2010 Oktoberfest - Munich, Germany

Ok. It's time to start this thread.

It's just a thread for anyone who might be going to the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest in Germany in 2010.

My SWMBO and I just booked our room in Munich from Sept 17th through Sept 21st. My wife has some obnoxious amount of Starwood points so we're staying at the Sheraton ArabellaPark in Munich... FO FREE.

Anyway...

If anyone has any great tips/suggestions or if anyone is interested in meeting up over there... this will hopefully be a good thread to touch base.

Can I tell you something

Its gonna suck

Amateur Hour in a tent with sweaty smelly your-a-pee-ins with less couth than Rob

Don't care... goin'... never been... and I'm looking forward to crossing it off the list.

and Ryan's got another bajillion points of Starwood points so I'm heavily pushing a few stops in Belgium and staying at phat hotels fo' free.

your negativity sucks... it stinks and it sucks and it stinks and it sucks.

you're just grumpy 'cause you ain't gonna go.

Well the SWMBO and I talked about going to Germany and Ireland to get a little of our heritage and man next year sounds like it would be a perfect time to go

Cape Brewing said:

Don't care... goin'... never been... and I'm looking forward to crossing it off the list.

and Ryan's got another bajillion points of Starwood points so I'm heavily pushing a few stops in Belgium and staying at phat hotels fo' free.

your negativity sucks... it stinks and it sucks and it stinks and it sucks.

you're just grumpy 'cause you ain't gonna go.

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Mark this down

If you go to Belgium and dont bring home a few cases of Westy I will hunt you down, draw and quarter you leaving your carcass at the South end zone of the new Giant J E T S stadium

humann_brewing said:

Well the SWMBO and I talked about going to Germany and Ireland to get a little of our heritage and man next year sounds like it would be a perfect time to go

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see? now that this thread has started, it's almost like you can't NOT go.

I think there are probably 6-8 people going from my HBC (although Babalu will be lame and give us all the "booo hooo... Europeans are stinky. I can't go!" garbage)


The ONLY bad thing and I'll mention it right outta the gates is that Paulthenurse is talking about making Oktoberfest an official stop in the Clark Paulthenurse Griswald Official European Vacation Fiesta.

Rumor has it that Paul is going to hit 47 cities in 48 hours with a stop in Muchich as one of the cities. He's going to rent a Vista Cruise and drive through each city at 70 miles an hour while Al reds from a guie book "Paris is home to the Eiffel Tower... originally erected for the Worlds Fair of...."

"NOT NOW AL!!! We gotta hit Brussels by sun rise!! We've got a half a tank of gas, a full pack of Marlboro Reds, a half bottle of Duchesse, some Strawberry Port and we're wearing sunglasses as night!"

the wife and i are.

we are in the planing phase now.

we wanted to drive and hit some sites
here is one of the routes we may take
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=London,+UK&daddr=49.880478,2.351074+to:A86+to:Munich,+Germany+to:A3+to:London,+UK&geocode=%3B%3BFWyn6QIdet0lAA%3B%3BFYoQCAMd8KNDAA%3B&hl=en&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=6&via=1,2,4&sll=49.81964,5.750805&sspn=10.593465,15.952148&ie=UTF8&t=h&ll=49.425267,4.152832&spn=5.774802,12.480469&z=6

Wow... see? Here I am busting Paul's stones about how he wnats to do it and that round trip from london to Munich and back is only 11+ hours of driving? Hmmm... I just figured it was a lot more than that.

The Eurorail trip from Munich to Brussels is something like 7 hours alone (gotta be a ton of stops???)

I think we're leaning towards 4/5 days in Munich and then 2-3 days in one... MAYBE two other cities.

for me personally, I need to settle in for a bit an I don't think we would do well with the driving.

Cape Brewing said:

I think there are probably 6-8 people going from my HBC (although Babalu will be lame and give us all the "booo hooo... Europeans are stinky. I can't go!" garbage)

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No, I'm not going because I'm poor and hate crowds

well you could just drive one way.
land in london, Paris , Amsterdam ,Berlin,or Rome , and then drive to Munich and fly out of Munich.

truth be told thats what we will most likely do

yeah, I think we're thinking the other way around... landing in Munich, taking the train to Brussels (or somewhere else) and flying home out of Belgium

here are some good looking routes

Rome, Italy to Munich, Germany 929 km – about 8 hours 35 mins.
[ame]http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Rome,+Italy&daddr=Munich,+Germany&geocode=&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=45.014125,11.69903&sspn=10.794545,19.665527&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=6[/ame]

Paris, France to Munich, Germany 841km 7hr 39 min depending on the route.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Paris,+France&daddr=49.775835,10.083505+to:Munich,+Germany&geocode=%3BFduE9wIdsdyZACn3mEIO5oiiRzFh96zFKLcdEw%3B&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=48.69762,6.988365&sspn=5.039735,9.832764&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=7&via=1

Amsterdam netherlands to munich germany 825km 7hr 37min
[ame]http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Amsterdam,+The+Netherlands&daddr=Munich,+Germany&geocode=&hl=en&mra=ls&sll=50.258565,8.269025&sspn=4.88158,9.832764&ie=UTF8&t=h&z=7[/ame]

after all the drink and people at octoberfest i think i am going to want to go strate to the air port.

babalu87 said:

Mark this down

If you go to Belgium and dont bring home a few cases of Westy I will hunt you down, draw and quarter you leaving your carcass at the South end zone of the new Giant J E T S stadium

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Dude... Westy is in the middle of freakin' no where. I'm not stoppin' there in the hopes I get a reservation and then hope they sell me more than a single bottle.

Zero chance dude..

Break into brett-boy's.... the mans got somethin' like 12 cases

Clayton said:

after all the drink and people at octoberfest i think i am going to want to go strate to the air port.

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yeah, I hear ya and don't disagree. i'm not a big crowds-guy myself. I think we're thinkin it'll be nice to unwind in another city where it is quite before coming home to the 3 and 4 year olds.

Cape Brewing said:

Dude... Westy is in the middle of freakin' no where. I'm not stoppin' there in the hopes I get a reservation and then hope they sell me more than a single bottle.

Zero chance dude..

Break into brett-boy's.... the mans got somethin' like 12 cases

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You pay someone to get the reservation
Between all of you going there should be more Westy coming West than Conestoga Wagons during the gold rush

Look at a map, Nancy.

Fly into Brussells, drink Belgian brews, on 'Day 3' drive to Paris, drink French wine and Saisons (4 hours). 'Day 5' drive to Dijon, more French wine and Saisons (3 1/2 hours). 'Day 6' drive to Zurich, (4 hours) 'Day 8' drive to Munich (4 hours) Octoberfest. 'Day 11' drive to Wurzburg (three hours), 'Day 12' drive to Koln (Kolsch) (4 hours), 'Day 14' to Brussels (4 hours). Get on a plane and go home.

I guess that is too stressful for your tender little constitution.


Nancy.

PTN

Or plan B.

Budapest. Day 3 drive to Zagreb. Day 5 to Munich. Day 8 Plzen. Day 10 Ceske Budejovoice. Find a likely looking city somewhere along the way. Day 14 Budapest.

PTN

It's amazing how easily you forget we have a 3 yr old and a 4 yr old. You do that constantly. "Oh yeah, just drop everything you're doing and go run around and do this"

Sure... no problem Paul. Let me just put out a bowl of water and some crackers for our sons and we'll run right away.

retard

I'm not entirely sure I get your point. Are you bringing the kids? If you are leaving home presumably you are having someone look after them. If your babysitter can't do better than crackers and water then you should probbly get a different sitter.


In all honesty I do sometimes forget that your kids are that young, I'm at a much different place in my life and we can just lock the door and leave but since you were the one to broach the subject at the club meeting the other night I assumed you would have kid issues resolved

PTN

Cape Brewing said:

My wife has some obnoxious amount of Starwood points so we're staying at the Sheraton ArabellaPark in Munich... FO FREE.

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If you can switch to the Le Meridien (Cat 4 instead of Cat 3 so a bit more points), you'll be within walking distance to the festival and more or less across the street from the main train station and an easy walk to the heart of Munich. Also, why not stay 5 nights? The 5th night is free when booking w/points.

I stayed at both in 2007. The ArabellaPark hotel is nice enough, but there's not really much of anything nearby.

We looked at exactly what you're suggesting... SWMBO didn't want to be right RIGHT next to all of the tents and everything and wanted to be able to get a little out of the area when going back to the hotel. They're her points and it didn't sound like a horrendous idea to me so I went with it. Maybe I'll revisit the idea though.

... and yeah, I saw the fifth night... it's ridiculous that we're not going to take advantage of it (yet) but as I was posting earlier, we have two young sons and we don't want to be gone too long ( a week max). We didn't want to dedicate that much time to jsut Munich as we're thinking another city or two. But you're right... it's shame we're going to pass up a free night but then again, they're all free nights and the nights in other cities will be free too...so... it's not that bad.

Thank you for the info though. Like I was saying, maybe we'll rethink things

paulthenurse said:

I assumed you would have kid issues resolved

PTN

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...and we will... for a week. We're not just up and going for 14-16 days. We've got the boys and what the F would we do with Norman?

We're going for a week, MAYBE eight days MAX and more than half of that is going to be in Munich. I'm not then going to get in a freakin' car and try to drive to nine other cities over two days.

babalu87 said:

Can I tell you something

Its gonna suck

Amateur Hour in a tent with sweaty smelly your-a-pee-ins with less couth than Rob

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Jealous much?

Cape Brewing said:

...and we will... for a week. We're just up and going for 14-16 days. We've got the boys and what the F would we do with Norman?

We're going for a week, MAYBE eight days MAX and more than half of that is going to be in Munich. I'm not then going to get in a freakin' car and try to drive to nine other cities over two days.

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As a health care professional and your friend I think it's important that you listen to what I say.


You need to go to bed earlier. You are WAY too grouchy for 8 AM. Maybe a nice glass of warm milk and a cookie with the boys at 7:30, then everyone into their onesies and off to bed. Try it for a week and let me know how you feel.

You BFF,
Paul

Cape Brewing said:

yeah, I think we're thinking the other way around... landing in Munich, taking the train to Brussels (or somewhere else) and flying home out of Belgium

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May I recommend something like the following? Munich-Rothenburg-Bacharach-Trier-Jemelle-Brussels. I hit all of those cities and they're all worth seeing, minus Jemelle which is good for drinking at the train station. Here is their beer list.

Absolutely. Given out time table though, we would probably only hit one city on the way to Brussels.

I can totally dig folks wanting to hit a variety of places but my and the SWMBO's style is to get some where and sit... and relax.. and settle in for a couple of days. When we're on vacation, we don't like jumping from place to place. We want to get familiar with the place and find some of the little nooks and crannies around town.

It's just a different style...

Plus like I was posting above, we have kind of a short time frame. That's a huge help to know there are great little stops along the way though. Thanks.

MeatyPortion said:

Jealous much?

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No, I aint into three times as many sweaty guys with BO in a tent than there should be.

To say one has been there is fine but the beer quality isnt what it is here in the states .................and like I said, the BO

babalu87 said:

No, I aint into three times as many sweaty guys with BO in a tent than there should be.

To say one has been there is fine but the beer quality isnt what it is here in the states .................and like I said, the BO

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I didn't notice any more BO than in the States and the beer in a couple cases was much better. I think you pretty much have no idea what you're talking about. Or your olfactory senses are in the realm of a blood hound's.

MeatyPortion said:

I didn't notice any more BO than in the States and the beer in a couple cases was much better. I think you pretty much have no idea what you're talking about. Or your olfactory senses are in the realm of a blood hound's.

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Beer was only better because you were there, think about it.
Very often the experience of things is due to surroundings and getting caught up in the moment.

Hey, glad you had fun.

Now Bamberg, thats a city I could get interested in.

babalu87 said:

Beer was only better because you were there, think about it.
Very often the experience of things is due to surroundings and getting caught up in the moment.

Hey, glad you had fun.

Now Bamberg, thats a city I could get interested in.

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Nah, I had some bad beer too. Hofbrau was meh but Augustiner was great. Now Unionsbrau, which is a micro, was really really good. Airbrau, another microbrew was average but in the airport so it made for a great little drinking hole between flights.

I'll have to post the video of getting caught up in the moment when my wife and I went on the bumper cars at Oktoberfest. I'm glad I have the video because I don't remember it at all. That was day 2.

Speaking of not remembering things: I just looked at another video which I apparently recorded of a guy who was getting worked on by paramedics after drinking too much.

I am so ready for next year.

disturbing

You should see the one without the robe.

First post, but from living here in Bavaria, if you have the time, the trip to Plzen to visit Plzeňský Prazdroj is worth the trip. Czech is a bit sketchy, but in a safe way. The exchange rate is fantastic, the tour at the brewery is really good and as a resident ugly American, its handy that they speak English. They show the modern bottling line, the brew house, the traditional methods, and then finish with a trip into the caves where they used to lager all of their beer. They still brew some in the traditional way and lager it down there, and that is what you get to drink. Well worth the visit. If you don't do that, you should at least take A9 to A93 out of the city to see the endless fields of Hellertau hops. It is a thing of beauty (cough and rest stops where one could walk into the fields cough). There is even the Deutsches Hopfenmuseum‎. Haven't had the chance to stop there yet, but I am guessing it is good.

MeatyPortion said:

You should see the one without the robe.

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ehhh... pass thanks. Although Paul might be PM'ing you soon.

Hey Brian, I'll See you there.. Actually, I might miss you. I'll be in Munch Tuesday thru Thursday of the first week. I'm flying into Frankfurt on the 17th. Spending some time in Koln and Freising. I get to Munich on the 21st.

Yeah, I think you're getting there just as we leave.

We're leaning towards Brussels for a couple of days on the tail end of the trip. The SWMBO doesn't want to go TOO long though. She doesn't want to be away from our sons. I don't either but how often do you go to Oktoberfest?

I'll be there for sure. Plan on doing an MBA in Italy next year (fingers crossed) and the timing will work out like magic!

cheers brew'migos see you there