Brandon O'Brien

Saturday, October 4, 2025 @ 7:34 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

Sleep last night still wasn't great, but we had nowhere to be this morning so took it fairly easy in getting ready. I ran out and grabbed some more yogurt for breakfast and then we headed to the train station to catch the S8 to Herrsching. We got on the train pretty quick and then it emptied out pretty quickly after the first few stops. We had almost an hour train ride to get to the station and I almost fell asleep a few times. Once in Herrsching, we started the walk up to the Andechs monastery where they have a brewery and biergarten.

It took about an hour to do the walk from town to the monastery. The hike itself was pretty nice. It was mostly on wide paths through some thick forests. There were a decent amount of people hiking up there too. The elevation gain was pretty significant with a lot of steep stairs to climb. While we were hiking, the sun broke through the clouds and we had a really beautiful day while there.

At the monastery, Ben and I took some photos then made our way down to the biergarten. We ordered some food first (two sausages and some potato salad) and then had a half liter of beer, which was the Andechs Special Helles. Both Ben and I wanted to take it easy on the drinking today, so we just had the one beer then started making our way back to town where we'd get on the S8 back to Munich.

The hike down was also really nice. We took a different route that wound through some big valleys. When we made it back into town, we timed it just right and got on a train that was set to leave in a few minutes. The train ride back was pretty uneventful until we got to a station about 5 stops away from where we needed to go. Apparently someone wandered onto the tracks somewhere around the Hirschgarten stop and they had to shut it all down until they figured out what happened. We sat on the train for a few minutes then decided to get out and walk to the Hirschgarten since it was pretty close by.

The park was really nice and had a lot of different playgrounds. By now the weather was turning again and it was starting to get really cloudy. The park was still really nice and relaxing to walk through. I called Sam and Dakotah to catch up while there too. We saw some of the deer that live in the park, walked through the biergarten and then made our way to one of the trams that would take us really close to our hotel.

The tram was packed and it was pretty uncomfortable riding it the six or so stops we needed. By the time we got off, it was starting to sprinkle so we came back to the hotel to drop off some of our stuff, then went back out to the grocery store to grab some snacks for the train ride to Salzburg tomorrow. After killing a little time, we went to dinner at a place called Mama Bao which had some really good Biang Biang noodles and starters. We split some smashed cucumber salad, popcorn chicken and fungi salad dishes. I had a ginger lemon fizz with dinner which tasted really good. They must have used a lot of honey because you could really taste it in there. Both of us sufficiently full, we came back to the hotel again where we're calling it a night.

It's been raining on and off and neither one of us wanted to drink more, so chilling out is a nice option. I also walked over 23,000 steps today, the most of this whole trip. I'm looking forward to the train tomorrow so we don't feel like we're forced to walk as much. The train tomorrow goes directly from Munich to Salzburg, but we're going to make a pitstop in a town called Traunstein where they have a well known brewery. We'll have a beer and lunch there before catching the train again all the way to Salzburg. Unfortunately the weather looks like it's turned for the trip and we're going to have a lot of rain for the rest of the time we're in Europe. Fingers crossed it doesn't rain too hard and we can still get out and walk around and enjoy the sights.

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Tags: germany, oktoberfest, munich

Posted from: Germany

Friday, October 3, 2025 @ 9:44 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

This morning, we chilled in the hotel room for a little while before heading out and getting some coffee from a place called Suuapinga Café. Before leaving, I had some pomegranate yogurt and banana so there would be something in my stomach. We had to take the U-bahn a stop from the Hoptbahnhof to get to the coffee sho, but it wasn't a big deal. I had a cappuccino which tasted great. After getting back to the hotel, we had about 45 minutes before meeting up with everyone to head to our table reservations at Hacker-Pschorr tent from noon - 5pm.

We met the whole crew at Mike and Anne's hotel and then walked over to the fest grounds. When we showed up at the tent, it was already pretty rowdy which was a change from the last few sessions we've been at. After ordering a round of beers, the waiter told us we should probably go ahead and order food because the wait times get pretty bad as the session goes on. I ordered a half chicken with some potato salad and most people ordered either a half chicken or something else. Somehow we ended up with an extra pork belly dish which tasted pretty good too. Both the chicken and pork dish were really salty, which would have been offputting in other situations but was really good when drinking a lot of beer. The waiters here were a little less laid back than at Lowenbrau, asking for tips and generally being a little more intense than other tents. They were also selling beers to basically anyone who had money, even if they weren't at a table (which was kinda against the rules, but they were making a lot of money that way).

I ended up having about 3 liters over the course of 5 hours, then Ben and I headed out to meet up with another acquaintance for dinner. We were meeting up with another brewer who happened to move to Germany and was going to train at the Weihenstephaner institute to learn the ins and outs of brewing there. We left the grounds and somehow got turned around and it took us a while to get back to the area we were meeting him. After meeting up, we had dinner at an Indian restaurant called Madame Chutney. I got a chicken korma dish which tasted really good. Having some more food in my stomach really helped, considering how much booze I had in my system.

After eating dinner, Ben and I came back to our hotel where we've been winding down for bed. Tomorrow we're heading to Herrsching and then doing a hike up to the Andech's monastery brewery where we'll have some beer and food before heading back to Munich. It looks like there may be some rain tomorrow afternoon / evening but hopefully we're back before it hits.

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Tags: oktoberfest, germany, munich

Posted from: Germany

Thursday, October 2, 2025 @ 7:41 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

I got back to the hotel pretty late last night and didn't sleep very well, but still woke up around 7am when the sun started shining into the room. I went out again to get some yogurt, banana and a little breakfast pizza at the local REWE grocery store. On the way back I got some more coffee then worked for a little while before we needed to meet up to head back into the festival grounds.

Before meeting up, Ben and I stopped at a place called Uiguer Kabap and where we each got a really spicey Dürüm (basically everything in a doner but wrapped in a tortilla instead of bread). We didn't know it at the time, but apparently this place is known for how spicy they make their food. They add a lot of chili oil and pepper flakes to it which adds a nice level of heat. By the time I was done with mine, my lips were tingling.

We met up with the rest of the crew at Mike and Anne's hotel and walked to the festival grounds. We had two more tables reserved at the Lowenbrau tent and they ended up being the exact same tables we had on Tuesday night. It started off a lot more mellow since it was the afternoon session but as the hours rolled by, the band got more and more loud and people started dancing on the tables more and more.

I had two and a half liters over the course of the session as well as another half chicken. After our session ended, I decided to call it a day since I wanted some time to chill before bed so I could be a little more refreshed for tomorrow. I met back up with Ben and we went out to a pizza restaurant called Napoli Rush where we each got a pizza. Both were excellent and had great crust and toppings. On the way back we stopped at another grocery store to pick up a few snacks. It's just going to be an early night tonight so I can hopefully catch up on some sleep.

Tomorrow we're going to the Hacker Pschorr tent from noon to five. This will be our first time in that tent and I'm looking forward to a change from Lowenbrau, even though the beer everything else has been great there.

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Tags: oktoberfest, germany, munich

Posted from: Germany

Wednesday, October 1, 2025 @ 11:46 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

Today was a strange one. I woke up pretty early, around 7am, and ended up wandering around to get to a Rewe grocery store to grab some food for breakfast. I wasn't really sure what I was in the mood for but I ended up getting a cup of yogurt and an apple. On the way back to the hotel I stopped at a coffee shop nearby and got a cup of coffee to bring back to the room while I ate breakfast and got a little work done.

It was significantly colder today than yesterday but that wasn't too bad. It actually felt nice outside and stayed mostly sunny for the day. We had two tables reserved at the Hacker-Pschorr tent but there was some kind of an emergency situation and they shut the Oktoberfest grounds down until 5pm. This meant we had to change plans since we couldn't use our reservations today. We ended up all meeting up at the English Garden at the Chinese Tower biergarten a little after noon. Before heading there, I wanted to get some food in my stomach so got a Döner kabob before we met up.

At the biergarten, we hung out for several hours drinking beer, enjoying the weather and having some food. When it got closer to 5pm, we decided to test our luck and head to the Oktoberfest grounds and see if we could find any tables. Most of the group wanted to take an Uber to get to the grounds but a few of us decided just to take public transportation after seeing how long it was going to take for an Uber to arrive. The few of us who took public transport made it to the fest grounds pretty quick but were faced with some extremely daunting entry lines.

We almost gave up after waiting in line for a while but as we were leaving we found another entrance that had basically no people at it and were able to get in pretty fast. We heard about the Oide Wiesen which is supposed to be a more quiet and relaxed area where they have a big beer tent, a museum and some rides. Luckily, we got a table at the Festzelt Tradition (traditional tent) and had a liter of Augustiner beer there. The rest of the crew ended up doing some carnival rides and then we met up with them at Lowenbrau again where they had found a couple free tables. The difference in atmosphere between the traditional tent and Lowenbrau was intense. The traditional tent had music but it was pretty mellow and there were families with kids around, no one standing on tables, etc. Lowenbrau was extremely loud, packed and full of people dancing on the tables.

We hung out at Lowenbrau for a couple hours before calling it a night. On the way back to the hotel I grabbed some more sausage from one of the stands as a late dinner. The walk back was pretty cold, with temps in the 40s. Tomorrow is another afternoon session at Lowenbrau, assuming there aren't any other issues.

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Tags: oktoberfest, munich, germany

Posted from: Germany

Tuesday, September 30, 2025 @ 10:57 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

Today was a long day, as most travel days are. I picked Ben up around 9:30am in Santa Fe and then we drove to Albuquerque to catch our flight. The first flight was from ABQ to Houston, which was uneventful. From Houston we caught our direct flight to Munich. The flight was delayed a little bit but no big deal. After we boarded the flight to Munich, I watched 28 Years Later before dinner, then took half of a sleeping pill after a few glasses of wine to help me pass out. Dinner service consisted of beef, chicken or pasta. I ordered the chicken which ended up being a curry dish with rice. While tasting good, it didn't really fill me up too much.

Unfortunately sleep didn't come easily and I only had a couple hours of sleep in total for the 10 hour flight. In addition to 28 Years Later, I watched Thunderbolts again which was something entertaining. Breakfast on the flight was either a cinnamon roll or a breakfast sandwich, so I opted for the sandwich. We landed in Munich around 10am and then got stuck in a massive customs line. Fortunately it was moving pretty fast and they were breaking people off to go to a different customs area which helped speed things up.

After Ben got his bag, we booked a day ticket for the transit system and then got on a train to Munich. It was about noon so we weren't able to check into our hotel, but we were able to drop our bags off and go to Augustiner Keller where I had a beer and a Pfefferschnitzel. The beer was way too easy to drink, probably because I was very dehydrated. After lunch, we started walking around to kill some time but the rain came and it started coming down pretty hard. We made it to the Marienplatz but then hopped on the S-Bahn and took it back to the station closest to our hotel. We killed some time in the lobby until we could check in.

At 4:15 I met up with Mike and Anne and the other 9 people who were going to the Lowenbrau tent at Oktoberfest tonight. We had a 10 person table reserved for 5:00-10:00. Each seat at the table comes with vouchers for two beers and an order of a half chicken. The Oktoberfest grounds are filled with all kinds of rides, food booths, carnival games and obviously beer tents. It was like being at the midway of a big state fair.

We got seated at our table and ordered a round of beers for everyone. It started off pretty mellow but as the hours passed and people drank more and more, the crowd started getting really loud with lots of dancing on tables and singing. It was a really cool experience, even if the people behind us were extremely drunk and kept bumping into us.

The tables are really crammed in there so there isn't really space to move around once you're seated. I ended up having about 2.5 liters of beer and a half chicken. We all ended up leaving around 9:30 and then got some sausages at a stand outside the Lowenbrau tent.

The walk back to the hotel only took about 15 minutes and by the time I got back I was ready to sleep. Between several big beers and very little sleep on the flight, I was beat.

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Tags: oktoberfest, munich, germany

Posted from: Germany

Monday, August 29, 2022 @ 7:22 PM in 2022 Germany and France

Day 5

Today was a much needed rest day after several late nights and very little sleep. We got up around 8:30am, made some coffee in the room and then I set out to track down some laundry detergent so we could do a load of laundry in the basement of the hotel. There was a DM store around the corner and I found some laundry sheets there (basically sheets of soap you use). I went down to the laundry room to see if any of the machines were being used and saw a sign that said no detergent was needed... the machines automatically added it. Whoops. At least the detergent was cheap and doesn't take up much space.

I brought all the laundry down, put it in the machine and then started looking for a coin slot or start button. Turns out you had to use an app to reserve and start the machines. Not a big deal, but the wifi wasn't working in the basement and it was below ground so I didn't have any cell service. I went up to the lobby to download the app and get it started. For some reason it wouldn't let me immediately start it but I had to wait 10 minutes before it would let me start the machine.

Once we finally got the laundry going, Sam and I headed out to find some coffee and grab a quick snack for breakfast. By now it was getting close to 11 and we didn't want too much food since it was getting close to lunch. We found a Coffee Fellows near the train station and got a cappuccino and blueberry muffin. After that, the laundry was ready so we came back to switch it over to the dryer.

Not really sure what to do, we headed down to the Oktoberfest grounds to see all of the beer halls under construction. Back in 2008 we were able to walk through the grounds but now they have the whole thing gated off. We walked around it a little while and got to the Bavaria statue where we sat down for a little while and fed Dakotah. Allie video called us so Emmie and Sofie could see Dakotah again too.

I got a notification that the clothes were done so we went back to the hotel to grab our clothes and then find some food. Along the way, Sam found a couple Thai restaurants pretty close to the hotel so we picked one to try. The food hit the spot and it wasn't as heavy as sausage, potatoes and cabbage would have been.

We came back to the hotel for a quick break before heading out for an aimless wander around town. We started going through the botanical garden / park near our hotel, making our way back down to the Marienplatz and over to the Hofbrauhaus. After snapping a quick pick there (didn't need to go in since I had been there before and wasn't really feeling the need for more beer), we walked through Old Town and the Promenadplatz. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a Rewe to grab something for breakfast in the morning. We landed on some croissants with cheese and meat.

Not really sure what to do for dinner, we went back to the same Doner place we had for lunch yesterday and got a couple pizzas. One was mushroom and prosciutto and the other was spinach, onion and feta. We brought them back to the hotel, ate and have been getting ready for our train ride to France tomorrow. Fortunately the train doesn't leave until 11:30am so we have plenty of time to get packed up in the morning. We also have some leftover pizza we can eat for lunch.

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Tags: germany, munich

Posted from: Germany

Sunday, August 28, 2022 @ 7:41 PM in 2022 Germany and France

Day 4

After a late night at the wedding, we got as much sleep as we could but were still up and hungry by about 7:30am. We had another big breakfast buffet and got to say goodbye to Tom, Kay, Scott, Stef, Marrit and several other people who happened to be up early enough to catch breakfast. Once we finished up, we went back to the room to pack up our bags which was quite the undertaking. We already had a pretty heavy roller bag but adding the steins and a few beers added even more weight.

Our plan was to walk all the way down to the train station with the big roller bag, but Allie and Al said they'd take it in the taxi with them. That was really helpful and saved us some awkward pushing and pulling on some of the hills down to the station. It was raining a little bit but not too bad. Sam and I actually beat Allie and Al down to the station so we went ahead and got our tickets. A lot of people ended up being on this train back to Munich or the Munich Airport. We got to ride with Allie, Al, Deb and Amir.

Once the train started rolling, it really started to downpour and rained the entire ride down to Munich. We said our goodbyes to everyone at the station and set off for the hotel. Fortunately our hotel was pretty close to the train station so it wasn't too long of a walk in the rain to get there. It was only around 1pm and we weren't supposed to be able to check in until 3pm but we figured we'd try. The hotel we're staying at is a different style and doesn't actually have a check-in staff but instead uses a kiosk. I tried to check in but it was telling me our room wasn't ready. It was still raining and we didn't want to have to go to a cafe or something and hang out for two hours with all of our bags. There was a help phone next to the kiosk so I gave it a call and asked if they could check on the room availability. Fortunately they had just cleaned the room so they updated their check-in system and we were able to move in.

We're staying in an extended stay style room which has a small kitchenette and "separate" seating area with a couch and small table (it's really just a basic studio apartment). They have a laundry room in the basement so we'll definitely get a load of clothes going tomorrow. Dakotah has dirtied a lot of his shirts already and it'll be nice to get a fresh start before we head into France.

While Sam was getting things organized at the hotel, I ran out to find some lunch. It was already about 1:30 and I didn't feel like walking too far or waiting too long for food, so I found a restaurant called Doner Deluxe and got the Doner Teller box (basically a doner kebab without the bun but on top of fries). I brought it back to the room and we quickly demolished it.

With full stomachs and it still being gloomy out, we laid down for a while. Unfortunately I wasn't able to fall asleep but Sam got a good nap. Before dinner we opened a beer Mike and Anne handed out in their wedding favor goodie bag. I was looking around for restaurants and found a place called Bento Ya which had a lot of Asian food. Sam and I both got some Ramen which was perfect for a rainy and gloomy day. For some reason they didn't take Visa at the restaurant so we had to pay in cash. All I had was a 50 euro bill and Europeans notoriously hate breaking large bills but we didn't have another choice. We walked around a little bit after dinner but ultimately just came back to the hotel to call it an early night.

Tomorrow we're going to hit the Oktoberfest grounds and then see the Hirschgarten. The plan is to make it a pretty chill day without any real rush to get up in the morning.

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Tags: germany, munich, miesbach

Posted from: Germany

Saturday, August 27, 2022 @ 11:30 PM in 2022 Germany and France

Day 3

Today was Anne and Mike's wedding day! It started off pretty chill with breakfast at the hotel which had a ton of breads, spreads, meats, cheeses and traditional breakfast fare. After breakfast, we met up with Allie and swung by Aldi to pick up some diaper wipes on our way down to the center of Miesbach. We stopped at a few shops and made it down to the center of town where Allie picked up some chocolate and then we stopped for coffee and some cake at Cafe Huatfabrik.

Matt stumbled on us and we sat at the cafe for a little while before going to Weissbräustüberl where we met up with Amir, Ben, Brogan, dude Sam and Mike. Sam and I spilt a Hopf Spezial Weisse (basically a supercharged hefeweissen) and some currywurst with fries. We didn't want to eat or drink too much since we knew there would be a lot of food and booze at the wedding later in the day.

Allie offered to watch Dakotah for a couple hours so Sam and I could get a little nap in. We took her up on the offer and dropped Dakotah off while we got rested up. While she was watching him, she gave him a bath too which was really helpful. After the nap, we changed and got ready for the wedding.

The ceremony was at a farm and organic market a couple minute drive away from the hotel. A shuttle bus took us over there since it would have been difficult for some people to get over there in their wedding attire. They handed out some champagne while we were waiting for everyone to arrive and as we were waiting, some really dark clouds started rolling in. As the ceremony was happening, thunder started rumbling and we were sure we'd all get rained on. Fortunately the rain held off and Anne and Mike were able to say their vows before any rain hit.

They tapped their keg and the reception was under way! Everyone got a customized bier stein to drink from. The beer on tap was some sort of helles lager and it was really refreshing. We all mingled, took photos and hung out for a couple hours until Anne's mom, Deb, and Mike's dad, Tom, gave their speeches. Once they were finished, dinner kicked off and we were shown to a buffet with a ton of Bavarian food. The goulash was extremely good, especially with some seasoned bread.

The planned shuttles weren't departing the venue until after 1am so we got together with Brandon B. and his wife Marissa and got back to the hotel around 11. They had a 5am departure for Venice and didn't want to stay up super late. With Dakotah in tow, we knew we'd be better off getting to bed early too.

As we were getting ready for bed, I got a reminder email about our hotel in Munich and realized it was for two days, not one. I had accidentally booked our train to Strasbourg for the wrong day thinking we only had one night in Munich. Unfortunately the ticket wasn't refundable so I had to buy a new ticket for Tuesday. On the plus side, this gives us Sunday night and all day Monday to relax and catch up on some sleep before getting on a train for 6 hours.

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Tags: wedding, germany, miesbach

Posted from: Germany

Friday, August 26, 2022 @ 11:29 PM in 2022 Germany and France

Day 2

This morning I actually felt pretty refreshed! We were able to get a little sleep last night which really helped get feel better.

We went down to the hotel breakfast around 7:30am and were pretty amazed with the spread. They had a huge assortment of cheeses, meats, pastries, juices and hot breakfast items. We hung out in the breakfast area for a while sipping on coffee and enjoying some relaxing time. The server who was cleaning the room kept coming over to us and talking to us about Dakotah and her grand baby.

After eating, we went back to the room and started packing up. After feeding Dakotah, I went out to get some saline drops for him since his nose seemed really stuffy last night. I think all the dry air on the plane really made it hard for him to breath and fortunately clearing out his nose seemed to really help.

Once we packed up, we met with Scott and Stefanie outside the hotel where they took our bags and parked their car. The plan was to walk around the pedestrian area near the Marienplatz, get Doner kebab for lunch and then try to hit the Oktoberfest grounds. We waited around the Marienplatz for about 20 minutes to see the Glockenspiel do its thing at noon and then got a little sidetracked at the beer garden at the Viktualienmarkt. We also met up with Eric and Emily there before realzing how late it was getting and that we wouldn't really have time to do much else.

We went and got some Doner for lunch near the Hauptbahnhof after checking out the Karlsplatz. The Doner was really good and something I haven't had in years since I was last in Europe.

Eric and Emily went to the train station and got on the train to Miesbach while Scott, Stef, Sam and I went back to their car and drove to Miesbach. We got to see some of the Alps on the way to town. The scenery got really nice with more of an alpine farmland and dairy feel to it as we drove into town.

After checking into the hotel, we showered and got ready for the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner was really fun and great to see everyone again. We sat with Allie and Al and had a few beers over the course of the night alongside many typical German food options in the dinner buffet.

We stayed up a lot later than we were planning to, but it was hard to leave the party. It's now about 11:30pm and we really need to get to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long day with the wedding planning to go well past midnight.

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Tags: europe, germany, miesbach, munich

Posted from: Germany

Thursday, August 25, 2022 @ 10:29 PM in 2022 Germany and France

Day 1

Today has been a really long day, but we successfully arrived in Munich, Germany with a 6 week old baby and no meltdowns on the plane! We woke up in Santa Fe around 6:30am on the 24th but didn't need to be on our first flight until around noon in Albuquerque. We figured this would give us plenty of time to get all of our last minute packing and organizing done and head out.

We left Santa Fe around 9am and made it to the ABQ long term parking a little after 10. It didn't take long to get the car unloaded and our bags on the shuttle bus which dropped us off at the United counter. Fortunately there weren't any issues getting checked in and our big checked bag was just barely under the maximum weight. Security was also a breeze since Sam and I both have TSA Precheck. No taking off shoes, belts, separating liquids, etc.

The first flight from ABQ to Houston was on a really small express jet with only three seats to a row (one seat, aisle and two seats). My backpack just barely fit in the overhead bin which says a lot about how small the plane was. The flight to Houston started off pretty normal but after about an hour they got on the speakers saying we might need to be diverted to a different airport due to thunderstorms over Houston. Uh oh, that would not be good.

Fortunately the storms cleared and we landed about 30 minutes late. Unfortunately that meant our layover was almost non existant. We ended up having to run through the hot and humid airport to get to our international flight. We arrived just as they were boarding group 1. We jumped in line since we can preboard with an infant but Sam couldn't find her ticket! After a quick jot over to the counter, we got a new one printed and got onboard before Group 2.

We were almost an hour late to takeoff due to the storms and a broken radio issue they had to fix. At least it didn't matter to us since we didn't have any more connecting flights, but a lot of people were getting really nervous.

As far as international fights go, this one was pretty standard. I tried sleeping but only got about 15 minutes of sleep on the entire 10 hour flight. I would have taken a sleeping pill but wanted to be alert in case Dakotah started to freak out and needed attention.

We were about as lucky as we could be in that regard. Dakotah didn't fuss and was a really great baby the entire flight. We either had him in my chest carrier or Sam was holding him. There were quite a few diaper changes over the flight but at least that wasn't a big deal since the bathroom had a changing table in it.

Dinner on the flight was quinoa with salsa and chicken, a side salad and a glass of wine, and breakfast was some yogurt and a biscotti. Customs in Munich was also a breeze, even though it was packed and took a while to get to the agent. Once we made it through customs we were a little worried that our checked bag might not have made it after the really short layover. We didn't need to worry though since it was there without a problem.

I tried buying some tickets for the S-Bahn to get us from the airport to downtown Munich but the ticket kiosk was asking for a PIN with my cardit card (we don't have a PIN). I had to get some cash but the ATM was out of service. We ended up finding another ATM and ticket kiosk but found out the kiosk didn't take 50 Euro bills (which is what I got). We tried another one and fortunately that one did accept them.

Train ticket in hand, we got on board and about 40 minutes later were at the Karlsplatz station. A short walk through some nice pedestrian areas and we made it to the Mercure hotel. It was a little before 1 and we weren't supposed to be able to check in until 3 but our room was ready and we were able to change out of or sweaty clothes and decompress for a few before heading out to find food.

We weren't sure what to eat so we went to the Augustiner Klosterwirt where I got the sausage platter and Sam got some schnitzel. To drink, I got a Dunkel and Sam got a Radler. Both the food and the beers were really good but after having almost no sleep in 24 hours and sitting on an extremely full stomach, we did a quick walk to the Marienplatz to see the Glockenspiel and then went back to the hotel.

I was able to nap for about an hour and a half while Sam watched Dakotah. We were going to try and meet up with Brandon B. but they were in the same boat as us and wiped out from their trip. Now she's napping while I'm writing about everything up to now.

After some quick napping, we hopped on the S3 line from Marienplatz up three stops to Giselastraße where we walked a few minutes to the Chinesischen Turm biergarten in the Englischen Garten. Sam and I split a giant pretzel, a radler and some couscous. It was really nice just chilling in the park as the sun went down. After we finished, we walked back to the Giselastraße station, back to Marienplatz and then walked back to the hotel.

Since getting back we've been working on getting Dakotah to fall back to sleep but it's not working too well. I think being chill for 36 hours has finally caught up with him and he doesn't want to go to bed.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that we can actually get some real sleep tonight.

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Tags: germany, munich, bier

Posted from: Germany