Well, despite the hooligans/bathroom incident, the rest of our trip to Munich was rather pleasant. At this point, the pay-as-you-go cell phone we got for Germany was no longer useful (that's a whole story in itself), and we couldn't quite reach our hostess Christine yet. So we decided to start heading her direction and hope for the best.
Munich is BEAUTIFUL, a crazy mish-mash of modern store fronts and antique buildings. We arrived on Saturday, and Oktoberfest had just begun. Streets were crowded with tourists, and there were more dirnd'ls and lederhosen than I certainly had anticipated. Apparently about 10 years ago, it became rather fashionable to don the traditional dress for the festival, and there was even a backlash against the more revealing, mini-skirt versions (although we saw plenty of those as well). However, there was no backlash toward the tight, leather knickers the men had to wear... even had the button-up panel in the front for... you know ;) Anywho, got to Christine's to find both her and Andrew Sutton (dance teacher and world-wanderer) at the door. After some nice catch-up time, we headed out for the Friday night dance.
The ballroom was beautiful, and the music had me walking down memory lane big time. Easy, slow lindy played all night. I mean, when was the last time YOU heard Indigo Swing in a DJ set? Anyone?!? AND, my dear old friend Clint Luckinbill was there... I haven't seen this guy in what... 5 years? I was just teleported back to my first, impressionable years as a dancer in a matter of minutes. Sean and I both had wonderful dances that night, met many amazing people, and rightfully earned the deep sleep we had that night.
Christine's apartment is on the top floor right across the street from the east train station in Munich. If Sean and I could find a place like this in Seattle, I'd be sold. The space is vaulted ceilings in every room with skylights, 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath, a small deck, and a nice open living room/kitchen set-up. Her roommate was currently in St. Petersburg, so we had a room to ourselves in which we allowed our backpacks to thoroughly explode. After having to repack almost every morning for the last week, that felt really good ;) And Christine was SOOO flexible with us, our schedule, and was just such a warm hostess... thankyouthankyouthankyou lovely lady. That's Christine below ;)
Sunday afternoon was our day at the festival. Sean was booked to play blues for the Sunday late-nite which earned both of us admittance to the Munich Lindy Exchange for the entire weekend, a free 1L beer for each of us, and 5 hours in the Lowenbrau tent with the rest of the dance crew. In some ways, Oktoberfest wasn't what I expected. I certainly wasn't expecting the amusement park, the onslaught of children, and the sheer number of Aussies present. The tents are gargantuan... we were told they start setting up for the festival in June. Sheesh. Makes you wonder why they don't just leave the whole mess up all year long. Anywho, we were up on one of the balconys located on either end of the main floor. In the middle was a sizable bandstand with a complete brass band playing traditional German songs, playing drinking games with the crowd, and generally being entertaining. I don't know how they pull it off. The only American equivalent I can think of is if you could get a Revolutionary War re-enactment drum & fife corps to keep a group of frat boys entertained for 8-10 hours straight. Can't see it happening. After Sean and I had our 1L beer, ½ chicken, and potato dumpling, we just made our way around the fair grounds, talked to people, and took a whole bunch of pictures. There was dancing in the park following, much like dancing in Cheeseman park in Denver with a small-scale marble dome, and plenty of passerby's stopping to watch. Sean and I started to make our way back to the apt for a nap, but only made it in time for about 30-min of shut-eye before heading off to Christine's dance studio.
I don't know how she did it, but she got an 18-piece big band into that space complete with a 4-harmony woman's singing group that specialized in Big Band Era music into a 20x40 foot room. Needless to say, they didn't need to be miked. After very little sleep the night before, and a very unsatisfying non-nap that afternoon, the fast-paced music more than I could handle. But I had some nice dances, met some nice people again, and ended up falling asleep during the break between Sean's blues sets.
Monday was Recuperation Day. The crappy feeling in my throat from the night before was gone, and the apartment was empty as both Christine and Andrew had left for the Good-Bye Brunch at a café downtown. We made our way around eventually, and enjoyed some good eats and conversation. And just so no one else makes the same “mistake” I did, the weisswurst that is traditionally served at Oktoberfest is veal... iron-deficient baby-cow. My heart sank when I found out (that is one of the lines I made as a meat-eater). After good-byes, we went for a walk around the city. We were told that the view from the top of St. Peter's church was the one to see, so we made our way up the stairs and took advantage of the stellar view for some nice pics of the Rathaus and downtown. We even found an American-style coffee house (for lack of a better description), and enjoyed our first relatively decent coffee drinks since getting our passports stamped.
As we wound our way back to the east side of town, we found what must be the big outdoor market in Munich. There were about 8 butcher shops in a row, lots of fresh produce, a honey specialty shop, and plenty of biergartens. We made is our last meal... one more huge beer for the road, and a variety plate of sausages NOT containing weisswurst ;)
Today, the plan is to get to Vienna via Salzburg for lunch, and hopefully find the house-party we were invited to. After that, our hope is to get out to Mistelbach to revisit all of Sean's old friends, and enjoy some down time. It's amazing... we've been on vacation now for almost 2 weeks, but with the hiking and dance weekend, I'm totally exhausted. It's hard being me... really ;)
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