Just a week after Angie and I went to Prague, I was off to Brussels and Germany with Mike Batten and Matt Eastman. We took off Friday (26/09) evening direct to Brussels. As I had been before, I was a bit of a tour-guide (and translator) for the 2 days we had there. Of course, this time there was a little more "Beer appreciation" than the first time I went with Angie.
The first night we were all a bit knackered, but the next day we were out and about pretty early to see the sights. I did get to see some new parts of the city too. We wandered about and soaked in the sights, before heading into the town centre for some beer degustations. The next day was much the same, with a bit more sightseeing and a little less beer, and a bit of gift for the neglected ladies. We boarded a plane late in the afternoon to Berlin...
We arrived in Berlin at about 9 and headed straight to the hotel, and then back out to a German restaurant for a little bit of huge beers and meat dishes. I've been practicing my German too, but as with French it's pretty much limited to eating, drinking, and sleeping. That's 99% of life anyway ;)
The next day we made our way across to the other side of Berlin (to the West) to meet up with
a 4 hour walking tour. It was pretty good because we got to see all the main sights so that we'd know what to spend more time on. We saw heaps of thing - The Jewish Quarter, War memorials, heaps of spectacular churches, the Berlin Wall (of course), the Brandenburg Gate, and heaps of other things. The central street of Berlin is "Unter de Linden", literally "Under the Linden tree" and as it is Autumn it was really nice with the leaves turning.
We were a bit knackered so we went to another place and met the owner Otto, who is now my best friend even though he laughed at my German. He wants to move to Autralia but was disappointed when we told him Australia has no Weiss (white) Beer. We then made a night of it and saw plenty of both touristy and out-of-the-way places.
The next day we made a trip to the places we didn't get to spend much time on the previous day, and really take it in. It was great to take our time (even a 2 hour wait to get in the Reichstag was ok) and make the most of it. At the end of the day we made our way to the huge main station (which is always the Hopfbanhof in whatever city you are in) for the sleeper to Munich for a day at Oktoberfest.
Nothing you know about Oktoberfest can prepare you for it. It's kinda like the Brisbane Exhibition but with beer. It's a huge day, and everyone is really friendly. It started as an overblown wedding reception in 1818 and has happened at the same place every year since, even through wars. We got there at 10, and by 12 the whole place was totally packed. More German people were subjected to my German but I did ok ;)
All the beers come in 1 litre glasses (called a Mass) and the meals come in 1 size as well - Huge. At the end of the day it was a mad rush for me to get to the airport on time, but luckily for the boys they got to stay another 2 nights and take in the sights. A full trip - I was knackered the next day!
