Just got back from Germany last night. Ask me anything!

[SteppingRazor]

Wednesday: Arrive in Stuttgart. Drive to Neuschwanstein, then to Munich.
Thursday: Oktoberfest in Munich
Friday: Sightseeing in Munich
Saturday: Fail to get a plane out of Frankfurt, followed by unplanned sightseeing in Frankfurt
Sunday: Fly home.

I am tired.

[likesmountains 52]

1. What did you think of Munich?

[SteppingRazor]

3. As opposed to Frankfurt, which looked like a modern city...

Munich looked like something out of the past. Lots of historic buildings, and even the new ones were all in long galleries, with narrow alleys in between. One thing, though -- how come we insist on calling Munchen "Munich," even though Germans and Americans have the same word for every other German city? Can't figure that one out.

However, the people in Frankfurt were really nice (except those rat bastards at the airport), while the folks in Munich had a more big-city attitude -- they'll shove you out of the way without so much as an "excuse me" (or, of course, the German equivalent thereof).

Oktoberfest in Munich was about what you'd expect -- over half a dozen tents, each housing about 10,000 people, all armed with liter-sized mugs of beer, all surrounded by carnival rides and souvenir stalls. Total chaos.

[Aristus]

15. There are other cities with different names in German and English.

Cologne, for example, in German is Koln (with an umlaut over the o, which I can't do on my computer). The name for the Oktoberfest city actually was Munich back in medieval times, named for the many monks and monasteries located there. Mu-nech, in Middle German. It remained Munich in English, while the German pronunciation evolved into the Munchen used today.

Showing my geek today, I guess... B-)

[Zywiec]

2. How could you sightsee on Friday after Thursday's Oktoberfest?

I would have still been recovering.

:toast: :beer:

[SteppingRazor]

5. The end of the night Thursday is a bit of a blur.

By my count, I had at least six or seven beers Thursday. And the beer comes in mugs that hold a liter. So, that's like drinking 3 or 4 of those 2-liter Coke bottles of beer.

Also, I had very little to eat. Just a couple brats and about half of a huge pretzel.

But, we still managed t get out and see stuff Friday. I think I wasn't yet in recovery mode -- still a little drunk from the night before.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. My dear SteppingRazor!

Welcome home, sweetie!

Isn't Germany beautiful?

I've been twice now, and there's always something wonderful to see...

I loved Neuschwanstein!

Next time, stay longer!


:hug:

[SteppingRazor]

6. I would have stayed longer, but...

I'm getting married in November, and I need the vacation days for the honeymoon. We'll be going back to Europe, but hitting the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary. And that time, we'll be staying for a little over two weeks.

And, yeah, Neuschwanstein was ridiculously gorgeous. Ludwig may or may not have been batshit crazy, but he certainly knew how to build a castle.

[rateyes]

7. How were the Frankfurters...

the people, not the hot dogs.

[MissHoneychurch]

10. What do you think?

:D

[rateyes]

11. ROFL...

good one.

[SteppingRazor]

13. The people in Frankfurt were absolutely great.

Except for the jerks at the ticket counter at Delta at the Frankfurt airport. Long story, but one guy at the counter there might have been the biggest asshole I've ever met. Seriously -- ever in my life. But everyone else was really gracious and nice. Great people.

[Flying Dream Blues]

17. Sooo, I'm pretty sure that guy must have been transferred from the

Delta counter in Paris. Anyway, sounds like a great trip otherwise!
:hi:

[MissHoneychurch]

8. Why didn't you say you stayed a bit longer in Frankfurt?

we could have met :(

Hope you had fun at the Oktoberfest. How much Maas did you drink?

[SteppingRazor]

14. Awww... sorry MissH.

Once in Frankfurt, I was more desperate to get on a plane than anything else. Although, after we failed to get on a plane Saturday, we did go out at night to the pedestrian area in Sachsenhausen (sorry if I'm spelling that terribly). Our hotel that night was in Neiderrand, closer to the airport.

As for maas, at Oktoberfest, I put away at least 6 or 7 that I can recall. Things get hazy after that.

[NewJeffCT]

9. Was this a vacation trip, or business?

or both?

[SteppingRazor]

12. Pure vacation.

Got a buddy that works for Delta, so I got standby tickets really cheap.

[Sanity Claws]

16. Sprichst du deutsch?

[SteppingRazor]

18. Nein.

But after being there a few days, I picked up a few useful phrases. I now know a "Geld automat" is an ATM, for example -- very useful when you're wandering around the festival grounds, having spent your last euro, and need some more in order to take the S bahn back to the hotel!

Luckily for me, English is pretty much a constant throughout Europe now. Menus at restaurants all had English subtitles, and there was always someone around that speaks the language. I'm sure it's different out in the countryside, but in the cities, English speakers have no problem getting around.