, so that never happened. MADDIE WHERE ARE YOU?! For dinner, we wanted to go to Burgermeister (thanks Google) and check out their cheap eats and homemade burgers. Thinking it was a restaurant, it turned out to be a burger stand and the line was unbelievable (you need to take a number)! So we ended up having Pho in a nearby Vietnamese restaurant (I know, out of all places to eat pho, we chose Berlin haha). After having pho and beer, we called it a night. Super tired from night bus and biking around town.

The next day (last day of Berlin), we had the morning and afternoon spare until our flight back to Barcelona at 5pm. So we decided to check out the other half of the Berlin wall (covered in graffiti) and one of the things I admire about Berlin, is their love for art, music, and literature. You can see graffiti almost anywhere in Berlin, but this would not fly back in Vancouver. The ‘city’ would cover it up the very next day. Just before leaving Berlin, we paid tribute to their famous Kebabs since according to our tour guide, it was practically invented in Berlin given the large population of Turkish peeps. It was good, but I couldn’t tell if it was the best, it always seem to taste better after a night out.

—Well I had a jam-packed weekend filled with meat, beer, and friends! What about you?

Cheers,

Kevin