I know I should be blogging about our visit from Ben and Jamie, but Josh hasn't sent my computer the pictures from their trip yet (and I have asked nicely!). So, for now, I'll skip ahead to our recent trip to Zurich, Switzerland and Munich, Germany.
Josh and I arrived in Zurich on a Wednesday evening. After checking into our hotel we hopped on a tram to go explore the city a little. Then the rain started...and it poured...for hours. We decided to give up on walking around with our umbrellas and headed back to our hotel with dinner in hand. We made it an early night and woke up bright and early the next day. Luckily for us, the weather was fantastic. We started out our day by taking a train to Uetliberg, the local "mountain" for some hiking.
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| Lake Zurich |
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| The view from Uetliberg |
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| Some cool lamp posts up on Uetliberg |
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| Josh taking a break. |
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| On top of Uetliberg |
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| Oh man...would have been a good picture without the old man! |
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| Switzerland! |
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| This random cat crawled onto my lap. I don't do cats. Especially random wild ones! |
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| On our way down to the hiking trail. |
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| A beautiful farmhouse along our hike. I'll take it! |
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| Some old grape vines. We grabbed a few handfuls of grapes and ate them as we walked along. |
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| Pretty Switzerland |
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| Josh is really enjoying be in the woods! |
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| This was at the end of our hike. We took a cable car from here back down the mountain. |
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| Josh on the cable car. |
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| Zurich from the cable car. |
After our hike, Josh and I took a boat cruise along Lake Zurich. It was perfect to sit down and enjoy a beer after our long hike. The view was fantastic!
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| We're on a boat! |
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| Josh on the boat cruise. |
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| Beer in Zurich, yummo. |
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| The city of Zurich from Lake Zurich. |
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| Josh having a giant pretzel snack after our boat trip. |
After our boat trip, we decided to head back to the hotel and have a nap. I love holiday naps, they are the best kind of nap! We didn't have too long to enjoy the comforts of our bed because we had planned to join in on a walking tour of Zurich that evening. The walking tour was fantastic, we learned a lot about the history of Zurich and had a great tour of the old town.
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| The city of Zurich |
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| The Grossmunster Church (with the two towers) |
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| Walking along on our tour. |
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| The biggest clock face in Europe is on St. Peter's church in Zurich. Even bigger than Big Ben's. |
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| More old town. |
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| Josh and I next to the original town wall on the banks of the Limmat river. |
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| Zurich |
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| Zurich is a very expensive city and housing is hard to come by. This one looks pretty nice! |
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| The wires you see in the picture are for the city's trams. |
After our walking tour, Josh and I found a beer garden and enjoyed a drink and some appetizers as the sun went down. We enjoyed people watching and relaxing for a few hours and then headed back to our hotel for the night. The next day, Josh and I were on a mission to explore more of old town and do some chocolate shopping!
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| A bespectacled gentleman statue. |
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| Josh trying to get me to do a funny picture...he doesn't direct very well! |
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| We walked up into one of the towers in Grossmunster church |
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| It was a nice view! |
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| Zurich from Grossmunster |
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| Zurich |
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| Trying to get our picture together...I think Sam and Amanda need to give us some lessons! |
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| Josh checking out the view from Grossmunster |
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| Well, hello there! |
After walking around Zurich, finding our souvenirs, and buying loads of chocolate, Josh and I headed to the train station for our 4 hour ride to Munich. I felt about a decade too old to be on that train...it was packed full of 18 year olds from America and Australia heading to Oktoberfest. We finally made it into Munich at around 8:00 at night and headed straight for our hotel. Our friends Kieran and Alissa had already checked in, so after a quick chat about our game plan for the next day we all hit the sack.
The next day started VERY early...my alarm went off at 5:30 am! But it was a necessary evil. Since we did not have reservations for a table at Oktoberfest, AND it was a Saturday, AND it was opening day, all the advice we were given was to arrive super early for the best chances of snagging a table. We made it out the door and into the Oktoberfest grounds by about 7:15am. We decided to go to the Lowenbrau tent and jumped into the first queue we saw...only to find out it was the wrong one! We then had to move to the side of the tent and wait in a longer line.
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| It's too early in the morning! The Paulaner tent. |
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| The Hofbrau tent...suppose to be popular with Americans |
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| The Hacker tent. |
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| The tower with the lion is from the Lowenbrau tent, the one that we sat in. |
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| The front of the Lowenbrau tent, where we got in the wrong line! |
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| A massive mug of beer atop the Paulaner tent |
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| Josh and I in front of the Lowenbrau tent (and in the wrong line!) |
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| Now we are in the right line...so many people here at 7:30 in the morning! |
The doors to the tents didn't open until 9:00. As soon as the doors were thrown open, there was a mad rush of people to claim a table. Josh and Kieran went ahead of Alissa and I and scoped out a table that already had two Americans sitting at it. They happily invited us to sit with them. Thank goodness! We sat downand watched for the next hour as people frantically tried to find seats. We were allowed to buy water, soda and juice, but no beer was served until noon, the official opening of Oktoberfest 2013. Our table passed the time by playing card games and a version of catch phrase on someones phone, it was fun!
Finally, at noon, a small parade entered the tent playing music and the first keg was officially tapped. Prost!
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| The inside of the Lowenbrau beer tent right after we got our seats. |
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| People looking for seats. |
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| I liked this sign because my granny's maiden name is Huber! |
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| We were so happy that we made it to Oktoberfest AND found a seat! |
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| My giant mid-morning snack of some kind of delicious German pastry. |
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| The atmosphere was so festive! |
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| Things are pretty quiet at our table while we waited for the beer to flow, nothing crazy yet! |
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| The musicians have arrived...we are getting close! |
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| Josh being attacked by some guys bum. |
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| Our table-mates :) Haha! |
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| Josh, getting a selfie as we wait for the beer keg to be tapped! |
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| Prost! The beer is flowing now and Oktoberfest 2013 has officially started! |
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Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit.
OANS ZWOA DREI! G'SUFFA! |
The above loosely translates to: A toast, a toast, to cheer and good times, a toast, a toast to cheer and good times. One, Two, Three, Drink Up!
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| Our waitress bringing the first of the beers! |
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| Josh is in heaven! |
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| That is one big beer! |
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| Alissa attempting to hold all four beers at once. |
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| Kieran having a go. Our waitress was able to carry 7 at a time, but I think the record is much more than that! |
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| Josh and I are excited for our beer after waiting for hours! |
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| Our Oktoberfest table, we had a great group! |
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| Prost! |
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| Comparing how much we have drank. |
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| Alissa and Kieran enjoying their beer! |
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| Empties :) |
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| Our table-mate Emily :) |
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| Things are starting to get rowdy! |
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| I don't even know... |
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| Some of the people from our table :) |
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| Double the fun! |
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| Oktoberfest 2013 |
We finally left the Oktoberfest park around 8:00 at night. We walked around the park a bit first, but there were so many people that we decided to head back to the hotel. It had been a full on day of partying and we were all ready to just get a bite to eat and then crash. The next morning we all slept in a bit, had breakfast and then headed into the city centre. Josh and I headed towards the old town while Alissa and Kieran went to explore another part of the city.
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| Munich |
Munich was a really nice city and I would absolutely recommend Oktoberfest to anyone who is interested in going. Zurich was nice too, but pricey!
Rachel
