We spent only two days in Cologne but by the time Monday came around, it was time to go. We had booked a train and seats long ago but it was delayed twice that morning. One thing about the trains is that if they have to cancel or delay, they let you ride any type of train for the entire day. However, if you had booked seats and need a new train, those are now gone. You can be refunded for them (about 11 bucks) but it’s a pain to actually go get said reimbursement. Anywho, after about 3 hours of delay, we finally got on our ICE train, which is the nicer of the rails there. The Munich (Munchen in German) ride was about four hours so I was happy when we finally got on and found seats that were not booked. We ended up in a car set aside for moms and kids, but thankfully, no kids were present.

We sat across from a German couple and at one stop, were able to move over to the next seat for more space. At one point, I noticed that every stop said the info in both German and English. I was also aware that one only said it in German. Soon after, the lady next to us tapped my shoulder and said that the train was no longer going on to Munich and she figured she’d tell me, since they had not announced it in English! So we disembarked and found another train going to Munich. Their train system is pretty good but that part is not.

We had booked an airbnb so once off the train, we clicked the directions button in the app and walked probably a mile to a building numbered 172 (Lechenstrause – which is the street). The directions, however, were unclear. The host’s instructions said to look for the 7th floor and a certain Ms. Hatta was waiting to let us in. Well, this building was not 7 floors, nor did any box say this lady’s name. We ended up calling the host (who was not happy that we didn’t use whatsapp because normal calls apparently cost a fortune). We cleared up the problem though: the address was 25, not 172! At this point, it had been such a long exasperating day of travel that I booked an uber to take us the other direction. When we got there, the lady who was supposed to let us in was outside apologizing profusely. Guess she works with the host to help the guests. Once inside – finally – we decided to look for a traditional Bavarian restaurant and walked maybe 15 minutes to a Hofbrau place. We had amazing goulash and some beer and then an apple strudel. We were exhausted but…

…we had more plans. So, backstory: we know a guy here who runs our favorite place to eat and drink: Smitty’s. A couple months ago we found out he too was going to Oktoberfest (his 4th time) and we made plans to join him at his reserved table in a tent. Well, we had to back out because we were not sure if we’d get there in time. (We did not, since all that train stuff happened). But as Ash and I were finishing our meal, he texted to ask where we were. He and his crew were at the original Hofbräuhaus so we took an Uber to there and met up with them. Such a long night but very fun!

The next day was lederhosen day. Ash had researched a place where they sell it in a more traditional way, as well as do repairs. See, you can get trachten fairly cheaply in Munich proper or you can pay more for the good stuff. We paid more than the average but not as much as some. You could pay as much as $1200! Ash found his pair pretty quickly and easily but me? Finding a dirndl that fit? Ha! I must have tried on 20 dresses. They were either able to close in the front but too big in the arms or they just simply didn’t close. I’m curvy up top so the buttons just didn’t meet. The poor woman was about ready to give up on me when I finally found one. It legit took me 2 hours.

After that morning, we were honestly pretty tired. In fact, I am not quite sure we ever truly adjusted to he six hour time difference. But we did decide to get dressed and go, around 5. We took a train down to the Theresenweisen and walked the couple blocks to Oktoberfest. Picture your county fair and triple or quadruple it: that is the this event. It was crowded but no too, since we chose to go on a Tuesday. Ash had a dream of getting into a tent and finding a seat, but this is harder than you think.

We sat outside in a biergarten first, then made our way into the Paulaner tent. There seemed to be a rule that you could not stand in common areas drinking; you had to be seated. Though it became clear that you could stand near tables with beer. See, the people serving and selling it work for themselves, not for the beer company or some other entity. So if they’ll sell it, you’re good. And so long as you’re drinking, you can stay. We saw a guy question a girl who was not buying and he told her to drink or leave!

We made a lot of circles on the outside of the seating areas until we finally went down a middle aisle and found a place to be. Insinuating ourselves into the crowd, we chatted with Germans and some Americans. It was a nice time until this one guy I was talking to did two things. One, he asked since I was American I must like Trump. I didn’t realize that is what we were talking about – since it was so loud and I’m hard of hearing – until it was too late. Then I found myself entrenched in a political conversation I had no business having while intoxicated. Two, this guy groped me. I was not having it but instead of telling him no or telling Ash, I told my husband it was time to go. And he was NOT happy about it. This had been his dream! Well, we left and he was angry but we got home ok. It was raining outside and people had spilled beer on my shoes so when we got back, finally, my shoes smelled so bad. It was a night of extremes but I don’t regret doing it.

Ash and I talked about what actually happened – since I didn’t make it clear – and all was well. The next day, we decided to lay low and go to Dachau to visit the concentration camp. What sobering experience but well worth it. We walked the entire grounds, read so many displays about the entire thing. Once done, we walked to a small restaurant in the town of Dachau and had the best food the entire trip: their half chicken. It is so tender inside and super crispy on the outside. The best! We only had two beers there that entire day, which was needed after the day before.

Thursday, we had a loose plan to return to Oktoberfest later in the day. But first, we got some grapes from a produce stand outside the train station and went into the touristy part of Munich. We wanted to go to their beer museum and while Google said it opened at 11, it was actually 1. So we had some food, sat at a biergarten, then went to the museum. Later on, we decided to not even put our trachten on; just go plainclothes to Oktoberfest.

We also opted to just sit in a biergarten outside the tent and this is where we met a nice older couple who had actually just started dating. We talked to them all night; they showed us some good – and not so good – food (don’t eat the stick fish!) and in the end, we exchanged info and the guy has already emailed us! Super cool and a much better experience than the time before. Photos go from last to first; the first one you see is Ash going up to the ride, the toboggan, upon which he immediately fell. The one that looks like a bakery counter with sandwiches is to point out that everywhere you go they have these amazing sandwiches that beat anything here.

Munich was very cool and I think I could go back there and just spend time exploring that city. Next, onto Plzen in the Czech Republic!