Oktoberfest 2010: Best of Bavaria

“Ausgezeichnet!” – An excellent tour with great guests, great weather, and many  memorable moments. With so many great days strung together, it’s easy to forget how special each day was – here’s a quick recap of our trip:

DAY 1

Landing went smoothly, although we had some trouble finding Phil & Shannon at first! Who’d have thought they figured out how to take a shower at the airport! Shortly after departing the airport, we stopped at Weihenstephan, the world’s oldest brewery (1040). Many were tentative about sitting together – things would soon change! The beer garden was open and the Weissbier proved popular. It was a long ride  to Berchtesgaden, but the stop at the Grassl Schapps factory was a big hit. After a quick presentation, the film clearly explained the process of turning the roots of Gentian plant into Enzian Schnaps. Grassl lays out a great sampling of 8 different schnapps – just the thing after a long bus ride!  As we rolled into Berchtesgaden, the weather cooperated with phenomenal views of the Watzmann . Check in at the Hotel Wittelsbach was less than smooth – they had screwed up Daniel and Mauricio’s reservation and the “suite” we thought would be great for Ozzie and John was a flop…but we overcame all that with a little effort and everyone got settled in. Dinner at Bier Adam was outstanding and everyone really started to get to know one another. I had the fish, which was outstanding, and Daniel lost part of his pen – he spent a long time crawling around on the floor. The waitress had a good time with her group and she told me she had never sold so much Dark Bier!

DAY 2

We awoke to perfect weather and the massive mountains shone in the brilliant morning sunlight. Our bus drove us to the Obersalzberg we were caught a specially outfitted bus to the top of the Kehlstein - a/k/a The Eagle’s Nest. Driving this daring road is half of the fun. Climbing higher and higher up this windy road, the tree line is passed and the bus clings to the edge of the cliff overlooking the valley. After arrival, we boarded Hitler’s golden elevator for the final 300 meters straight up to the Eagle’s Nest. Given the wonderful weather, we were all drawn up the path to take in the panoramic views from the ridge. (Unfortunately, this is the moment I misplaced my camera – I later searched for it unsuccessfully, but left my business card with the staff at Kehlstein – it was found days later and they mailed it to Hotel Ruchti for me!)

After descending from Kehlstein, we visited the Dokumentation Obersalzburg - a museum located at the entrance of the Nazi bunker complex.  The small museum provides an overview of the Nazi period and interesting original items from the Berchtesgaden area during the period. However, the museum’s collection is overshadowed by the maze of bunkers. It’s not difficult to imagine the difficultly we might have had if the Nazi’s had used the Obersalzberg as the site of the “Endsieg.”

After the tour, most got a bite to eat at the neighboring cafe and then we were back on the bus for a short ride over to the Salzbergwerk – the Salt Mine of Berchtesgaden. After donning a black jumpsuit, we boarded a train and rode deep into the mountain. The highlight of the tour are the two wooden slides and the boat ride across the Saline Lake.  After the tour, we all walked back about 1/2 kilometer into town and several of us stopped off for a refreshment at the Berchtesgadener Hofbraeu.

Meeting back at the hotel in the evening, our bus took us back up to the Obersalzberg. With dinner planned a small mountain hut called the Scharitzkehlalm, several of us got off the bus early so that we could make a small hike to the alm to stretch our legs. We were rewarded with the beautiful approach to the Hoher Göll. Schweinebraten was the menu of the day and it was fabulous, though the Knödel was a bit less popular.The Blueberry Strudel, however, was absolutely fantastic. The staff at this mountain side hut was super friendly and very happy to host our group.

DAY 3

We again woke to beautiful weather and boarded our bus to the Königsee. King’s lake is located in the Bavarian National Forest, tucked in between the famous Watzmann and Jenner Mountains abutting the Austrian border. Before we boarded our electric boat, we could see the major renovations of the bobsled course off to the right.  The slow boat ride to St. Bartholomä took place in the early morning fog. It was a bit eerie as we stopped at the Echo wall and the guide blew his trumpet in the fog. The lonely sound reverberated off the granite walls on either side of the socked-in lake. As we approached the landing site, the rising sun started to burn off the fog.  We visited the church and enjoyed coffee and tea in the restaurant. On the ride back, all of the fog was gone and we were treated to the stunning beauty of the lake and its surrounding mountains.

At this point our group split up based in their interests. Some returned to Berchtesgaden to do some afternoon shopping and everyone else rode the Jennerbahn up the Jenner mountain. Vonia went with the group to the very top while I took a group of intrepid hikers looking to work off the beer and strudel. We exited the lift at the middle station and bought some snacks at the small kiosk. We set out up a steep trail in the hot sun. We came upon a small hut advertising fresh milk. We debated a stop here, but pressed on through the cow pastures. We walked for exactly one hour before coming to a steep decline on the path. At the bottom was the Königsbachalm. Footing was difficult as we picked our way down the trail to the hut. Once there, we got a Weissbier and snack of Wurstbrot or sausages and sat in the sunlight. We were treated to some unique entertainment as we watched several men try to corral some of the cows. It appeared that several of the cows were to be sold but the current owners had to catch the cows first. They had limited success. At one point one of the biggest cows actually broke threw the wooded fence and ran down the mountain side!

Hiking back up the steep trail was very strenuous and we decided it was time to head back towards the lift.  However, we saw a group of locals sitting at the first hut we passed and we decided to stop in for a visit. We picked the table in the sun and looked for the “magic beer window.” Seeing none, I asked how we could get a beer – “Sit down and be nice,” was the answer! An older gent came and took our order and we all enjoyed a Weissbier. The locals seemed to be in the mood to do some entertainment and broke out into song together several times. We showed our approval by moving to a table in the shade with some more of the locals and ordered a second Weissbier. The songs got louder and then two recorders came out and we were serenaded with a father-daughter duet. The Gemütlichkeit made this a difficult place to leave! We said good-byes all around and trekked back toward the lift. After a quick stop at the Dr. Hugo Beck Haus, we boarded the lift for the ride back down where we met up with the group that had just been at the restaurant at the top of the mountain. We all took the public bus back to downtown Berchtesgaden.

In the evening, we assembled at the Berchtesgaden Hofbräuhaus for dinner. Beef Goulash and Spätztle were on the menu and about half of our guests got seconds. The other highlight were the two 10 liter wooden kegs of beer that we enjoyed with our dinner.  At 8:00, we moved over to the adjoining Festhall to enjoy the Heimat Abend put on by the local Trachtenverein. Live music and folk dancing was enjoyed by all. Rae got hijacked by the group and Bill got kicked by a Schuplattler – all in all a great night!

DAY 4

Our luck with the weather ran out and we woke to a light drizzle. Due to my strained voice, I left Vonia to handle the guide duties of the day.  The group traveled to the nearby city of Salzburg and met up with an official city tour guide. The rain kicked into high gear and the guide turned out to be…let’s just say not so great. Given the wet weather, Vonia suggested an earlier meet-up at the Augustiner Bräu Mülln for dinner. Meanwhile, I was back in Berchtesgaden enjoy the Sauna Landscape at the Watzmann Therme. I met up with Daniel and we jumped on a train to Salzburg where we met up with the group at the brewery. Augustiner is a very cool place  – when you buy a beer, you pick out a ceramic mug, rinse it in cold water, and hand it to the fellow who fills it. And, they have a huge food court offered lots of Austrian specialties – called the Schmankerlgang. They put us in a small room in the back and we enjoyed a small buffet with all the typical treats -  Schnitzel,  Schweinsbraten, Leberkäse, Chicken, Cheeses,  Pickles, Radi, Horseradish, Mustard, and many salads. After a bit of free time to enjoy the public rooms, we boarded the bus back to Berchtesgaden.

DAY 5

On Sunday morning, we departed Berchtesgaden for Munich. Arriving at the Hotel Alter Wirt around 10:30, we parked the luggage and gathered our newcomers – Kelly and C.J. – and took the tram downtown. We got to Marienplatz a few minutes before noon, just in time to catch the Glockenspiel. Those of us that have seen the Glockenspiel adjourned to the Weisses Brauhaus were we met up with Oliver and the Frey Family.

After lunch, we tour part of Munich including the Alter Hof, the Money Tower, the Hofbräuhaus, and Odeonsplatz. After our tour through Munich’s history, we boarded a jam-packed U-Bahn to Goetheplatz and onto the Oktoberfest grounds – the Wiesn!

Our tables were located on the edge of the balcony in the Augustiner tent. Everyone was excited to finally be at the 200th Anniversary of Oktoberfest and each tore into that first Maß of Wiesnbier with gusto. It was chickens all around and we all got into the spirit of letting going and enjoying each others company.

DAY 6

We had a few people with a slow start on Monday morning and ever a couple who had to stay behind. The rest of us took the tram to Ostfriedhof and walked over to the Paulaner Brewery. We arrived at the Paulaner am Nockherberg Wirtschaft right at opening and we had the place to ourselves. Most got back on the horse with a morning a Weissbier as we discussed the history of the brewery and origins of Bockbier. Then it was back to Oktoberfest and we were greeted by the friendly servers in Box 3 of Augustiner.

After a few hours in the Augustiner Tent, we slowly made our way to the Historical Tent at the far south end of the Wiesn. The special beer, a collaborative effort of the six Munich breweries, was a hit and the tent was worried about running out. And, the historical ceramic biersteins with the simple text. “Münchener Bier” were great – sure to be a collector’s item some day! We enjoyed the traditional entertainment and even did a little dancing!

DAY 7

After departing the hotel, we returned to downtown Munich with a stop at the Asam Church, followed by a stroll over to the Viktualienmarkt – Munich’s open air market. Several partook of the juice bars offering a fresh squeezed solution to that day-after-Wiesn feeling!

Returning to the Wiesn, we met up with the Kohlerhof twins and their gang at the small Schützen Festhalle. In the back, a real air rifle shooing competition is taking place. We, however, enjoyed the Löwenbräu bier. For lunch we had duck – not the best in the world, but the atmosphere was great and we had plenty of room to spread out and enjoy ourselves. The big attraction was watching the girls from Kohlerhof down several bottles of Schnapps. Right at the end of our visit, several of our Ulm friends appeared and then our Böbing buddies. As we were being kicked out of our tables, our group had to make a quick decision – Vonia took some people downtown for shopping, I took some to the Augustiner tent with the Böbing guys and Bill took several with him to the Paulaner Tent with the Kohler boys. Eventually, everyone who remained found a seat. The Augustiner tent was rocking and we had seats on the main floor. It was great to hang out with the Böbing gang – Werner even took Kelly up to the bandstand and they directed the band together! We also got to meet with tent-owner’s wife and danced on the benches for several hours together.

DAY 8

Luckily we set up a little later meeting time to allow everyone time to pack for the departure from Alter Wirt. Our bus from Bamberg took us the short distance to the Holy Mountain, Kloster Andechs. Everyone enjoyed the church and bought a few souvenirs, but the big hit was the Doppelbock beer and Schweinehaxe.

Leaving Andechs, it was a long ride up to Bamberg and we arrived just in time for our tour with Christian, the Story Teller. Christian took us up to the cathedral and back down to the town hall and “Little Venice” while also showing up the university areas of Bamberg. He also joined us for dinner at Schlenkerla – the magical source of Bamberg’s famous Rauchbier – Smoked beer. Paired with the traditional Bamberger Onion, the taste is one that won’t be forgotten. Though not everyone appreciated the Rauchbier, the stuffed onion with mashed potatoes was a smash hit! Some people hit another small brewery near our hotel, the Kloster Bräu, known for their “brown beer.”

DAY 9

With a free days on their hands, most of our guest enjoyed the chance to sleep in and stroll through the beautiful city on their own. Several took Christian’s suggestion to take the bus tour up to Altenburg Castle while others gathered at the Spezial Brewery for lunch. I went back to the sauna inn yet another effort to rejuvenate my voice. Returning to Bamberg around 1:00 PM, I joined up with the gang at Spezial and then went across the street to the Fässla brewery. Herr Kalb gave us a warm greeting and also Jens and Uli showed up from Ulm. We had several rounds there and even enjoyed a self-guided tour of the little brewery.

Wendy and Debbie showed up at the tail end, hungry after their power shopping and I took them arouund the corner for a Dönner – a favorite Turkish fast food option. We all then walked on to the Keesman Brewery we were enjoyed their fabulous Herren Pils. Across the street, Mahr‘s beckoned and we crossed over for a few Ungespundet – “U”  Lots of people ate here and really enjoyed the food. Jumping back on the bus, we rode to the ZOB and then on to the hotel. Bill, Russ and I journeyed up the hill to the last brewery on the list – Greifenklau. The place was jammed pack and we shared some other people. We had one quick one and then strolled back down the hill to Schlenkerla – Russ just had to have one more of these. Once there, we met back up with Christian and inducted him in to the BIER club.

Day 10

An early 7:00 AM start was required in order to get us down to Oktoberfest for our final visit to Oktoberfest. Everyone snoozed on the 3 hour drive to the Olympic Park on the north side of Munich. Once here, our Bamberg bus transferred our luggage to a bus from Füssen at the Ice Arena. We boarded the U-Bahn and got down to Goetheplatz with enough time to stroll past many of the famous Wiesn attractions together.

We were up in the beautiful balcony of the Ochsenbraterei with 50 seats.  One table went to Chris K and his buddies and another to Jens with his Ulmer friends. Hubert was the name of our Ox and almost everyone had a bite of him. Lots upgraded the classic steak to the Filet – melt-in-your-mouth wonderful! Petra and Michal were there – as well as Frances and a quick visit from Simone to see us off.

After leaving the tent we jumped on the U-Bahn back up to our bus at the Olympic Ice Stadium. The bus took us directly to Hotel Ruchti in Bad Faulenbach in Füssen. After checking in, we all gathered in the Mathilda Stube where Wolfgang tapped the keg from the Aktienbrauerei for us. Then Maggie and Sonja served up Ruchti’s famous Wiener Schnitzel for us. Dessert was home-made from Maggie, supervised by Herman. It was a lovely dinner. Against my advice, several of the more adventurous ventured out to the Moskito bar – big mistake!

Day 11

Our bus dropped us off at the fairly-tale castles of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Only one of the Moskito visitors made it through the whole day! In the afternoon, everyone enjoyed a bit of free time before our dinner reservation at the Kohlerhof.

We started off with choosing from 4 or 5 entrees from the special menu.

The twins ran around with drink orders and their mother was busy in the kitchen pumping out the entrees. It was great to see the Eiswichtl Hobby Ice Hockey team join us and also Michael and Petra came to bid us farewell. And Steffi and Ingo brought Maggie and the kids along for a bit. Towards the end of dinner, Michael and Georg called on Jersey Bill to do the honors of tapping the keg. Bill did a great job – 3 hits with a fourth just to be sure. Surprisingly, he didn’t spill a drop! We filled the mugs and everyone enjoyed a swallow of fresh Maria Hilfer Helles.

Immediately following the tapping, an accordionist showed up and began to play for us. Slowly, Michael and George passed out the Teufelsgeige, Spoons, and Washboard to have us help out with the music. Out came the shot ski and the Schnupftabak before we wound up doing some crazy dancing that had us gasping for air!

Day 12

The small town of Böbing is located about one hour from Füssen and we arrived there in plenty of time to catch the 10:00 Mass – a special one to celebrate “Erntedankfest” – thanking God for the Harvest. The retired Father Sepp welcomed us all during the service and shook my hand as a gesture of enduring friendship between Germany and the USA. All the townspeople were dressed in Tracht and the kids did a special program during which the food was blessed.

After the service, we went down to the Shooting Hall and Karl’s family served everyone a Weissbier and we enjoyed his freshly made Weisswurst with pretzels from Sepp’s bakery. Stefan organized a small presentation of Schuplattler dancing with a friend of his and a young girl that played a mean accordion. Later, they demonstrated my favorite dance, the Lumberjack dance. Several people got to try doing the dance which involves jumping up on the bench and spinning around.

After the physical exertion of the dancing, we went into the shooting gallery and everyone had a great time shooting while enjoying a Weissbier. Just as we were leaving, Karl presented me with a great present that I’ll always cherish.

We stopped off at the Wieskirche before journeying on to Bad Tölz. Once there we were a bit delayed by heavy traffic, but we finally made it up to the beautiful biergarten at Koster Reutberg. Surrounded by the Alps, sitting in the sun here while enjoying a freshly brewed beer was a great way to relax.

Then it was just a short ride to our hotel in downtown Bad Tölz, although navigating a full sized bus through heavy traffic, construction and one-way streets took some time! After checking in the Kolberbräu, we had a private room for our last dinner together.  It was a great evening as we all took turns discussing the high (and low!) points of our adventure together.

Day 13

The next day we all went our separate ways since everyone had different departure times from Munich airport. Vonia and I slept in really late and then went back to Munich with Jersey Bill. We packed our things into a locker at the train station and enjoyed the sunshine in the Augustiner Keller biergarten over a Mass of Augustiner. We then met up with Simone and Oliver at the Weisses Brauhaus for a few last Weissbiers. At the end of the evening, we grabbed our things and went to our last hotel in Freising. Bill had to leave very early the next day, but Vonia and I slept so long that we missed breakfast. Fortunately, there we got in one last Weisswurst breakfast at the Munich airport.

So, now we are home and thinking back to all the great times – great people and great experiences. I can’t wait to do it all again in 2011!