Oktoberfest

Every year around September/October, beer festivals start appearing in a lot of cities.  They usually call themselves Oktoberfest.  However, there is only one original Oktoberfest; and that is in Munich. Locals called it Wiesn, the fairground where it's being held.  You can learn more about the history and other factual information by clicking on the Oktoberfest link above.

Entrance to the Oktoberfest fairground

Coming to Oktoberfest has been on my bucket list for a number of years.  But, I heard that it's very difficult to find a hotel room in the city during that period or you have to pay a very high room rate.  In 2014, while traveling in South Africa, I met a friend Paul and he invited me to stay with him at his student apartment.  I missed 2014 because I was running in the NYC Marathon and in 2015, I had to go to Singapore for some family matters.  However, while at a food court in Singapore, I struck up a conversation and became friends with a German expatriate.  By coincidence, he is from Munich and I told him that my goal is to one day attend Oktoberfest.  He graciously invited me to stay with him and his family, and so here I am in 2016, visiting and staying with my friend, Tobias Fausch, and his family.

Getting dressed up in traditional German attire

I am missing my lederhosen

Standing in front of the Paulaner tent where we celebrated

Waitress carrying many mugs of beer

Extra large pretzels, just for Oktoberfest

Six million people visited Oktoberfest last year.  Getting a table reservation is a big, big challenge, unless you have some connections.  Tobias was able to get a table reserved at 5 pm on October 1st.  What if you don't have a reservation?  For most people, it means getting there early and get into one of the tents and secure a seat at a table.  You will not be served beer if you do not have a seat at a table.  This means that you will likely be seating with strangers or in an open public area.

Open seating area with bandstand in the background

Having fun drinking with friends

Before I came to Oktoberfest, I had the impression that you pay an entrance fee to get into a big tent, find a seat, and you will be served beer.  That's not how it works.  It's actually a big carnival, with rides, games, toys, souvenirs, etc, like you would see in any carnival.  Entrance to this area is free.
Within this Wiesn area are 14 tents belonging to the biggest breweries in Bavaria.  You pick which tent you want to go to or you may have reservation at a specific tent.  Entry to the tent is also free but admission gets harder as it gets later in the day.  Advice: start in the early afternoon or even earlier.  When we arrived, most of the tents have long lines.  With our wrist bands, we got into the Paulaner tent without any problem, and was shown to our table.
There were 10 of us at our table, all friends of Tobias, who worked and met in Singapore.  So, all of us have a Singapore connection.

Tobias and I

The waitress came and took our orders for the beer and food.  It's amazing how many 1-liter mugs of beer each waitress can carry.  There is a band playing in the tent, playing a mix of German music and English pop music, including Abba's Dancing Queen and Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline.  It's a very noisy place but not at all rowdy.  Some people are dancing on their tables.  Security is very tight.  Any hint of anyone getting rowdy or violent, gets immediately thrown out of the tent.  Everyone is in a very happy mood.  Strangers greet one another and start conversations.  I walked around the tent and probably talked to at least 20 strangers.  The tent is an amazing operation.  They have a big kitchen preparing food and 4 beer stations.  They have booths that sell souvenirs, pretzels, and vendors walking around selling flowers, hats, etc.   Security folks are constantly getting people moving in the corridors to allow the waiters and waitresses easy access to the attendees.

1-liter beer mugs getting ready to be filled

A very well-equipped kitchen to serve food

It's a night of fun, conversation with friends and strangers, dancing on the benches, singing with the band, eating German food, and of course, drinking lots of beer.  The beer brewed for Oktoberfest has a higher alcohol content - about 5.5%.   I drank 3 liters of beer!  You control your own drunkenness.  When we left, there were many who drank too much and laid down on "puke hill."

One of the amazing things I learned when coming to Munich is that the locals really enjoy coming to Oktoberfest as well.  Many of them don't come for just 1 evening.  They come multiple times during the 2-week festival.  I heard some even come every night!  This is their event and part of their pride of being a citizen of Munich and Germany.   Tourists come from all over the world.  The second weekend is heavily patronized by Italians.  So much so that the Italian Police come and help control the Italian crowd.

The place shuts down at 11 pm and the mass of people start heading towards the trains to go back to wherever they are staying.  Crowd control and security was superb.  I was told that this year the crowd is smaller but nevertheless, there were a lot of people there.  And they run this for 17 days!

Drank too much.  Sitting next to "puke hill"

This two won't be going home tonight

München

I came to Munich for one big reason:  Oktoberfest.  That has been on my bucket list for a long time.  But I heard that it's near impossible to get a hotel room unless you book months in advance.  I met a couple of friends, Paul and Alina, while traveling in South Africa.  They invited me to stay with them but I could not make it in 2014 because I was getting ready to run the NYC Marathon.  Then I met another German friend, Tobias, at a food court in Singapore.  He graciously invited me to stay with his family.  How can I turn this down?  So, here I am in Munich, getting ready to go to Oktoberfest this afternoon.

But, wait a minute.  There's more to Munich than Oktoberfest.  This is a city that has been around for hundreds of years.  It's the third largest city in Germany and is a major center for technology, business, education, finance, culture, etc.  Of course, it's where Bavarian Motor Works, popularly known as BMW, is headquartered.  I have 3 days to explore Munich before we go to Oktoberfest.  With Tobias' help, here was my itinerary:

Day 1:

1. Buy a 3-day Tourist Pass, so you can ride all public transportation and not have to waste time buying tickets each time.  They also have the 1- and 4-day passes.  Costs:  21.9€
2. Go to Marienplatz:  at 11 am and noon, watch the Glockenspiel display at the square. 
3. Stop at the Tourist Information office, just below the Glockenspiel and pick up whatever tourist information you need.  More importantly, buy a city map (half an euro), and have the staff explain the orientation of the city and point out where the important landmarks are.  The map is very useful because it numbers the important landmarks.  It also give you a S-bahn and U-bahn map.  With the 3-day pass, you can ride anywhere for free within the "Inner Ring."  Don't be caught without a valid pass.  I heard the fine is 60 euros.
4. Next go to the Viktualienmarkt, where you will find a variety of local food, produce, beer, etc.  It's sort of like a Farmers' Market.  Spend about 2-3 hours here to enjoy the sights and tastes.  It's not a tourist spot but the locals shop here too.
5. Find your way to Hofbräuhaus, the city-owned historical beer hall.  Here you can find the same beer that they serve at the Oktoberfest plus popular German food.  If you are thirsty or hungry, have a beer and same wurst here.  If not, at least walk through the beer hall, take some pictures, and come back later.
6. Across from the Hofbräuhaus is a Starbucks.  I know.  I know.  Why Starbucks?  Two reasons:  toilet and wifi.  As many tourists there are in the city center, it's very difficult to find a toilet or WC (stands for water closet).  At Starbucks, you can get your caffein fix, check your email or messages, and with the receipt, get the code to use the toilet.  You will have to ask the friendly staff where the toilet is because it's around the corner from Starbucks.  Keep the receipt so that you can come back and use the toilet later or the next day.  I don't think they change the code.
7. Take a short walk to the Residenz Museum, where royalty and the power elites of the city used to live.  Like many European palaces, that have been turned into museums, it features a lot of the ornate and ostentatious decor of the old days.  You need about 2 hours to through the museum.  I recommend getting an audio guide.  
8. Stop at the Cathedral Church of our Lady, near Marienplatz and take a peek inside the church.  You can also climb one of the towers and have a very nice view of the city, although I did not do it.  It also has the legendary devil's footprint in the floor of the church.
9. For dinner, you can eat at any of the restaurants around Marienplatz or even go back to the Viktualienmarket, where some of the restaurants are opened until 8 pm.

Marienplatz

Viktualienmrkt or Farmers' Market

Maibaum - a traditional German "May Tree"

Varieties of Olives

Historic Hofbrauhaus or Beer House

Traditional German food:  pork, sausage, schnitzel, pork knuckles

Oktoberfest Pretzels

Glockenspiel, performing at 11am and noon

Residenz Museum

Day 2:

1. Start at Hauptbahnhof, the Central Station, and then take the U-bahn or walk north towards a group of museums called the Pinakothek Museums.  Start with the classical, called Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek (new), then if you have time or not too tired, the Pinakothek Der Moderne and Museum Brandhorst.  You can buy one ticket for all four, if you can see all in 1 day.  Otherwise, it's better to pick perhaps 2 or 3.  Expect to spend about 1-2 hours at each museum.
2. If you are "max-out" on Museums, this is a good time to walk or take one of the trains towards the English Garden.  This is a beautiful park not far from the city center.  It's sort of like a Central Park in New York City.  At the time when I visited in late September, the weather was beautiful, sunny and warm, about 20C or 70F.  I told my hosts that I brought sunshine from Arizona but not the heat.  At the English Garden, you can stroll around, read your book, or stop at the Chinese Tower, which I did.  Here is a big beer garden and there was a brass-instrument band playing music on the second floor of the tower, so called because it's shaped like a pagoda.  You can buy your 1-liter beer stein and have a nice German meal here.  Between reading my Kindle, drinking a non-alcoholic beer (I picked it up by mistake), a traditional Oktoberfest pretzel, German music, watching the crowd and full sunshine, well.....Life is Good!

Start your day with a stop at one of the many excellent bakeries

Inside the Alte Pinakothek, with classical paintings

A painting by Van Gogh in the Neue Pinakothek

A stream in the English Garden

Chinese Tower or Chinesischen Turm, in German

Large beer garden at the Chinese Tower

Day 3:

1. Take the train to the Isartor station.  From there, walk to the Deutsches Museum or German Museum.  Unfortunately, I did not have time to go there but I understand that it's like the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum.  A lot of technology: automobiles, flight, ships, science, etc.  It's worth spending an entire morning or afternoon there, if you are a geek like me.
2. The museum is on an island on the Isar river.  After the museum visit, you can stroll alongside the river, where there are walking, running or biking paths.  There are also beaches along the river where you can sun yourself.  I thought of picking up one of those bike-share bikes but since I have the tourist card, I thought I can get around faster with the train or buses or trams.  But here, biking is a good option to enjoy views of the river.  You can also stop at a beer garden along the bank of the river and enjoy a genuine Oktoberfest beer and pretzels.
3. From the Isar river area, either walk or take a train to the Marienplatz station and then take the U3 train to the Olympia Sentrum station.  Walk about 100 meters to the BMW museum, where you  can see the history and vehicles by BMW since its inception in the early 1900s'.  You get more than models of old BMW cars, motorcycles, and engines.  It talks about its history and its present-day corporate philosophy and responsibilities.  Unless you are a die-hard BMW fan, I am not sure if the 9 euros is worth it.  After this, you can walk across the street to see its showroom of modern-day BMW cars, including a couple of Rolls-Royces, which it bought several years ago.  You can also go on a factory tour.  Unfortunately, during the Oktoberfest season, it's fully booked.  The lady at the Information Desk told me that you have to book about 6 weeks in advance.  
4. Munich hosted the 1972 Summer Olympic Games.  It built a new stadium at that time to host the games.  The stadium is still there, although not much in use.  At that time, it was hailed as a technology break-through in the stadium's construction.  When I went there, it was closed and I could only see it from the outside.  I did look closer at how the roof was constructed and secured.  

Along the bank of the Isar River

BMW Corporate HQ and Museum in the foreground

An old BMW car

Olympia Park

How the roof structure of the Olympia Park is secured

You noticed that I did not include the actual Oktoberfest in the itinerary.  That's because I assume that you have more than 3 days to enjoy Munich.  If you only have 3 days, then you need to squeeze in a few hours, maybe 4-6 hours there.  If you have an extra day, well....you can go in the morning, take a break and go again in the evening.  Oktoberfest is best enjoyed with a group of friends, so make some friends and have fun.  I will be writing about it in my next post.  

Warszawie

The title of this post is how Poles spell Warsaw in Polish.  Polish, as a language, is hard to understand and even harder to pronounce.  I asked a tour guide what language is most similar to Polish.  He said none.  Maybe what they speak in Slovakia is a little similar, like the way a Polish kid would speak.  Most young Poles speak some English.  They are the ones I turn to when I need someone to interpret for me.  Forget about the older generation.  Some of them look like they still live in the communist era, and may speak some Russian.  They behave that way too.

I took a bullet train from Krakow to Warsaw.  It costs about US$60 in 1st class and took about 2 hours.  The regular train takes about 4 hours.  I arrived at Warsaw Central Station and walked about 500m to my Airbnb apartment.  It's right in the city center, convenient to all the businesses but a little ways from Old Town.

The afternoon after I arrived I stop at the Tourist Information Office, located in the Palace of Culture and Arts, right across from the Central Railway Station.  Yes, they answered my questions when I asked but it was almost like "pulling teeth."  Customer Service is definitely not their forte; again, perhaps they think Poland is still run by the communists.  I asked about the Warsaw Pass, since I was planning to visit many of the museums and it also give me free travel on all public transportation.  The lady didn't even try to address my question at all.  I got my map, pick up some brochures, and left.

On my first morning, I took the 160 bus from the bus stop across the street from the apartment, and went to Old Town.  The buses, like all public transportation, charge their customers based on travel time.  The cheapest is a 20 minute ticket, costing 3.4 PLN, or about 89 cents.  That's what I paid for the ticket.  I arrived at Old Town, just in town to catch the Free Walking Tour.  Like I explained before, "Free" is not really free.  You are expected to tip the guide when it's over, based on what you think the tour is worth.  The very informative tour, with a big group of almost 20-30 tourists, took about 2 hours.  It stopped at all the major tourist attractions, with a lot of history and culture mixed in.  I tipped the guide 40 PLN, about $10, which is much more than what most tourists gave.  I thought our guide, Peter, deserved it.

Old Town Warsaw

The Royal Castle, which is also a museum

Musician performing in Old Town

Iconic Mermaid at Market Square

A kid mesmerized by a singing puppet show

A budget restaurant enjoyed by the locals.  You can get a meal for less than 20 PLN or $5

I stopped at a Bar Mleczny (or Milk Bar) restaurant for lunch.  The day before, I found one near the apartment and had a substantial dinner for less than 20 PLN or $5.  A lot of locals eat there and that's what I like.  I found this one in Old Town and had 5 pierogis for 12 PLN or $3.

A tourist shopping for souvenirs

Inside the Royal Palace Museum

 The Royal Palace has a museum that is not as impressive as the one in Vienna or others but still quite impressive.  The story behind palaces is not how impressive they are but how misplaced the priorities were of those who ruled the countries in the old days.  Monarchies spend tons of money on their palaces and churches while their poor struggle to survive.

Next I saw on the map that the Fredrick Chopin museum is not far from Old Town.  Chopin is a much beloved musician here, although I heard he never lived in Poland.  One of his parents is Polish, however.  Nevertheless, Poland. perhaps looking for famous figures to put on the mantel, grabbed Chopin and call him their own.  It was my lucky day.  Admission is free on Saturdays for those over 60.  Otherwise, it'd have costs 20 PLN or $5.  Growing old has its merits.  Those over 65 get 50% off on public transportation and other admissions.

Museums in Poland try to adopt the latest technology for their displays.  Every one I went to do things differently.  They try to incorporate the latest in technology.  The Chopin Museum is in a small building so its exhibits are spread over 2 or 3 floors.  Of course, they include a lot about Chopin's life, especially in Paris, and individual stations where you can listen to different categories of Chopin music.  It is a very well done museum; one can finish it in less than 2 hours.

Frederick Chopin Museum, near Old Town

The next day happened to be the Warsaw Marathon.  What irony.  Perhaps I should go run at least the half.  However, my right leg has been bothering me so much the last 4 months that walking is sometimes even a problem.  I think I pulled a tendon while running in NYC in June and the pain has not eased at all.  I have trouble sleeping sometimes because of the pain.  With the marathon in the Old Town area, I decided to avoid the area, and walked 30 minutes from my apartment to the Warsaw Uprising Museum.  Another lucky break for me; it's free on Sundays.  But free brings large busloads of tourists.  The place was swarmed with tourists and then locals.  This is a "feel good" history for the Poles.  Although the uprising was crushed by the Germans after two months, it reminds Poles about their strength, fearlessness and defiance to the oppressive Germans during WWII.  It's very well-done museum.  You get a lot more out of it if you rent an audio-guide.  Bring your own headset because the audio guide is the type that you have to put next to your ear.

Model of a sewer tunnel that the Poles have to use to get around the Germans

Front entrance of the Uprising Museum

Memorial to the Warsaw Uprising, near Old Town

 I also visited the National Gallery Museum but it's not much to talk about.  It's an okay museum with some paintings but nothing compared to other well-known museums around the world.  The only thing that they are immensely proud of is their own Polish painter called Jan Matejko

My Airbnb host, Joanna, told me about the Museum of the History of Polish Jews and how impressive it is.  The next morning I took bus 227 and then walk about 3/4 a mile to the museum.  The building architecture is very nice but the exhibits are even more impressive.  It is very well organized and if you follow the suggested path and rent an audio guide, you get a very nice story of the Jews in Poland.  Before WWII, there were more Jews in Poland than in any other European country.  That was the main reason why Hitler located his concentration and extermination camps in Poland.  Of the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust, 3 million came from Poland.  Before there was a Warsaw Uprising in 1944, there was a Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by the Jews in 1943.  About 13,000 Jews died when it was all over.

Museum of History of Jews in Poland

In the afternoon, I walked to the Copernicus Museum.  Unfortunately, it was closed on Mondays.
That pretty much ended all the interesting places I wanted to go to in Warsaw.  The next morning, I took a train from the station across the Central Station to Warsaw Chopin Airport.  Cost of the ticket?  4.4 PLN or about $1.25.  Can't beat that

Bus ticket for 20 minutes (above) and 75 minutes

My next stop?  Munich, for Oktoberfest.  What a life.

Auschwitz

My first priority in coming to Krakow is to visit Auschwitz.  I know that doesn't sound appetizing but I want to understand more of what happened and see with my own eyes, the places where the Jews, plus others deemed undesirable by the Nazis, suffered their endings.  We should never run from the past, no matter how unpleasant or evil it was.  This is how we learn and make the future better.  Incidentally, I also visited Cambodia's Killing Fields several years ago.

My Airbnb host in Krakow booked the Auschwitz tour for me for 155 PLN, roughly around US$40.  It started at about 9 am, took about 1 1/2 hours to get there and we got back around 4 pm.  Auschwitz actually consists of Auschwitz I, the main and original concentration camp, and Birkenau, which some also called Auschwitz II, and Auschwitz III in Monowitz.  We spent the first part of the tour at Auschwitz I, and the second part in Birkenau, about 30 minutes drive from Auschwitz I.

There were many tourists at Auschwitz, including many young Israelis.  Our tour company had arrangements with a licensed guide.  He took us to selected parts of the camp and expanded on what is explained in each exhibit.  It was very tough to see some of the exhibits and try to visualize what happened.  In one building, there were pictures of the prisoners and that made it more personal.

No words can describe what happened in Auschwitz in World War II.  The Germans built it initially to hold Polish political prisoners.  But then it became a place for exterminating those that the Germans deemed undesirables:  Jews, Poles, Gypsies, Russian prisoners of war, Jehovah Witnesses, homosexuals, etc.  When Auschwitz was not big enough, they built an extermination camp nearby in Birkenau.  All in all, the Germans killed about 1.1 million prisoners, 90% of them Jews.  There were 7,000 Nazis who worked at the camp and after the war; only 1,000 of them were persecuted.  The rest of them vanished and were not found.

Shoes belonging to prisoners

Pictures of prisoners

Wall where prisoners were executed

Buildings housing the prisoners with double electric fence

Type of freight cars used to bring in prisoners from all around Europe.  Many of them suffocated

The Germans destroyed the camp as they were retreating

Railroad tracks in Birkenau leading straight to the gas chambers

Some Grim Numbers

Doctore in the middle decides who lives and who dies by pointing his thumb

Washroom 

Bodies pushed in there to be cremated

Pond where the Nazis dump the ashes

Latrine in Birkenau