Munich went by in a blur, and I'm sure that had nothing to do with the copious amounts of bier we indulged in at Oktoberfest! We met up with a few more friends and stayed at a small town near Wörthersee lake, just outside of Munich. The first day we ventured into Munich, and spent most the day wandering around shops and trying to get last-minute outfits for Oktoberfest. The next few days were filled with feasts, drinks and general merriment! I'll let the photos speak for themselves!
Here's the view from the Airbnb we rented. While the property itself was wonderful, the Airbnb was woefully understocked, missing even the most basic kitchenware and toiletries. Oh well, we were only there for a few days and enjoyed ourselves nonetheless! After a day of shopping, we all reconvened at a restaurant for a few drinks and some food. I had gotten a rental for the trip, and it was our only method of transportation outside of the trains. As such, we ended up all piling in clown-car style. In case you missed it, that is indeed JD cramed into the trunk of the SUV! Enjoying the sunset from the Airbnb porch, playing a little guitar and sipping some wine. As we started to hit the golden hour, we all gathered around to take some group photos! From left to right, Wesley, Hobbs, David, Hannah, Erica, Camden, myself, JD and Josh. One of the nights, Hannah had called and booked us a nice dinner at a fancy lakeside restaurant. The service was rather slow, but that's been my typical experience in European towns. And here, we get to the fun part! Procuring lederhosen for all the boys ended up being time well spent, and though I spent more than I'd like to on the outfit, it was also money well spent. And now I can say I have authentic German lederhosen! While romping around Oktoberfest fair grounds, we decided to take a ferris wheel and get a view from above. And here is the view! As you can see, Oktoberfest is absolutely massive. Getting some (more) biers after the ferris wheel. In one of my finer moments, I was chatting with a girl while the song "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" played. The girl asked me if I'd like to dance with somebody...and in my cheerful drunkness, I excitedly said yes and pointed to my brother! One of my favorite moments of the night, darting away from a pretty girl to go spend some time with my bro! As the night got longer, it took a turn for the more chaotic. Trying to rally the group and get home was quite the ordeal. The absolute mass of drunken people spilling onto the street after Oktoberfest closed for the nighI'll spare the full story, but there were people getting lost, in trouble for public urination, some tears were even shed. All in all, a fairly fitting end to the night. I feel this picture captures it all; two people down for the count while Wesley charges on with his seemingly unending internal battery. The next, and final, day was restful. We had grand plans to go hiking, but scrapped that to instead enjoy a calm day on the water. Renting some paddleboards and boats, we spent the day relaxing and enjoying the small town. As sunset started to come on, we grabbed my guitar and some wine and headed to a park to catch the view and soak up the last rays of daylight. As you can tell, it was well worth the time. Seeing the calm, beautiful lake cast in this orange glow was the perfect way to end the trip. After sunset, we headed back home with some pizza. We gathered firewood and enjoyed small talk and the company of good friends.