Flying Monkey Travels : Oktoberfest

We sadly left the Dolomites behind. We definitely could have hiked more than 4 days. If I had it to do over, I would have booked a 6- or 7-day trip in those breathtaking mountains.

It was OK though - because the day we left the Dolomites to head to Munich, it FEAKING SNOWED.......a lot!

I do not do well in cold. It is absolutely amazing that I love to ski as much as I do. I cannot tell you how happy I was to be on the train reading a book when it started snowing in the mountains.

Then we arrived in Munich for Oktoberfest!

Dave is so GD thrilled to be here.

We met up with the world's best travel companion, TW!

This lady is unflappable. She is mellow, up for anything, and one hell of a lot of fun. It was nice to have a third person with us after a few weeks of the Dave-and-Amie show, that guy was getting on my nerves (kidding, not kidding).

We did a bike tour, some shopping, ate sausage, and of course went to several beer establishments around the city. Our favorite is Augusteiner for sure.

Can she rock a hat, or what!

We met up with KR and HR. They moved to Munich with their two kiddos a little over a year ago from the Bay Area. We actually went to Oktoberfest 7 years ago with these folks so it was just like the old days, except this time Dave didn't get kicked out of the beer tent for drinking too much (amateur).

For those that haven't been, there are 14 big tents at Oktoberfest, and you want to be in one of them for beer and roast chicken! We didn't have pre-purchased tickets to any of the tents, which can make things tricky. The festival was packed and I was worried that we wouldn't get into a tent at all - nooooooo.

We were saved by a member of the ex-pat rugby club in Munich. He had loads of extra tickets and was selling them for face-value in front of the Augusteiner tent. I will forever be a rugby fan because of this generous guy (also the giant muscly legs and short white shorts). So we got seats, beers, chicken, and whole bunch of new rugby-playing friends.

Lots and lots of this happened.

Photos of the event are limited to protect the not-so-innocent. Let's just say there was a lot of beer and riding jenky-ass-completely-illegal-in-the-US carnival rides. I figure that since they have great national health care, this stuff is tolerated if not encouraged.

I think we spent like $200 on this ride, so FUN but almost DEATH.

This is a real thing, a human spinning nightmare. Folks from 15 to 85 were in serious competition to stay on this death trap. You have to pay 4 EUR to watch but you ride for free.

Playing tourists

KR and HR were outstanding hosts. They gave us a tour of their town (Germering), just outside of Munich. We walked over to their local farm and all were in awe of the CHEESE and MILK vending machine. Seriously, why don't we have these? I know most Americans think we know everything about everything, but the only thing coming out of vending machines in the US is total shit. I think there is a business opportunity here, neighborhood cheese vending machines!

Cheese makes us giddy!

Our friends also took us on a little picnic, with cheese and beer - of course. They even did our laundry and KR folded all our stuff with love. Thanks you guys, it was sooooo wonderful to have clean clothes again!

Thank you KR for the figs you hid in my bag - lifesaver after all that bread and sausage.

No, that isn't a crate of empty beer in the stroller.

We also spend a leisurely afternoon with the family at the Andechs Monastery Brewery, which is just a few train stops from their house (notice a theme here, it is Germany after all).