Oktoberfest: Second time around

This was a much different Oktoberfest experience than last year.

Last year everything was new and we had to drink all the beer all the time!

This year, partly because we are old kids now, and also partly that we are in for a hectic week here and don't have time to be hungover, we took it easy.

On the way into Munich, we stopped for breakfast with our friends. A meal that was to die for - it was a wonderful recommendation from one of Matt's former coworkers and it was just outstanding.

They roast their own coffee there and obviously are skilled at latte art :-)

Everything on the plate is perfect - that's shaved apple on top of muesli, a bio egg, meats, cheeses, and a hash brown is hidden underneath it all. Mmm....

After checking into the hotel and taking a nap, we headed over to the Schneider Weisse brew house while we waited for the rest of our crew to get into town.

Matt got the goulash. At first I had food envy....

....and then my plate showed up. Five kinds of sausage, potatoes AND sauerkraut? I could eat this all day long.

Here's Matt in his dapper hat.

When everyone got into Oktoberfest and we found some small area to squeeze in and stand, we finally got our big beers.

It was packed and we mostly had to stand, but there were some super drunken Germans to talk to who were really into Matt and I. At one point one of our group came over to check on us, and then later another friend finally got me away (leaving Matt who claims that they are his new bestest friends ever).

....just a bit crowded....

Anyway, we were supposed to be up super early to wait in line and spend the day in a beer tent, but alas, some of our team couldn't swing it after one too many the night before. Oh well - Matt and I went for a great walk at this beautiful English garden next to the hotel during the morning.

But in the end, we did go into the fest - only briefly. Since it was Saturday, you could barely walk around and by the time we showed up, there were already a lot of insanely drunk people stumbling and passed out (the "day drinkers" I call them - they're the ones who were first in line at the beer tents in the morning and got to start drinking at 9am).

The boys did not plan the matching. But they all looked cute.

We really tried to find somewhere to hang out, but we decided we'd have better luck if we left the fest and went to an actual brewery/restaurant. It was a good call I think - we didn't have as many crowds (though there were plenty of silly drunken people who were saying all sorts of things around us), and we got to chill out a bit outside.

This time I had the goulash. And yes, it was as good as it looks.

Although the mega crowds were a little much this year, we were still sad about leaving Munich. It's quite a spectacle to behold, and the food is always top notch. We probably won't do another Munich Oktoberfest, but you can bet we'll be looking for other places in the U.S. to wear our spiffy clothes!

Bavarian Brewery Tour

On our way to Oktoberfest in Munich, we spent an afternoon touring the Eringer brewery. I highly recommend it - very thoroughly done and at the end you not only can try any 8 beers you want, but you get pretzels AND weisswurst (white sausage). Quite a bargain at 12 Euros.

When Matt and I were lost looking for parking, we ended up next to giant stacks of crates, so we had to take a picture (one of the last with our Focus!)

We're in Germany. That means safety vests for everyone! No hard hats required.

Sadly the guys had just stopped these machines, but they were still steaming.

This is part of the bottling area...

...and also where they clean the crates.

Speaking of crates... when the beers are put into the bottles and then into the crates, they live here where they get all good and tasty before being shipped away.

Everything in the red crates is for Germany-area consumption (because they will get the crates back). It's hard to see, but in the top shelf in the photo below, there are some wrapped crates that are shipped worldwide that don't include the red crates.

A description of all the beers they make.

We're all fascinated by the robot who keeps moving around and putting crates on shelves.

Next, on to the tasting! We were allowed to have ANY 8 beers they had on tap and sit there for about 2 hours. There were enough pretzels for each of us to have two at the table.

Content.

And oh, the sausages.... these babies are usually a Bavarian breakfast item and served with a pretzel, sweet mustard and beer (that's right, beer for breakfast). We were all stuffed, and they had the nerve to come around again and ask if anyone wanted MORE than the two sausages they already distributed to each person! Gah! I wish, they were awesome. I think this is one of my favorite German meals.

A mighty fine way to spend the afternoon.

Barcelona: the bites

Oh yum.

Barcelona has some really great food. They're known for their tapas places, and although we didn't really get to eat at them until about halfway through the trip, it's probably for the best. It's pretty addictive to essentially eat delicious appetizers for your meal.

We typically started the day with a coffee and croissant.

All over town, we saw huge hams. Sadly, this would prove too troublesome to get back home, so we had to pass (plus these were quite expensive, as in hundreds of Euros)

I did think it was strange how similar the brands are, though. I recognize the logo for this stuff from bread we can find in the U.S.

One morning we really went crazy, and I got this sausage cheese roll thing and Matt got hot chocolate and churros. Both were good decisions.

About that tapas tour.... I didn't really take any pictures of the food since we were talking to people in our group, but I did snap this drinking challenge early in the evening.

After seeing some guy at another table order this, Matt had to have one, too. Why don't Americans put hot dogs on delicious baguette rolls?! It's a genius move.

Hmm, I wonder what they serve here?

It was all yummy.

Here are some potatoes with semi spicy sauce...

... and Manchego cheese.

Matt and I also enjoyed some chips and guacamole (and pita crisps with hummus) at the beach one afternoon.

My favorite tapas restaurant was this one, Tosca. We started with the traditional bread with garlic, oil, and tomato topper and moved on from there.

Mmm, sweet potato and feta spring rolls :-)

And for me, miss fancy pants, I got the foie gras, brie, and jam plate.

After finishing off those plates, we wandered into another tapas place later that evening for even more delicious treats.

See what I mean? We easily made a meal out of many small dishes and waddled back to the hotel fully stuffed.

Barcelona is a great city for eating and sitting by the beach, but next time I'll try to come when it's not so touristy and crowded so I can enjoy it more...

Barcelona: the sights

So Matt and I went to Barcelona last week. It took me awhile to warm up to the place, mostly because I was in need of a vacation rather than a trip, and the entire week was chock full of too many people in a city that was way too hot. I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting, it is a city on the Mediterranean sea, after all - but by the middle of September my brain just starts to morph into pumpkin-mode.

Anyway, we ate well and enjoyed taking in the sights. As we like to do, we started with a Sandemans walking tour to get acclimated. I really can't explain every single building we saw, but the sun was out and I definitely liked the architecture.

We also went to the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona's famous basilica.

Matt liked it - I hated it.

While it was neat inside, there were so many things that made the experience unpleasant. First, the cost of the ticket was not worth what we saw, the audioguide was a joke, and the intense crowds made walking around inside and outside next to impossible.

Also - they are actively working on it (this picture is from my Cranes of Europe collection), and by actively I mean you could hear jackhammers over the audioguide inside.

Don't even think about walking around in here - someone who is looking up is going to walk straight into you.

It's too bad I couldn't fully enjoy all the colors and light inside (also, it's too bad my camera phone couldn't capture it all that well)

So. many. people.

After we finally got out of there, we found our way to a gorgeously huge park and I let my dino out to play around for a bit on a palm tree.

We tried to sit in the shade as much as possible - that was some hot hot sun!

One evening we also participated in a tapas tour, also put on by the same tour group. Not bad - we went to three places and our group had a lot of really cool people. Here's Matt challenging one of our tour-goers to pool at the after party.

Finally, we made it down to the beach. How absolutely beautiful is this?!

I loved hearing the waves crash against the sand! I haven't been to the beach in forever, so it really got me in a better mood.

Next post will be all about the food :-)