Oktoberfest and others

Hello and welcome to my favourite season,

Going to Oktoberfest or die Wiesn as the Germans say has been on my bucket list for a long time. At some point, I actually hoped to visit every carnival / traditional cultural festival in the world! So the opportunity for this one presented itself this year and I couldn’t let it pass.

I landed to Germany on Friday and already had solid instructions on the dirndl I had to acquire; it must be below the knee and not slutty (don’t buy from H&M or a costume shop). There are a few traditional shops in the Munich city centre that will assist you. The dirndl is actually commonly worn in Bavaria and you will see local people from all ages and styles wearing them. Buying the ‘real’ traditional outfit is, of course, more pricey, but they are fantastic, excellent quality and you will be received much better in Bavaria.

I was slow at first to ease into finding the right one for me, but after I relaxed, I thoroughly enjoyed the fitting experience and found a dirndl that I really liked!

Wiesn was interesting! It starts at 10 am in the morning and the hardcore early birds are already boozy and have their tents and tables scouted out. We only arrived at two pm (on a Saturday as well) and had to spend some time searching for a tent we could get into and then we still had to find a seat. We thought that only being a group of two it would be relatively swift but it still seemed to take forever. So here are some need-to-know tips for first-timers:

1. You cannot get a drink unless you have a seat and you are not allowed to wander around with your beer.

2. If you speak German or are wearing traditional attire, people will assist you more.

3. All the tents serve different beer (one also specifically has wines) and if you are flexible, you can find other alcohol, too.

4. It is near impossible to find new seats as the day goes on, so once you find a good seat and a nice tent, stick to it no matter how you feel.

5. All orders will be paid upon receiving it unless you have a table booked. Bring cash.

6. There is basically one vegetarian food option on the menu, but at least it’s yummy! I would mainly describe it as mac n’ cheese made of gnocchi.

7. Wiesn is actually a big family carnival with fun fares and great snacks.

After six litres of beer, midnight roasted potatoes and some sleep, it was time to take a stroll around Munich, visit the English garden, see the surfers on the river, gaze at the old architecture and eat some sauerkraut.

There are many excellent pieces of architecture to admire on your walk. You can also look at Munich from above from some of the church towers!

Walking by the river in Munich is lovely and everyone told me that I brought with me the sun and we just got really lucky with the weather. I really enjoyed Munich, it feels like a big western European city with some of the southern air but enough parks and green.

My all-time bucket lister has been the Neuschwanstein castle in south Germany so that’s where we headed. It is around two hours south of Munich and the train tickets cost around 20 – 30 euros return. The train was fully packed and the rest of the journey is completed with a local bus through the cute village. In truth, there are two castles and a museum, but ‘The New Swan Castle’ is the most famous one. We didn’t realise that you could book the entry tickets online so we had to queue some time to get our entry. What you need to know is that you won’t get into the castles without a booked tour but this doesn’t cost you any extra, rather you just buy your ticket (with whichever combination you have time and interest for) and wander about the beautiful valley while you wait for your tour. It is possible to access the castles with a horse cart or by walking. We opted to walk around and managed to break all the records of my sports watch!  We were told that the hike up to Neuschwanstein would take over 40 minutes but we did it in barely 20 so don’t be alarmed. 

There is a bridge that allows you to face Neuschwanstein and gives you the best photo opportunities. However, I would not recommend the spot for anyone who has any fear of heights. If you cross the bridge, there is a small nature path between the mountains, you walk that for five minutes and you get to a less crowded, even more picturesque spot where my photo (above) is from.

This is the courtyard of the Neuschwanstein castle itself. It’s not allowed to take photos inside any of the castles, but then again, it’s so worth the visit that I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you anyway.

As a final excursion on my trip, we visited Koblenz where the two rivers, Rhine and Moselle, meet. The meeting spot is beautiful, you can admire it from the castle walls or from the cable car crossing the river. The Moselle region is famous for Riesling wine so we headed to one of the most famous vineyards in the area that produces eight types of Riesling grown in different mineral soils. The tasting was lovely and it was great to do some German wine tasting after being in South Africa for so long. The region is beautiful and peaceful and well worth the visit for just some peace and quiet.

That’s the main things for now! I hope you enjoy your trip to Germany and get to experience it the local way.

Greetings from Germany,

Mira

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