This past September I had training in Athens for three days. I had decided it was the perfect opportunity to take a few days off and travel around Germany before a meeting I had in Amsterdam the end of the next week. A few of my colleagues decided to join me on the trip as part of the itinerary called for a stop in Munich for Oktoberfest! Unfortunately it was cold and rainy in Munich while we were there so we didn't see much of the town... but we didn't let the rain keep us from the festival!
The festival is like any other fair or carnival but it is best known for the "beer tents" where German beer and food is served to a chorus of German folk songs.
On our first morning in town we had to rush to the festival tents to stake our claim to a seat at a table. We were there by 9am and geared up for beer and brot's. Here is a picture of Marina, Alexis and myself trying to decide on breakfast. Hmm.. beer and sausage? Beer and potatoes? Beer and boar? We were a little apprehensive but our excitement made up for it.
Ashley decided to make friends with the locals.
This is one of my only pictures of the town outside of the festival... but no worries, I heard my groups annual meeting will be in Munich in 2008!
After all of our fun in the beer tents we wandered the streets, ate some dinner, and then headed for the train station where an overnight train to Berlin was waiting! After a little sleep (very little) we arrived in Berlin!
I didn't know what to expect with Berlin as I had heard both good and bad things about the city. I have to say it isn't a tourist mecca but it definitely didn't dissapoint. Like other German cities I have been to it was clean, well organized and the people were friendly.
We focused our attention on the last remaining section of the wall, the checkpoints and guard towers as well as the wall museum. It was very interesting but also obvious that a lot has changed in Berlin since the wall fell. Without the map it was very difficult to tell where the east - west division was.
This is the last remaining section of the wall. It was left as a reminder and it cuts right through a cemetary!
Checkpoint Charlie
The ruins of a bombed out cathedral, again preserved as a reminder.
This is a well known monument in Berlin because the wall ran right in front of it.. and it was considered symbolic as a gateway to a wall.
After a couple of days in Berlin Alexis and Ashley headed back to London and Marina and I continued on to Hamburg. Below is a picture of the city hall.
Hamburgh was hit pretty hard during the blitz and so here is another bombed out cathedral preserved as a reminder. The city was very pretty but I don't seem to have many pictures for some reason. Yes the people of the city are called Hamburgers. Oh.. and no this isn't where hamburgers got there name... though there is some argument that it was German sailors for whom the first hamburgers were made in the port of NY.
After a night in Hamburgh we took the train to Dusseldorf which is a very small but cute town. We saw pretty much everything we wanted to see in the city in about half a day but it wasn't a let down. The old part of the city probably wasn't much bigger than a football field.
So for those of you keeping score I have been to most of the bigger cities in Germany with the exception of Frankfort. Not sure if I will make it there or not... I only have about a year and a half left living in Europe and time fly's!
