It nearly hurt to get out of bed on our second day in Munich. The never-ending previous day hit us like a freight train and even our early bedtime didn’t save us. But this was the day when we actually had a reservation inside of a bierhall, so we quickly pulled it together and put our gear back on.
After much-needed coffees and pastries, we meandered our way to the fairgrounds once again. As our reservation was for 11:30 a.m., we found the grounds still festive, but lacking in intoxicated persons. The Kafer Wies’n-Schanke tent turned out to be a little more upscale than the rest, but having no other options allowing reservations for just two people, we had wired our reservation fees earlier in the year.
Here, we found our table with the “Herr Humberson” reservation sign, and it was a private table. I ate my first roasted duck, served with blaukraut (pickled sauerkraut) and another side dish that I never managed to identify on the side. The duck, although fatty, was delicious. Aaron ordered wienerschnitzel (some form of fried chicken stuff) and seemed to enjoy it as well.
Our waitress was awesome (Marilla? Maria?), and never managed to pass by without a big smile. Her English was almost as limited as our German, but nevertheless we found out that her husband travels to PA with a German oompah band. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage any further details. We had a great time here listening to the band and people-watching, and weren’t quite ready to leave when we had to.
At 3:30, we had to move along to o the later reservations. We found ourselves in the Augustiner biergarten, and managed two seats. We quickly made friends after another German couple (from near Cologne) sat next to us. Klaus and Andrea were wonderful people and we really enjoyed learning a little more about Germany from them. Eventually, we gave them our number should they visit the States, and this would prove a good decision.
When they left, they forgot their camera. Aaron stowed it away in his lederhosen, and the next morning we noticed a missed call from a German number. He sent a text to the number, and it turned out to be Klaus & Andrea, hoping we had found the camera. We left it at the front desk, where they were able to pick it up. They were so kind as to leave us a box of chocolates and a thank you note as well.
Back to Oktoberfest: let’s just say we left shortly thereafter. One of us kept our wits about us (guess who), and we ventured back to the hotel. We would pay a heavy price for a day of fun, but each of us had a blast.
Travel Notch 