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Friday, October 1, 2010

Oktoberfest & More!!



What can I say? We just had the best time in Munich! Here's what happened:

Day 1: We went to the Munich Airport to pick up our friends, Russ & Corey. While waiting, we saw the Bayern Muenchen Fussball Team arrive from Basel, where they won the night before :-). How awesome to see half of Germany's World Cup Soccer Team walking right past us. Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Mueller - amazing luck to run into them!

We checked into our hotels and started hitting all of our favorite places in Munich. Lunch at Weisses' Brauhaus (can't beat their Kaiserschmarrn and other Bavarian cuisine), coffee at San Francisco Coffee Company, beer at Hofbrauhaus (ok, so this isn't one of our favorite places, but our friends wanted to see this over-rated tourist trap :-)... the beer was nonetheless very good there as well. Then a walk through Theresienwiese for a preview of Oktoberfest and past our old stomping grounds, KPMG. We had dinner at our favorite quaint little Italian Restaurant, La Fiera. The antipasti, Gnocchi and Tiramisu were incredible. (Can you tell that I probably gained 10 pounds within hours of being in Munich :-).

When Andy & I arrived back at the hotel, we were a little confused to see a "Do Not Disturb" sign on our door - and even more confused to open the door and find someone sleeping in our room! We booked it down to reception! Turns out the hotel made a big mistake, as their were 2 Koller parties that night and they somehow gave us both the same room. They had our luggage downstairs. The manager apologized and upgraded us to concierge level, with free breakfast, mini-bar, etc. It worked out great for us in the end, once we got past the initial shock. So strange though, b/c the hotel had so many chances to correct the problem before we arrived at midnight. If you arrived in your room to find luggage, a bathroom that had been used and such, wouldn't you have had them give you a different room? Not sure why the guy stayed.

In hindsight, it was very funny. Especially b/c it was a bit of deja vu for us. When I lived in Munich, we came back from a weekend trip and my key no longer fit into my apartment lock. I peeked in through the mail slot, and someone's stuff was there. Thanks goodness Andy hadn't just left me at the door that Sunday afternoon, b/c the apartment agent didn't speak a lick of English (and at that time I didn't speak any German). Turns out, there had been a miscommunication between KPMG and the rental company re: when I would vacate the apartment. They packed up all of my stuff and put it in a one-room apartment downstairs. I felt extremely violated at the time, but I got enough per diem b/c of it to finance a trip to Venice for me and Andy, so the displacement worked out well :-).

Day 2: After a wonderful German breakfast, we met the guys and toured Munich. Viewed some churches, saw the Glockenspiel at noon, walked the pedestrian zone and then on to the English Garden. For the first time, we saw the surfers there (wearing wetsuits, of course). Lunch at Unions Brauhaus and then on to Oktoberfest. A huge thanks to brother-in-law Toby, who got us tickets at a reserved table in the Lowenbrau tent. We were in the middle of the tent, with very clear visibility to the band. Great beer + Great Food + Great Friends = Amazing experience!












Andy took a break from the Oktoberfest tent experience to walk through the carnival area with me. We rode the swings and Ferris Wheel and he won me a little gray horse by shooting (gun, not basketball) 12/15. And, of course I had my fill of chocolate-covered strawberries too!

We headed to Mister B's after Oktoberfest shut down. Mister B's is a hole-in-the-wall jazz bar I discovered back in 2002. It's owned by Mr. Best, a man from Brooklyn. Our favorite saxophone player, Ernest Butler, is from Cleveland, but has lived in Munich for over 40 years. We weren't expecting to see Mr. Butler, as he wasn't listed on the schedule. When we walked in, there he was!


He recognized Andy, even though it had been 8 years since we last saw him. (We've been to Mister B's a few times since then, but he was never there). So, our perfect time in Munich just got even better! We spent the next 2 1/2 hours listening to some great jazz and reliving memories. We hope to see him a few more times over the next 2-3 years.

It was so wonderful to be back in the city where our relationship first began, and to share some of our favorite places with our friends. The kids had a great time with Oma & Opa.

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