Brandon O'Brien

Sunday, October 12, 2025 @ 6:53 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

I didn't get to bed until around 1 in the morning, so I tried sleeping in but still woke up around 7:30. I finally got up around 8 and brushed my teeth and got a little work done. Anton and I headed out for breakfast and then an aimless walk around old town. We went to a breakfast place not to far from the AirBnb where I ordered Shakshuka (poached eggs with tomatoes and peppers) along with a coffee. The meal was pretty filling and probably a lot more food than I actually needed.

We came back to the AirBnb and met up with Ben, who ended up going to sleep much later than us since he was up talking with Casper. After hanging out for a little bit, we went out and met up with Casper for a cup of coffee before he got in his car to drive back to Poland. Afterwards, we did a little more aimless walking around but finally walked through a few big buildings with huge atriums/arcades.

We were pretty close to the Church of Our Lady of the Snows and it looked gigantic so we found the entrance and popped in. The altarpiece was incredibly ornate and the arches and windows were huge. By now it was getting close to 2pm and we were starting to get hungry so we found a ramen place that had really good reviews and decided to go there for lunch. It was called Takumi Ramen Quadrio and had some amazing lychee lemonade and delicious ramen. I got a spicy chicken one and it really hit the spot and was much easier on the stomach than traditional Czech food.

We still had a couple hours to kill before Anton needed to catch his train, so we tried going to one brewery but it ended up being closed. We found another nearby called Pivovar U Tří růží. We tried their red, dark and pale lagers which were all great. We ended up having two rounds there before finally heading back to the AirBnb so Anton could grab his bag. We're all pretty tired of drinking now so two beers was more than enough for today.

It's almost 7pm now. I ran out a little bit ago and got Dakotah a small toy car from a local Czech children's store. We're going to head out in a little bit to get dinner which will probably be from a place that makes focaccia sandwiches. Tomorrow is another huge travel day. We're catching a ride to the Prague airport at 7:30am then getting on a 9:35 flight to Munich where we have about 6 hours to kill before our international flight home. We're going to store our bags at the airport and take a 25 minute bus to Freising, just outside the Munich airport, to Weihenstephan where we plan to have one final beer in Europe before heading home.

The rest of the night tonight will be showering, packing and going to bed early so we're ready for all the travel tomorrow. This has been a really fun trip, even if the weather hasn't been the greatest. We've been able to visit a lot of really cool breweries, try some amazing beer and eat some incredible food. I think the amount of time we spent in each city was pretty spot on, without ever really feeling too rushed.

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Tags: prague

Posted from: Czech Republic

Saturday, October 11, 2025 @ 11:50 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

Today was another long and full day. After getting ready in the morning, we set out for a cup of coffee at the shop around the corner called "onesip" again. We didn't need to meet with Ondrej until almost 11 to catch our transport out to a town called Uneticky where they have a really nice brewery and restaurant. Ondrej showed up on time but the tram we were supposed to meet was late and extremely packed, meaning we would have missed our bus connection at the end of the line.

Rather than wait for another bus, we decided to get a ride share out there. It was extremely cheap but the driver was doing a lot of fast accelerations with really hard stops. We did make it to the town just fine, but Anton was pretty car sick afterwards. We walked around for a few minutes to clear his head then went into the brewery for a drink. The brewery had a small but nice outdoor area, but since it was pretty cold and cloudy we went inside. I ordered their 10 degree unfiltered lager which was great. For lunch, we split a sample platter that had shaved ham, sausage, gouda and blue cheese crumbles. I ordered a bone broth soup that had a lot of carrots, onions and noodles in it which was great. I was still not super hungry thanks to the huge meals we've been having lately.

We had another round of beer there before heading out and walking around the town a little bit. There isn't much there so we got another ride share back into Prague and stopped at a little bottle shop called Base Camp. They have probably 10-12 refrigerators filled with various craft beers from around the area. They also had a wall of empty cans and there were a couple cans of La Cumbre on there, which was really funny to see.

We each picked a beer and split them while chatting for a while. They had some really good IPAs and a cocoa porter that tasted like eating straight cocoa nibs. We finished with a wild beer that was aged in wine barrels and that was also really nice, even though it had a slightly off nose. Ondrej's girlfriend met up with us and by now it was around 5 so we started working our way back into town. The plan was to meet up with a guy from Poland Ben knew from a Mazda Miata Discord server, then go get dinner at a place called Basta. Basta brews their own beer and also specializes in duck and poultry dishes.

The walk back to the AirBnb was really nice. It took us through a big park across the river from our place that has a big metronome sculpture. Along the way, I saw a big area for kids to ride their bikes through a fake city that had all kinds of road markings and street signs. It looked like a fun way to learn the rules of biking in a city. We got back to the AirBnb and I dropped off my bag. Ben's friend, Casper, got in and is staying at an AirBnb right around the corner, so we went over there and met up with him where he shared some home made chocolate chunk cookies with us. The cookies were incredible! No nuts, but chopped chocolate bar with some white chocolate chips as well.

We took another big ride share over to the restaurant since the trams would get us there a lot later than we wanted. We showed up around 6:40, ordered some beers and dinner. I wasn't super hungry and had some duck last night, so I got chicken schnitzel and fries instead. It was good, but slightly dry. I should have ordered the pulled duck sandwich that looked amazing as well. I had hit my drinking wall at this point, but we hung out there for a while longer after some more of Ondrej's friends met up with us.

The final stop of the night was another little craft beer spot around the corner. We got a big table upstairs and I ordered a Keller beer. I kinda nursed it for the remainder of the time there. When we left, it was around 11:30. Fortunately we were able to catch a tram that took us right back to our AirBnb. We got to our station a little after midnight and then grabbed a slice of pizza at a little shop that Anton got a slice at the other night. The pizza was fine, but tasted good as a late night snack.

We came back to the AirBnb where we stayed up chatting a little longer before finally passing out. Tomorrow is our last full day in Europe, but I'm not quite sure what we'll do. Anton has a 6pm train back to Berlin and Casper leaves some time during the day as well.

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Tags: prague, uneticky

Posted from: Czech Republic

Friday, October 10, 2025 @ 9:55 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

We were up really late last night. Our brewer friend Anton arrived from Berlin at 9:30 last night. We met up with him and another brewer friend from Prague named Ondrej. First, we met up at a hole in the wall brewery that had some really good beer. We had a round there then walked over to another place called Pult. Pult was much more modern and had modern takes on Czech beer. We had several of their lagers and then a round of sour beers. One of the beers, Spon, was a really nice spontaneous fermentation beer that had a light tartness and great flavor. On the way back to the AirBnb we stopped so Anton could get some food. There wasn't much open aside from a pizza and kabob place. They got some slices and we ran into some really drunk American that showed us videos of him and his friends shooting guns out of the window of their cars into the forest. It was really weird. We finally got to bed around 2am.

This morning, I woke up around 8am and Anton and I waited around for a little bit for Ben to get up but decided to head out and get some coffee by about 9:30 since Ben hadn't woken up yet. We went around the corner to a place that had decent coffee and some croissants. By the time we got back to the AirBnb, Ben was awake so we started out for the day. The plan was to walk up to the Strahov Monastery and check that out before getting some beer and lunch at their brewery. We started off by walking around the river to the bridge we needed to cross to get to the Monastery.

The walk up he hill took us through some really old parts of town and by all the embassies. We eventually made it to the Monastery where we got some tickets to go in and check out the library. We thought we could walk into the library but they had it gated off so we could only see a hall of curiosities and the library through a doorway. A little disappointed, we decided it was time for a drink and lunch. I was at this brewery back 12 years ago when I was in Prague and remember the beer being really good. This time, we got several of their beers and they all tasted really nice. I settled on their dark lager which had some nice chocolate flavor.

For lunch, I had a goulash that was really good. Maybe not quite as good as our first night here, but the dumplings were really fluffy and the meat was tender. The dumplings were really good at soaking up the sauce from the goulash. After finishing up, we walked through the narrow roads of Novy Svet, then walked back into town via the Charles Bridge.

We tried stopping at a brewery called U Fleku but it was slammed. We walked over to a different place called Benedict where we had a few more beers that were also really good. Their dark lager was much lighter than the others I've had here, but was still really good. With no other real plans now, we headed back to the AirBnb to drink some beer that Anton had brewed, an Extra Special Bitter, as well as a pale ale we picked up in Schonram.

We were starting to feel a little tired from the late night last night, so we decided to head out before we got too tired. We went to a place called Sibeeria and I had a coconut vanilla porter that tasted great. The last stop was back at the same restaurant we ate at the first night for some more Czech food. I had the roasted duck with some grilled veggies and kraut which was fantastic. Anton had the huge pork knuckle that Ben had the last time we went. He couldn't finish his either. The amount of meat on that is insane.

We've been back at the AirBnb for a little while chatting and now we're all going to head off to bed. Tomorrow we're meeting up with Ondrej again and will probably do some more drinking. Hopefully we'll sleep well tonight and be rested up for tomorrow.

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Tags: prague

Posted from: Czech Republic

Thursday, October 9, 2025 @ 7:27 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

The main focus of today was getting to the town of Plzen (Pilsen) for a tour of the world famous Pilsner Urquell brewery. The town of Pilsen is about an hour and a half train ride away, and the train we booked was set to depart the station at 10am. Since we had some time, we went out and got a cup of coffee from a place called "onesip". They had some really nice coffee, even though the place was extremely small, with only two spots to sit.

We made it to the train station with plenty of time and saw our train on the board. The problem was, there wasn't a platform number assigned to it. As it got closer and closer to our departure time, we were starting to worry about what was going on. There was another American couple next to us that were supposed to be on the same train. When the departure time passed and no train ever showed up, we thought maybe there was another bus reroute but couldn't find anything. We finally went to the information booth and they told us we can get on the next train that was set to leave at 10:35. This was cutting it a little close because our planned tour at Pilsner Urquell was for 12:15 and the new train was supposed to arrive in Pilsen at 11:58. Google was telling us it would be a 14 minute walk to get between the station and the brewery.

In talking to the American couple a little more while we were waiting for the new train, it turns out they live in Carmel, IN, the same town I grew up in and the woman went to the same school as my mom and also went to Purdue. Extremely small world. They were also set to do the Pilsner Urquell tour but had booked a 12:30 slot instead, so had a little more time to work with.

The ride was uneventful and the train got to the station on time. Fortunately it was a really easy walk over to the brewery and we got to the visitor center with plenty of time to spare. I really had to pee and all of the bathrooms on the train were locked or broken, so having a little time to go before the tour was great. The only problem was the guide who spoke English was out sick so the replacement was someone who didn't speak English. Instead of getting the info first hand, we had to download an app that acted as a virtual tourguide. It worked but would have been more fun to have the info given to us in person. Unfortunately the 12:30 tour was full or we would have switched to that one.

The first 3/4 of the tour was pretty normal with fancy marketing and some views of the bottling facility. Where it got really interesting was when we went down into the cellars and got to see where they used to ferment the beer where it was cold. They had some original barrels that they still ferment some of the beer in for quality purposes, to make sure it tastes the same as it did back in the 1800s when the brewery was founded.

The tour concluded with being served a glass of beer directly from one of the fermentation vats in the cellar. We got to drink Pilsner Urquell in its unfiltered form which is pretty unique. It was a lot more bitter and had more yeast taste, but was really good. After the tour, we were starving because it was about 1:45 and we hadn't had lunch yet. We made our way into town and found a Vietnamese place to get some food. We wanted another break from meat and dumplings and this sounded like the best choice. The food was not as good as it is back in the US, but it was vegetables and light and tasted good enough.

After that, we walked around the town of Pilsen for a little while before making our way back to the train station to catch our train back to Prague. Fortunately there weren't any issues and we were able to get in our train car with our assigned seats. Back in Prague, the sun had come out so we walked to the Astronomical Clock again. There were huge crowds of soccer fans chanting and chugging beer. There was quite a bit of police presence, so I guess those may get rowdy. We made our way over to the Charles Bridge, through some packed touristy areas, and then took some photos of the bridge from the banks of the river.

Rather than walk back through the crowds, we walked along some paths that followed the river basically back to our AirBnb. We got back here and I showered before we plan to go get dinner and meet with another brewing friend of ours who gets in late tonight from Berlin. For dinner, we're going to a meat shop around the corner that is supposed to make some fantastic sandwiches.

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Tags: prague, pilsen

Posted from: Czech Republic

Wednesday, October 8, 2025 @ 7:59 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

Today was another travel day to our final destination of the trip, Prague. It was actually nice for the first time since we'd been to Salzburg but we didn't have any time to do any sight seeing. I had a banana and yogurt for breakfast and then we started walking to the train station around 9:30. The mountains surrounding Salzburg had a lot of snow on them thanks to all the colder weather and heavy rain that passed through. At the train station, we each grabbed a sandwich to eat on the train since we figured we wouldn't have time for an actual meal.

It was supposed to be an easy journey where we took a train to Linz, Austria, then a second train from Linz to Prague. Unfortunately, they were doing some kind of line work on a section so we had to take a bus from Linz to České Budějovice, then another train from there to Prague. It wasn't too difficult, but the bus added an extra hour or so to the trip. We did get to ride through a lot of cool Austrian and Czech countryside which seemed a lot like driving through Kentucky or Tennessee. Lots of rolling hills with farmland and cattle.

When we got to České Budějovice, we only had about 3 minutes to run from the bus station, across the street and then up to the train station to catch our bus. Fortunately we made it and settled into a 6 person seating area for the hour and a half ride to finish the trip. Two other women came into the car at one of the stops and apparently had reserved the window seats. At least no one else came in to claim the other seats we were sitting in. Sam had called me while we were on the train and I got to talk to her and Dakotah while they were getting ready for school.

We got to see a few minutes of sun on the journey, but unfortunately the rain had followed us and by the time we arrived in Prague it was raining again. We walked the 15 or so minutes to our AirBnb which is on a pretty busy street. I'm a little worried how loud it's going to be at night, but I guess we'll see. After settling in, we went to a restaurant around the corner called Hostinec U Sádlů. They specialize in Czech food and were really highly rated.

Ben and I were pretty hungry since all we had for lunch was the sandwich on the train. We both ordered some Budvar beer to start. I got a bowl of garlic soup and a beef goulash. Ben ordered steak tartar and a pork knuckle with potatoes and cabbage. It was an enormous amount of food, but it was extremely delicious. We finished with a dark beer from Budvar and then decided we were done with drinking since we were both so full.

We walked down to the old town and Astronomical clock to help make us feel a little less stuffed, then worked our way over to the Palladium mall where they have a big grocery store on the bottom floor. We each got some breakfast snacks for the next couple of days. We're calling it a little early tonight since we have plans to head to Pilzen tomorrow to do a tour at Pilsner Urquell. Tomorrow night another brewing friend is going to meet up with us after about 9 and we're going to have several days of beer geeking out.

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Tags: salzburg, prague

Posted from: Czech Republic

Tuesday, October 7, 2025 @ 7:35 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

Today was probably the most rainy day we've had the entire trip. I woke up around 7:30 and it was raining then all the way until about 4pm. We finally decided to head out of the AirBnb around 9:45, when we set out for some coffee. Ben had researched a few places and we ended up at Kaffeothek this morning. They were extremely in to coffee. I had a pourover plus a cortado and a cardamom bun. The coffee was really nice and the bun was delicious. We hung out there for a while since it was raining, then decided to set out and explore old town.

When we left Kaffeothek, it was still raining so we just kind aimlessly walked around. We went to the Residenzplatz and Dom zu Salzburg, then to Mozartplatz. The fog and cloud layer was pretty low so taking photos wasn't really that great. We then walked over to Mozart's birth house and then grabbed a Bosna at the Balkan Grill. A Bosna is two small sausages in a really crispy baguette with onions, spices and curry powder. It's a great on-the-go meal when you're walking around.

From there, we headed across the river to the Mirabellgarten, which were some really beautiful gardens that had the castle in the background. Unfortunately, due to the rain and clouds, we could hardly see the castle, but the gardens were still nice. After that, we decided to test our luck and head up to the castle to see some of the views from there. There are a lot of hiking trails up there and we kind aimlessly walked around for a while. The fog made for some really nice photos but you couldn't see much of the surrounding area. Fortunately, by the time we started to head down, some of the fog had lifted and we could see more of Salzburg from up high.

After walking around all morning, Ben and I were ready for a beer. We walked to a place called Sternbrau where we each had a Stiegl beer and split a cheese plate. The beer was really nice and the local cheeses were incredible. They had a pepperjack cheese that was almost like a brie and it was amazing. The place was a little unwelcoming and the service wasn't great so we decided to carry on. After there, we walked across the river and went to a place called Coffee and Booze. We had a drink there but it seemed kinda like an Austrian dive bar for locals. It wasn't really our style so we finished our drink there and finally ended up at a place called Alchemy. This was a much more local/hipster style place that had a lot of local beers plus some local craft beer. The bartender was really cool and was telling us stories about the time he went to El Paso with his band to tour for two weeks.

We each had two beers over the course of an hour or so before we wanted to get some food. We had walked by a place that made Smashburgers and figured that would make a great dinner. The burgers were excellent and we got some cajun fries with them. It was a nice and filling meal and the fries were really well seasoned. The restaurant was a glorified food truck, so we just ate at some tables outside of it. After dinner, we worked our way back to the AirBnb where were working on some of our plans for heading to Prague tomorrow.

I wish the weather had been better for us while in Salzburg, but we've had a great time. We got to see and do most of what was on our list, even though it was rainy and cloudy. Hopefully the weather in Prague is a little nicer, but the forecast isn't looking too promising.

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Tags: austria, salzburg

Posted from: Austria

Monday, October 6, 2025 @ 9:14 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

Today was another mostly rainy day. The plan was to have a relaxed morning and then catch public transport back into Germany to a town called Schonram that's supposed to have a really good brewery. I ran out after I woke up around 7:30 and got a few yogurts and bananas to act as a quick breakfast the next few mornings. I've found that's been a good way to get something in my stomach without being too heavy. While I was out at the grocery, it was pouring down rain.

Fortunately the rain let up by about 9 so we headed out again into the old town to get a cup of coffee and walk around a little bit. The old town is really cool with the town butting up entirely to the hillside. There are gigantic gates and old walls all over the place, which makes it extremely tight for buses to get through. We popped in and out of some alleys which had little squares inside them with shops, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. We're going to walk around there more tomorrow so we didn't spend too much time there today.

We came back to the Airbnb to kill a little time before we needed to catch our train. We only had to take the train from the stop near our Airbnb down a couple stations to Freilassing. From there we took another regional train to Laufen and then finally caught the 9515 bus to Schonram. The train from Freilassing to Laufen was pretty much only school kids, then the bus to Schonram was as well. I guess the kids got out of school at noon today and were all on their way back home. It was a little after 1pm by the time we got to Schonram and we were both hungry and ready for a beer. Before stopping in the restaurant, we stuck our heads into the gift shop and saw the really nice taproom they have there. Unfortunately that taproom is only available for those who did the tour.

The place we actually ate and drank at is called Bräustüberl Schönram. When we got in there, it was pretty empty. We sat down and quickly ordered the Schonramer Helles. It's won several awards and was a really nice beer. For food, I ordered some fried chicken with fries and a little mini salad. The chicken was really good and the fries were really well seasoned. Since we had nowhere to be and it was still raining, we each had two more beers before we needed to leave to catch our bus back.

We went back to the gift shop and Ben bought a glass with the Schonramer logo on it. The bus was on time and quickly got us to the train station. What we didn't realize is the train wasn't running so we had to catch a bus instead. Fortunately, a lady flagged us down and pointed us to where the bus was. Crisis averted. The bus took us a little longer than the train would have, but dropped us off right at the Freilassing train station where there was an S2 train waiting for us.

The S2 train was brand new and still had that "new car smell" associated with it. It was one of the nicest trains I've been on in terms of being clean. We only had to take it two stations, then got off and came back to the Airbnb for a little while before dinner. I called my dad to wish him a happy birthday, we did a little planning for Prague and then headed out again to get dinner. We chose a restaurant called Trumerei which had a more modern menu but also some really well known local beer.

We each ordered their Pilsner which wasn't like any pilsner I've had before. It was extremely hop forward with aromas of noble hops and tea. The flavor was more noble hops with a rounded clean finish. For dinner, I ordered a teriyaki chicken bowl which was chicken, rice and a big salad. It was super filling but exactly what I wanted. I was so full I didn't get another beer, even though they sounded good. Ben ordered a "Red hot chili pepper" burger and also got another "hopped" Helles, which kinda tasted like a hop forward blonde ale.

We're back at the AirBnb now and it's getting close to 9:15. I'll probably wind down for bed now. Tomorrow is going to be another big walking day with us exploring Salzburg. We want to see both sides of the river and will plan our route based on the weather. The only brewery left we really want to hit is Stiegl, which is a really popular brewery from Salzburg.

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Tags: austria, salzburg, schonram, germany

Posted from: Austria

Sunday, October 5, 2025 @ 7:31 PM in 2025 Oktoberfest Trip

Today was a travel day between Munich and Salzburg. We both slept in until almost 8 this morning which felt amazing. I think doing 11 miles of walking with almost no beer helped us get some good sleep. We didn't have to catch our train until 9:55 so we had plenty of time to pack up and leave. The train was easy to find and we boarded with enough time to find a seat and get situated before it took off.

On the way to Salzburg, we stopped at a town called Traunstein, which had their own brewery and restaurant. It was aptly named Hofbrauhaus Traunstein. Ben and I both tried a couple beers and had lunch. He had a venison goulash and I had grilled pork loin with spatzel and veggies. After lunch, we walked back and caught a train the rest of the way to Salzburg. It was about a 20 minute walk from the train station to the AirBnb which wasn't bad. It was raining a little bit but not enough to get us soaked.

On the walk to the AirBnb, we passed the Augustiner Bräu Mülln which is a different Augustiner than in Munich. This place only serves one kind of beer on draft, and that's what the Austrians call a Marzen. It's not the same dark style beer that Germans call a Marzen, which is a little confusing. We got checked in and hung out for about an hour before heading out to get some beer and food.

First we went to Augustiner and got some beer. They have a few shelves of clay mugs in liter and half liter sizes on the wall. You pick up the mug size you want, give it a quick rinse in nearby fountain and then pay for the beer. After paying, you take the receipt to the beer servers and they fill the mug you picked out. Overall it's a pretty efficient system. and you get your beer quickly. We didn't want more heavy German / Austrian food for dinner so we only had the beer. For being a rainy day, it was actually pretty easy to find a seat inside. There is a massive biergarten outside but no one was really sitting there drinking beer in the rain.

We had a few choices for dinner but settled on an Ethiopian restaurant called "Habesha Äthiopisches-Ethiopian and Eritrean-African Cuisine". It was rated 5 stars on Google Maps with over 600 reviews. It was pretty empty when we walked in around 6, but it quickly filled up as we ate. We ordered some samosas to start, then split a two person platter. The food was incredible and a really nice change from the heavy food typical of the area. Totally stuffed, we walked back to the AirBnb where we're calling it a night. Tomorrow we're going to head to a small German town called Schonramm so we can try a brewery there that's really well regarded. It's still looking like a lot of rain, but hopefully it was like today where it was light and came and went.

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Tags: austria, salzburg, germany, munich

Posted from: Austria

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