
Hey gang, I know it’s been awhile, but updates are coming, probably too many at once, but here’s this one for now. At the end of September I went to Oktoberfest with a friend from the office. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, and since it was the last weekend of the Fest for the year, I went last minute. It was a crazy experience, so many people who had definitely drank too much, lying about the streets, or singing national hymns at the top of their lungs, arm in arm with friends, and the never ending beer gardens and hordes of people, definitely worth seeing.

Although Oktoberfest, or Wiesn, is actually more of a carnival, with rides, food stands, etc., but also the huge beer tents that everyone knows it for. There were some 10 or 12 huge beer tents, each with hundreds inside, unfortunately, once we got there, entry was denied for the rest of the day, full house til 10:30pm.

Each Brewery had their own tent and rediculously large display.

Here is the Statue of the Bavarian, the protector of this region of Germany.

I climbed the tower of a nearby cathedral and got a real nice arial view of the celebration, look at all the people!

Although it’s for sure Autumn, the streets in the Munich old town were full of beautifully flower-clad buildings like this.

Unfortunately, the Frauenkirche was under construction this time around.

A few weeks after Oktoberfest, my mother made her first European tour. I decided it was important for her to not only see Switzerland, but also the surrounding areas I’ve come to enjoy. So our first trip was to Munich, but on her agenda, Mom wanted to see the infamous Dachau Concentration Camp, the camp which served as the model camp for all of the Nazi installments throughout Europe. It was a sobering experience, with appropriate dreary weather, but I believe it was good for us to see true remnants of the event, and see this memorial which stands to remind the world that this did in fact happen, and should never, ever take place again.


After Dachau, we had a more pleasant traveling experience. We made a trip to the Olympic Park and were fortunate enough to slip in the doors at the end of the day to see the new BMW World, a huge showcase building for all the new BMW cars and products being produced.




Bye the time mom came to Munich, Oktoberfest was over, but we had a chance to go through the Theresienwiese Park and see the remnants of the party. Above you can see the inside of just one of many huge beer tents, til festfully clad.


And on this trip it was crucial for mom to see her favorite castle, that she has a huge picture of in the basement, in real life. So we took a day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, the home of the Bavarian King Ludwig II, whose home was a tribute to the works of Wagner, and whose home also inspired the much later Disneyland.


In the same town is Hohenschwangau, the King’s parents quarters. We were too late to get an inside tour, but we still got up close and walked around the gardens. Below are some images from Nymphenberg Palace, just outside of central Munich. Last year I had a chance to visit here as well, but this year, Mom and I walked the entire, almost neverending gardens, all the way to a huge fountain with yet another amazing view into the countryside.


Well, that about wraps it up for Munich. Next up will be pics from our trip to Zermatt where we saw the class Swiss Landmark, the Matterhorn. Until then, hope you enjoy the pics, and feel free to comment.






















































































































































































































































































