Prost to Oktoberfest!

Munich, Germany (the World's Beer Capital)

It is quite an impossible task to get into any tent, especially the Hofbrauhaus tent, at 8pm on a Saturday night during Oktoberfest. Chiara and I had been sneakily plotting how to get inside this tent for at least an hour. We tried various doors and searched for all possible places for entry, but at last, we stood patiently waiting by the front door, hoping to beg our way in. A constant flow of other wannabes lined up for minutes at a time aside us, but no one was ever let in. And then, an Egyptian-German man in line asked Chiara if we wanted to go inside with him. She declined, and moments later, he was proudly dancing on the other side of the door window, smiling at us! We laughed and gave him puppy faces until the nice man decided pointed to another door. We met him at the back kitchen door, where the man spoke three words to the bouncer, and we were in!!! As you can imagine, a big celebration followed...


Thanks to him, Chiara and I spent Saturday night "prost"-ing and "cheers"-ing in the Hofbrauhaus, the legendary party tent of Oktoberfest 2006. We were ecstatic to be surrounded by four gymnasiums full of people happily singing and toasting and dancing. Feeling the high level of energy in that room was well worth the wait. It was fun to see everyone fantastically dressed in lederhosen and dirndls (I had to fight the urge not to go out and bus one too). And, snaps to the beer ladies who easily carried ten full beers at once. WOW. Chiara and I were so thrilled to stand on the table benches, bop to the Barvarian band music, and gulp down tasty German brew from our enormous liter-sized mugs! I thought I'd have to call up college drinking skills, as if it were a Barvarian themed frat party, but after two of those big suckers, I was BreznFetznrausch! Prost!

Snowboarding and Yoga

Do you know this snowboard instructor? Check out Yoga Journal's online article (page 2):
http://www.yogajournal.com/travel/2192_1.cfm

Photo Essay: Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site

International Monument


"Arbeit macht frei" (work will set you free)


Rows and rows of barraks that used to be here






The barraks were built to hold 6,000 people; by 1945 30,000 people were squeezed into here.






Prison Bunker cell for "special" prisioners.


Crematorium


Interestingly, houses are built right up next to the memorial site...

THE BEST HUNGARIAN EXPERIENCE EVER

Gergely promised Chiara and I "The best Hungarian experience ever" and he certainly delivered...

Chiara and I spent six days trekking around Budapest and Lake Balaton with a good snowboarding buddy of ours, Gergely. Neither I nor any other of Gergely's other coworkers in Vail can pronounce his Hungarian name correctly (GAER GAY), so, throughout the week, we called him Greg, Gergs, Gergö, and Gergerly for the humor of it. We were THRILLED to add Gergely to our 2 man traveling team, and it was endearing that Gergely was as excited as we were for our visit! He was an excellent host, tour guide, and companion throughout the trip: He always had great ideas of places to go and things to do, and he was HAPPY to show us around, which was the best part. :)

Over the week, we were busy! We started off on the wrong foot--immediately getting a fined for buying the wrong ticket in the Metro (in a city that supposedly never checks tickets...so why buy them, they say...). We got turned away from the tourist office because the lady had "too many tourists to help." haha. We got caught by security after passing a fence, hiking across a former moat, and sneaking into a castle (it seems the best time to go is when it's closed). And, did I mention the political protest? One night, we were trying to catch the night bus, when we found ourselves in the midst of police in riot gear, a car that was being hosed down by a firetruck, and rumors of being tear gassed. We had quite a unique experience in Hungary.

But the highlights were even more exciting: spending time with good friends like Chiara, Gergely and Andrea from Vail, and visiting a place NOT listed in my guidebook. It was quite a treat.

The best Hungarian experience ever included: a tour of Buda and Pest, with a spectacular view of Buda Castle and the Parliament which overlooked the Danube.

In Buda, we walked around Castle Hill, and saw the beautiful white Fisherman's Bastion castle, tip-toed through the dark underground labyrinth of Buda cave, and visited the Pàlvölgyi cave.




In Pest, we soaked in the Szechenyi baths and walked around Hero's Square.


Gergerly took us to the outdoor bars and hot spots at nighttime, where we danced and danced and danced. There was quite a nightlife in the city of Budapest.



He also took us on a countryside getaway to Lake Balaton. There, we met two of Gergely's kite surfing friends, enjoyed the small villages of Thiany and Vöröstö, and slept in a traditional cottage-like Hungarian home. We also did a bit of wakeboarding (on a windy day with a mogul field of waves) and sailing (aye aye to the Captain)!


And boy was I hungry in HUNGARY (sorry, bad joke)! Realizing that I seem to have a fast metabolism and have to eat all the time, I got to taste many different dishes in Hungarian cuisine. Hungary is most famous for paprika, which was quite delicious in the Hungarian goulash, fish soup, and the mushroom and pasta dish. We found a new cheese to love, the string cheese that unfolds in curly tendrils (parenyica), and a new kind of bacon too (aka a slab of lard). Not to mention, we certainly enjoyed this smorgasbord of duck, potatoes and plum sauerkraut served in a Hungary-shaped dish.



In the end, we had a great time in Hungary, the proud home of paprika, Unicum liquor, Rubik's cube (Did you know there are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible combinations?), and Gergely! We didn't want to leave (and almost didn't because we went to the wrong airport...) But, Oktoberfest and Monaco (the Italian name for Munich, not the country of Monaco!) were awaiting. ;)

BUDA BUDA BUDA!!! PEST PEST PEST!!!

"I am Greg"