Bagelmonkeys

Again, we slept in. It was nearly 9am when I woke up. Jer phoned to secure a tour reservation at the big Austrian palace—I’m not up to looking it up right now so it will be known as Big-Aus-Palace in this blog. Basically, it’s a huge palace that rivaled Versailles. We dressed and hurried across town via street tram for our tour. I was still on edge from the day before. Again, Vienna appeared an unattractive and dirty smudge of a city. Jer and I had not yet had breakfast so we stopped at the first café we spotted situated just inside the palace gates. The woman manning the counter was pushy, which resulted in Jer over ordering food (she told him the thing he wanted was “small” so he ordered a second thing), me growing ... read more

We woke up early. Jer insisted the night before that we pack up for the next few days. We left a few things at the flat. Another sunny day greeted us! I still brought my newly purchased raincoat. The forecasters promise rain this weekend. Even though I am dread to have us in a downpour, I’d appreciate a light drizzle—while wearing my raincoat—to justify my bringing it. We bought more sandwiches for breakfast. This time, I had ham and cheese and Jer had cheese. We settled into our seats for the first leg of our trip and had to transfer a second time to a third train. The journey on the third train was the best, even though we were hot from the sun and the air in the train was stale. The Alps came into ... read more

We slept in a little today. This trip has been about sleeping in, actually. It’s been pretty nice. I actually feel pretty well rested for once. This was our last day with Erika; she had to work in the afternoon and then was heading to Frankfurt to pick up her dad and stepmom and spend a couple of days visiting with the in-laws. When Jer and I awoke, we were greeted with another delicious breakfast assembled by Erika. It consisted mostly of fresh rolls from the bakery and a collection of cheeses. I love these simple but tasty and filling meals. The previous night we’d discussed doing something today but were still at a loss for what to do. Erika decided to take us on a walk along the river. She explained that Mucheners (probably destroying ... read more

How do you know if you had a good time at Oktoberfest? It takes you until 2pm the following afternoon to recover. Words to describe Oktoberfest: beer, fun, crazy, friendly, raucous, unity, festive, happy...so many things! We had hoped to be present in the Spaten beer tent for the tapping of the first keg which essentially kicks off Oktoberfest. We arrived at the grounds at around 8:30am. People were already drinking. After standing in a mob for an hour wedged against some younger German boys, Jer and I decided to wander around and see if there was any place in any tent to sit. There were none. I suspect if we'd been dressed in liederhosen and dryndils (I am butchering the spellings, it's too late to care) we'd have found a spot. No matter. I grew ... read more

This morning started out with a quick trip to the local bakery for rolls and coffee. We returned to Erika's flat and she made us breakfast: butter cheese, gouda, butter, cucumber, rolls, jam and juice. Everything was so good! We then got dressed and headed to the Oktoberfest grounds. We wanted to scope things out before Saturday. Things were bustling as the final finishing touches were being put into place. They let people wander the grounds and duck into the beer halls. We checked out a few and snapped a few photos. The tents are huge and almost look like they could be permanent structures, they are built so well! We enjoyed walking the grounds before things get too crazy. We also climbed into Bavaria's head. That alone was very cool!... read more