The Festival to end all Festivals

And that is

OKTOBERFEST

(accentuated for increased impressiveness)

Oooo la la. What a festival it was. And we nearly didnt go thanks to some overnight inflation on airplane tickets. However, we paid our money and discovered it was all worth it.
So we flew into Munich just last Friday, got on a train and headed to the campground. Corey, Bec, James and a whole raft of others (around 15 in total I think) were already set up and smashing some beers in town, so we quickly dumped our stuff and got the nearest cab. Corey greeted us with a man hug and the little bit of information that he had just proposed to Bec. "Awwwwww" we said, in unison.Congratulations once again guys. Corey was either going to do it at this place  or on a table whilst at the beerfest. Lucky for him he picked the first option. What a gentleman.

So we were all drinking the Friday night away at this place called ............. I cant remember what it was called.......... but it was mean. Heaps of outdoor seating (Im talking thousands) and really cheap steins totalling about €6 each. We made short work of a few of them before deciding we better have an early one (around 1am) as we were going to be smashing the beers big time the next day. 









The girls got all dressed up in their costumes and I lost the plot over my stupid braces so I decided to go Au Naturale (dressed normally - not naked) and we headed to the main event. Saturday was the first day of the entire festival. 

It
Is
Massive.


I cannot express that enough. It has its own rollercoasters, heaps of tents holding around 10,000 people each and various other stalls, ferris wheels and nude sunbathing areas (not kidding - its for the gays). We lined up at a tent for a few hours and finally got in. Then it was a mad dash (using fists) to find an empty table. Fortune favoured our crew and we hauled down two tables that were not going to be used by anyone else for at least half the day. People reserve them you see, for €80 a head. Ouch.















The party kicked off at midday to a whole lot of cheering, clapping and stamping feet.
The tent was awesome and our waitress (beer wench) was super nice too. Those girls can carry brews! One chick had 14 going at one stage. They were wrist braces and everything. Rumour has it they train for 3 months beforehand. Ded-i-cation.
The beer was like nectar from the gods. It literally jumped out of the glass and slid down my throat quicker than I could will it too. Delish, so pure. So pure. Things got heavy from that point on. A whole lot of drinking went down. Serious drinking. Shirts off drinking. 



































At 5pm we stumbled / rolled / crawled out of the tent trying to find another one. I got up close and personal to some bloke who thought it was a good idea to constantly jab me in the guts for no good reason. Everything went into a blur. We managed to get into another tent. I lost everyone. Ended up talking to locals about............. ummm............. god knows, and spent an hour trying to find the tube, which I didnt pay for.

BUT WHAT A DAY!!!
I woke up on Sunday with no hangover whatsoever. I praised the gods and heel clicked, as it was to be a day of travel back to London. Thats right - I went to germany for 44 hours.


The flight back flew by (excuse the pun) and I headed to the park tavern for some chips and lemonade upon arrival. 


So thats that. If you ever get a chance, go to this thing. It was insanely good fun. 
Bangtidy

The Countdown Begins

And, as all things start, so they must finish. We are officially leaving the land of Mary Poppins, fish & chips, bad teeth and worse weather. ETA - 8 weeks now. Not to say we are really overjoyed with this decision. Visas, in all their glory, come with time restrictions and this is what is dictating our departure.
So, we have a lot of things to sort out and yes, one more small trip - that being the mighty Oktoberfest.

Since our trip to Morroco we decided to head over to Paris for a quick weekend to catch up the parents and also see that big tower for perhaps one last time (nothing s definite). Paris was great, as always. I do love that city. It was good that we had been there a few times before and could just spend the weekend relaxing and checking out a few things we hadnt thought to see yet. Like possibly the best cemetary I have ever seen. It housed the remains of quite a few names that have passed away over the years, including the likes of Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde. We got baguettes and strolled the aisles.








Wine is dirt cheap in France. A few bottles of red tolling up a 5 euro bill. We grabbed a few and headed out to the eiffel tower for some refreshments, consumed within its shade. It was all very relaxing, apart from the janglers that try to sell flashing, scaled down versions of the tower standing a few feet away. Caught up with Poms and Bridget there and went out for dinner. Turns out every restaurant in the city was out of snails. We settled for steaks.

 












The follwing weekend was a long weekend (god bless bank holidays) so we headed out to Richmond Park; a massive stretch of land effectively still located in London that is adorned with herds of deer, foxes and other woodland creatures. It was a pretty cool area but it all got too much and we ended up at the pub, downing beers and eating chips with garlic mayo.

Last weekend was Renee's birthday so we went out for a fantastuc steak at this place:http://thehawksmoor.co.uk/. It was pretty hard out. The steak was just a peice of meat on a plate. No garnishings or anything. We decided to get the triple cooked fries as a side.
"Whats the triple cooked fries all about then? What are they? I asked inquistively.
"They are fries that have been cooked three times" the waitress replied
"Oh I see, the fries are cooked three times! I should have figured that out from the name"

Yesterday, the office was treated to a day out in Cambridge courtesy of our bosses. It was superb, starting with myself and Kieran (another kiwi) deciding to head down early to watch the world cup opening match (Go Dagg). We then went punting along the river cam, which winds it way through all the old and  prestigous university grounds. Lunch was at a Jamie Oliver restaurant and then we ended up at a pub, which we didnt think would happen.

That about brings you all up to speed. Going to Arsenal vs Swansea now (perks of specifying doors through a compnay that has season tickets). On the way back to Australia we have sorted out a 6 week long trip through South East Asia. Actually, must get round to sorting out those visas....