A quick geography lesson. Germany is made up of 16 states. We live in Frankfurt am Main, the largest city in the state of Hesse (Wiesbaden is the capital of Hesse). Munich, where the Oktoberfest celebrations are held, is the capital of the German state of Bavaria and it is located in the southeast corner of Germany. Kate and I took the train to Munich on Friday, September 28th for the Oktoberfest celebration. After a three hour ride, we arrived in Munich around 10:30pm to a train station full of people who had "too much fun" at the beer tents during the day. We took a short walk to our hotel and then met some of Kate's colleagues from Amsterdam for a drink.
Saturday started at 0630 so that we could eat breakfast and be the first in line at a department store to purchase a Dirndl and Lederhosen, the traditional Bavarian Garb. After making said purchases we walked over to the Oktoberfest fairgrounds (Wiesn). It looked almost like a large state fair. There were rides, food vendors, and of course beer tents!We were in the Schotenhammel tent and we had to make sure that we arrived by 11am so that our table was still reserved. Of course, upon arrival, we had to kick 8 guys out who had usurped our table! After their departure we settled in and ordered 2 maß (1 liter) beers. The mugs were huge (and
very dangerous for toasting!!). Kate's hand's were small enough that she could slip them through the handle and cup the beer from the bottom. During our wait for the rest of our group we met two German girls, Stephanie and Yvonne, that shared our table. They were very sweet and were able to explain a lot of the Bavarian traditions we were experiencing including eating salty shaved radishes with your beer (you have to try it). 
Everyone arrived around 1:00pm..and from there it was a fun filled day of singing German folk songs with the band, toasting our maß beers and standing on the tables. My favorite part of the day was definitely when we ordered the half chickens from the kitchen. I have a new found love for rotisserie chicken. OH and the pretzels...the Bavarians make an amazing soft pretzel...literally the size of your head! Around 8 pm or so we were all worn out and headed out of the tent and on the Wiesn where the carnival was in full swing. After walking around and taking in the sights we headed back to our hotel room and crashed.Sunday morning we decided to take in the sights. Munich is a gorgeous city and we were able to stroll along the pedestrian walkway between Karlsplatz and Marienplatz and enjoy the beautiful weather. We had quick bite at a restaurant next to Munich's most famous landmark, the Hofbräuhaus. City Hall was located nearby and we learned that the German word for City Hall is - Rathaus (ha!!).
Finally, we walked through the Englischer Garten...on of the world's largest urban parks. It is complete with horse trails and waterfalls. Our trip in Munich came to an end and we headed back to Frankfurt at around 4:00pm Sunday afternoon. It was an awesome time and I would highly recommend to anyone! Click our album to see our pictures:
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