The Germany Thread

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

1 hour ago, Zepol87 said:

Pics *por favor

*Bitte.....

[longhorndude 146]

Got back yesterday from our trip, long ass day coming back. Had a blast full trip report with pics in the works.

[G650 14229]

Mmm... Spaten... 

 

Juat found I will be back in March for Bauma. Looking forward to it, been a few years

[longhorndude 146]

So, we had an awesome time in Germany, the people were amazing and we saw some really beautiful countryside and historic sights. And of course, we drank liters and liters of beer and ate some kick ass food (although I think I need a break for a bit before I have more sausage or schnitzel.


Day 1 / 2 – We flew out of Austin around mid-day to Houston where we met up with our friends and took the overnight flight to Munich. United had plenty of options for movies, free beer and wine and the food was surprisingly decent for airline food. After landing around 7:30 we made the journey thru customs and found the train to take into the city. I didn’t realize the airport was so far out but it was efficient. I did put my huge suitcase in the racks above and we got a laugh out of the fact that it could have flown off and probably taken someone out (maybe we were a bid delirious by then. But anyways, got to Hilton Munich City and checked our bags as it was way to early to check in. So, at this point we decided to power thru and start walking…eventually we ended up in the Schneider Brauhaus for some food and our first official beers in Germany.






Next, we walked to Oktoberfest to get a lay of the land, we bounced around a few tents, had a few more beers, I think we spent some time in the outside area of the Schottenhamel tent. Eventually we walked back to the hotel late that afternoon. In all we got a good 6 miles in which kept us awake, decent bed time for a full day at Oktoberfest.






Day 3 – This time we took the train to the festival, all dressed up in our official outfits, and settled in early at the Hofbräuhaus tent. We found some good open seating and proceeded to drink like idiots for several hours. It was great atmosphere and it was fun to see people stand up on the table to down their beers knowing they were gonna get thrown out. Our seating area became reserved at some point that afternoon and the kicked us all out. At that point we were all pretty blitzed so we walked around a bit and then headed back.




Day 4 – Got on the road early for Stuttgart and Dachau along the way. I had a friend to arranged for us a private tour with a local so that was really cool. Needless to say, we were glad we did it but definitely need a drink afterwards.






Then on to Stuttgart where we settled in at Jaz Hotel (maybe a bit to trendy for me, and the weird strobe lights in the elevator got old pretty quick). But a nice hotel with a good view of the city.






Day 5 – Early start and hit the Mercedes Benz museum which we were all really impressed with. I also had to check out the VfB Stuttgart stadium and shop nearby to pick up a beer mug.





After that we headed to Cannstatter Volksfest, very similar look to Oktoberfest. After some walking around, we had a couple beers standing at the Dinkelacker tent and later wandered and managed to find some seats at the Furstenberg tent. The vibe was way more party atmosphere in my opinion than Munich. Pretty much everyone was standing on tables and security didn’t care, plus there was smoking inside which got a bit thick later on. We did see a dude take a header from his seat bench and get wedged between two tables….he did get escorted out. I think we left around 10p bloated and shit faced, somehow we made the right train back to our hotel.





Day 6 – Slept in a bit then checked out and made our way back to Bavaria. We stayed in a little town called Ettal, with a cool abbey where the monks brew beer (we had a lot of it, the dunkel was especially tasty. After checking in we drove to Parnach Gorge which was kick ass. We took a different way back which turned into a bit of a longer hike then we’d planned but it all worked out.








We then spent some time in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and had a drink and a snack at the base of the ski jump at the Olympic Stadium. Before that day I had no clue the 1936 Winter Olympics were held here and kicked off by that fucker Hitler. Still some cool unplanned history. It was here I tried colabier (yep it’s wheat beer and cola), wheat beer and cola. I mainly tried it out of curiosity but god damn was it tasty and that became the first of several more that I had.








Day 7 – We took the drive to Neuschwanstein Castle and did the tour, got some great pics for the bridge and it’s a worthwhile tour. We got back to Ettal that afternoon and had a chill rest of the day.






Day 8 – Took in some more sights in the area including another of Ludwig’s castles, Linderhof Palace. Not quite as impressive as Neuschwanstein but still we thought it was worth it. We also went to the ski resort at Kolbensattel Oberammerau, I nice chair lift up to the top for a beer and some pictures, then a ride back down on the alpine coaster which we all enjoyed as a nice adrenaline rush.






Day 9 – Early start for our drive to Salzburg. We went to the Eagles Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) along the way and did the bus ride up. Not really a lot to see as it’s a privately owned but the views are spectacular and it’s still a cool piece of history. Lunch and beer at the café up top then back down.





Made our way to Salzburg where we checked into a really nice Airbnb. We then walked around the old town for a bit and took in the view with a beer at Stiegkeller overlooking the old town. After a quick change we headed to dinner at PitterKeller. Another great meal and the veal schnitzel was out of this world (props to Spankytoes).







Day 10 – On the way out of Salzburg we checked out the Red Bull Hangar, not too bad for a free exhibit, but it’s mainly just a big advertisement for Red Bull.




Then back on the road to Munich, we got the bags dropped off at the hotel in Freising (outskirts near the airport) and then drove into town to drop the car off at the Hilton. We thought about one last visit to Oktoberfest for the last day, but we figured it would be nuts. Instead we went to the actual Hofbräuhaus beer hall. It was busy but not bad and the prices and food were cheaper and more options then the tent. I finally had a ½ roast chicken and another couple liters of beer.



Day 11 – Back to reality, the Munich airport was nuts and took forever, but we made it just in time for boarding and the long ass flight back to IAH and then a short hop back home to Austin.

It was a kick ass trip that I’d love to do again someday. I think we could have maybe skipped either Stuttgart or Salzburg and spent an extra day or two in Munich or up in the alps. The driving was a bit much and had us rushing a bit the last few days. Either way thanks for the tips and feel free to comment. Prost!

[Spankytoes 1739]

Glad you liked Pitterkeller. The owner is a really nice guy. The schnitzel and so buttery and light that it melts in your mouth and the lingonberries are a nice compliment. The potatoes are no slouch either.

Good trip. Prost!

[G650 14229]

2 minutes ago, Spankytoes said:

Glad you liked Pitterkeller. The owner is a really nice guy. The schnitzel and so buttery and light that it melts in your mouth and the lingonberries are a nice compliment. The potatoes are no slouch either.

Good trip. Prost!

Lingonberries ftw.

Quill at the Jefferson in D.C. does the best schnitzel I've had in America, totally comes with the lingonberries too.

[elfenix 34221]

how's berlin for new year's?

[kevwun 15758]

KLM has $450 flights from Austin to Frankfurt for late January to mid April.  If you wanted to get to Munich, would the train be a good option?  Looks like it's cheap and only takes 3 or 4 hours depending on connections.  There's 18 trains a day also, so you could probably just buy tickets when you get there so you wouldn't have to worry about flight delays.

Edited December 28, 2018 by kevwun

[Spankytoes 1739]

2 hours ago, kevwun said:

KLM has $450 flights from Austin to Frankfurt for late January to mid April.  If you wanted to get to Munich, would the train be a good option?  Looks like it's cheap and only takes 3 or 4 hours depending on connections.  There's 18 trains a day also, so you could probably just buy tickets when you get there so you wouldn't have to worry about flight delays.

Depends. You'd have to give examples of dates and whether that price is one-way or roundtrip. I can't duplicate it on Google flights. If you're flying KLM, you will have 1 or 2 connections before reaching Frankfurt depending on the routing. (One of those would be AMS)

In general, I'd say the train is a better way to go unless Lufthansa has a sale because they own that routing. Both FRA and MUC have trains that take you to the respective bahnhofs, so there's no disadvantage to taking the train. Both options would take roughly the same amount of time, all things considered. 

[kevwun 15758]

Yeah there was one connection and it said some legs could be Delta flights.  So Atlanta or Amsterdam probably.  It is round trip with a minimum 7 day stay.

https://escapeatx.com/cheap-flight-austin-frankfurt-2/

 

Edited December 28, 2018 by kevwun

[kevwun 15758]

Looks like at least some of them connect in Detroit.  The link has the days to check.

[bobcat1995 71]

Spent Spring break in Germany; Berlin, Munich, and Southern Bavaria to be exact.  The trip was for my son who is graduating HS this year and it was our first time in Europe.  Flew into Munich and then took an EasyJet flight to Berlin.  Thought about taking the train to Berlin but we didn't want to spend that much extra time traveling after flying all night. 

Berlin was heavy due to all the WWII exhibits we visited: Topography of Terror, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin Story Bunker and the Berlin Wall.  Also visited the TV Tower, Brandenberg Gate, and the Reichstag Dome.  We lost a day in Berlin at the beginning of our trip due to AA downsizing our plane out of Dallas causing us to miss our original flight to Munich.  I wish we had the extra day to take in a few more sites.  We did take one off the beaten path trip thanks to a guy we met in the Philadelphia Airport.  He suggested we visit a place called "Classic Remise Berlin".  It was 1/3 museum, 1/3 classic car repair shops and 1/3 garage for expensive cars.  We met a guy there who was putting license plates on his new McLaren 720 and he had a more expensive McLaren parked in a different stall.  My son, a car fanatic, was super excited.  Flew EasyJet back to Munich

Munich/Southern Bavaria was great!!  We rented a car for a few days to visit Neuschwanstein Castle, Zugspitze Mountain, and Mittenwald.  We could have taken a train to the castle but if at all possible, I prefer to be on my own time schedule.  Walked forever around Munich and saw all the sights we wanted to see.  Ate good, drank beer, relaxed and didn't worry about anything.  We had very few set reservations when we landed in Germany (hotels, car, flights, castle, FC Bayern and Dachau).  Everything else we planned the night before or just happened to walk by (Munich Residence aka Bavarian Palace.)  Walked through the English Garden and had a damn good steak at Seehaus.  Also visited the Viktualienmarket and the BMW Museum in Munich.  One of the best nights was the FC Bayern game.  We stood the whole game in a section behind the goal.  The seating assignments were different as they are on a first come first serve basis by sections.  Had I know I didn't have an actual seat, we would have got there a little earlier.  We sat about 5 rows from the field.  Also, wasn't prepared for the stadium not to take cash.  Either credit card or some type of FC Bayern card fans could load money onto.  There was also a discount on beer if you brought your empty cup back to the beer stand.  The beer was about $5 for the first round and then $3 if you brought your cup back.  Freaking Crazy!!!!  FC Bayern won 6-0 and the crowd was having a lot of fun.  Drank beers and ate at the Hofbrauhous as well.   

Finished off Munich with a trip to Dachau Concentration Camp.  It is hard to put into words what it felt like to stand in an actual gas chamber, one of 3 or 4 left after WWII.  When the US troops reached the camp at the end of the war, there were bodies stacked up to be burned and the incinerators were still lit.  

 

Here are some cell phone pics from the trip.....

Memorial to the Murdered Jews

     

Reichstag Building

The gate (bad pic)

Dachau Concentration Camp

 

Fc Bayern

Bavarian Palace

Mittenwald

 

Neuschwanstein Castle

 

[Pato del Muerto 52484]

Frankfurt 10/14-20 give or take, with two 10 year old kids. Whatcha got?

[G650 14229]

53 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Frankfurt 10/14-20 give or take, with two 10 year old kids. Whatcha got?

With two ten year olds, I got a bottle a whiskey and some aspirin. 

[G650 14229]

4 hours ago, bobcat1995 said:

Spent Spring break in Germany; Berlin, Munich, and Southern Bavaria to be exact.  The trip was for my son who is graduating HS this year and it was our first time in Europe.  Flew into Munich and then took an EasyJet flight to Berlin.  Thought about taking the train to Berlin but we didn't want to spend that much extra time traveling after flying all night. 

Berlin was heavy due to all the WWII exhibits we visited: Topography of Terror, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin Story Bunker and the Berlin Wall.  Also visited the TV Tower, Brandenberg Gate, and the Reichstag Dome.  We lost a day in Berlin at the beginning of our trip due to AA downsizing our plane out of Dallas causing us to miss our original flight to Munich.  I wish we had the extra day to take in a few more sites.  We did take one off the beaten path trip thanks to a guy we met in the Philadelphia Airport.  He suggested we visit a place called "Classic Remise Berlin".  It was 1/3 museum, 1/3 classic car repair shops and 1/3 garage for expensive cars.  We met a guy there who was putting license plates on his new McLaren 720 and he had a more expensive McLaren parked in a different stall.  My son, a car fanatic, was super excited.  Flew EasyJet back to Munich

Munich/Southern Bavaria was great!!  We rented a car for a few days to visit Neuschwanstein Castle, Zugspitze Mountain, and Mittenwald.  We could have taken a train to the castle but if at all possible, I prefer to be on my own time schedule.  Walked forever around Munich and saw all the sights we wanted to see.  Ate good, drank beer, relaxed and didn't worry about anything.  We had very few set reservations when we landed in Germany (hotels, car, flights, castle, FC Bayern and Dachau).  Everything else we planned the night before or just happened to walk by (Munich Residence aka Bavarian Palace.)  Walked through the English Garden and had a damn good steak at Seehaus.  Also visited the Viktualienmarket and the BMW Museum in Munich.  One of the best nights was the FC Bayern game.  We stood the whole game in a section behind the goal.  The seating assignments were different as they are on a first come first serve basis by sections.  Had I know I didn't have an actual seat, we would have got there a little earlier.  We sat about 5 rows from the field.  Also, wasn't prepared for the stadium not to take cash.  Either credit card or some type of FC Bayern card fans could load money onto.  There was also a discount on beer if you brought your empty cup back to the beer stand.  The beer was about $5 for the first round and then $3 if you brought your cup back.  Freaking Crazy!!!!  FC Bayern won 6-0 and the crowd was having a lot of fun.  Drank beers and ate at the Hofbrauhous as well.   

Finished off Munich with a trip to Dachau Concentration Camp.  It is hard to put into words what it felt like to stand in an actual gas chamber, one of 3 or 4 left after WWII.  When the US troops reached the camp at the end of the war, there were bodies stacked up to be burned and the incinerators were still lit.  

 

Here are some cell phone pics from the trip.....

Memorial to the Murdered Jews

     

Reichstag Building

The gate (bad pic)

Dachau Concentration Camp

 

Fc Bayern

Bavarian Palace

Mittenwald

 

Neuschwanstein Castle

 

Great stuff, buddy of mine was there last week as well. I was supposed to be there in two weeks but had a conflict arise so one the guys that works for me will be there.

[LABEVO 928]

bump. About to spend two weeks in Germany. Just north of Cologne to visit a manufacturing plant so need suggestions for that area for the weekend.

Likely going to spend the second half in Berlin for no other reason than know a few people in the city. 

Likely going to rent a car since we are in nowhere land for work (right on the Netherland border). 

[squib 1120]

I end up in Berlin fairly regularly for work. Fantastic city. Do you know what part of town you will be staying in while there? 

[Brisketexan 105046]

Love Berlin. The boy is going to be studying there this year, and the wife and I are planning on going in December to hit Christmas markets and such (not just in Berlin).

[LABEVO 928]

20 hours ago, squib said:

I end up in Berlin fairly regularly for work. Fantastic city. Do you know what part of town you will be staying in while there? 

not yet. im assuming near government offices? friend's wife is in local government so assume we will stay near them unless told to stay elsewhere...

[squib 1120]

Berlin has great public transport between the s-bahn and the u-bahn. Don't feel as if you have to stay super close to where your wife's friend may be. Most of the government offices are in the Mitte district. I am not sure many people live in that area--unless uber rich. That district has a lot going on, but that is not the part of Berlin that interests me most. But for sure, you want to go to Mitte and sight-see. A nice walk would be from the Brandenburg Gate to Alexanderplatz. The Jewish Memorial is very near the B Gate and is a must. Museum Island near Alexander Platz is great for perhaps a full day. You can get passes. If you have time to kill, I might even take the bahn (I can't remember if it is an S or U stop) and get off at the Victory Column. And then walk all the way to Alexander Platz. It is probably about 3 miles but you will pass some cool stuff. 

If I remember correctly, part of the agreement on the wall coming down was that the west would not remove the war memorials and statues of the east. Many of these art installations are on the walk from the Victory Column to the Gate. From the Gate to Alexanderplatz is lots of shopping and such. There is are a couple of Berkinstock stores along this path if your family is wanting to score some of that gear. I always end up bringing back several pair although I don't have any myself. In fact, the Birkenstock store that is on Friedrichstrause (cross street of the Unter den Linden--the road you will be walking down) is very close to a good spot to stop for lunch. The Treffpunkt Berlin is a smallish pub/restaurant on Mittelstrause--not sure how to type that odd German B that makes the "strauss" sound." Nothing super special just a classic German lunch menu and some good beers. I always get a kick out of the signs labelling the genders of the restrooms downstairs. I'll leave that Easter egg for you to find. 

I'll log back in later and hit you up with a few more of my recs. 

 

 

[EuroHorn 3251]

Düsseldorf is a pretty cool city to hang out in and it’s just 20 minutes by train from Cologne.  I lived there for a year in the Hafen right next to the Rhine River.  A lot of good beer drinking spots along the Rhine and in the Altstadt 

[4th&Five 41506]

Looks like we'll have a 24 hour layover in Frankfurt in July.  What are the highlights?

[Brisketexan 105046]

37 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

Looks like we'll have a 24 hour layover in Frankfurt in July.  What are the highlights?

Never been out of the airport there, so I got nothin'.  There are decent wurst carts in the airport, IIRC.  So, I mean, there's that.

[EuroHorn 3251]

1 hour ago, 4th&Five said:

Looks like we'll have a 24 hour layover in Frankfurt in July.  What are the highlights?

Not much in Frankfurt. The Altstadt  area along the river is worth walking around.  Quite a few museums, some Roman ruins, and decent restaurants in the area 

[52-80 19142]

20 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

Looks like we'll have a 24 hour layover in Frankfurt in July.  What are the highlights?

buy a watch from the Sinn showroom

[rage-a-holic 4371]

1 hour ago, 52-80 said:

buy a watch from the Sinn showroom

lol, beat me to it. I thought Frankfurt was boring.

[sidis 9822]

man, i feel like this is the ultimate @Ghost of LL bat signal and yet...nothing.

hope he's alive.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

On 4/25/2022 at 2:50 PM, 4th&Five said:

Looks like we'll have a 24 hour layover in Frankfurt in July.  What are the highlights?

If you have 24 hours in Frankfurt you're at the train station when your plane lands, so getting anywhere 2-4 hours away is relatively easy.

Rothenburg 2-3 hours to the south is my favorite German city. Do a googlez search, and you'll get better flavor than I can supply......... with pictures no less.

Edited April 26, 2022 by Onboard 2.0

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

3 hours ago, 52-80 said:

buy a watch from the Sinn showroom

On my list the next time I'm in Frankfurt.

[Ghost of LL 15531]

3 hours ago, sidis said:

man, i feel like this is the ultimate @Ghost of LL bat signal and yet...nothing.

hope he's alive.

Ha--yeah, I'm still here.  But between Mavs jubilation and gearing up for Stars hockey, I have only enough time to bill a few hours on actual paying clients.

But ok, @4th and 5--what's the deal?  Have you ever been to Germany?  Who are you going with (are you alone; with the SO; any kids in tow)?  What do you like (e.g., nature; history; modern cities with museums and shit)?

With 24 hours, you can do a lot.  There's a train station in the airport, so it's pretty easy to get out for an overnight trip.  And I would broadly recommend that, because Frankfurt is the German equivalent of Dallas--it's a large city and financial center without much in the way of history (we blew all the history up in WWII), culture, or soul.

For me--I'm a history guy and I like cities.  So I might do Nuremberg (you have the Old City plus all the Nazi shit) or Cologne (the cathedral and the Roman museum).  Both are quick train rides from the Frankfurt airport station. 

If you're with the wife and you want to do something romantic, I might recommend taking a train up to Saint Goar or Kaub or Oberwesel--all towns on the Rhine--and staying in the castle hotel in those towns.

If you're alone and mildly stupid, rent a car and go out to the Nurburgring (where you can rent another car that you can drive entirely too fast and probably wreck).

[4th&Five 41506]

It’s literally a layover at the end of our eastern euro vacation, so I can’t see us venturing too far out from the city. Sounds like a bit of a dud of a city but it will be my first time in Germany so a place in old town where we can sit and have a few beers will probably suffice. 

[Ghost of LL 15531]

14 hours ago, 4th&Five said:

It’s literally a layover at the end of our eastern euro vacation, so I can’t see us venturing too far out from the city. Sounds like a bit of a dud of a city but it will be my first time in Germany so a place in old town where we can sit and have a few beers will probably suffice. 

For a first time in Germany and for a 24-hour layover, Frankfurt will work fine.  As I said, it's like German Dallas.  So if you had a 24-hour layover at DFW and it was your first time in the United States, could you find plenty to fill up a day in Dallas?  Of course.  That's not to say that I think Dallas is a great destination city.  But it is to say that after 24 hours in Dallas, you could definitely go home and say "I've been to the United States."

For Frankfurt, just catch a train at the airport station and go into the Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station).  The Hauptbahnhof in many German cities is kind of a tourist site in its own right, and Frankfurt is no different.  It's the largest single-level train hall in the world, and it's worth pausing for a minute* to look up a the roof of the train shed and the late-19th Century ironwork that is fairly reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower.

From the Hauptbahnhof, you can take the subway (U-Bahn) two stops on the U4/U5 line to the Dom/Romer stop and see the Dom (cathedral), the Paulskirche (St. Paul's Church) and the Romer (City Hall), all in the old city.  It's all reconstructed since World War II (we put Frankfurt to the fucking torch).  But it's still pretty cool.  It's a nice pedestrian zone with plenty of little restaurants.

If you want a very stereotypical German restaurant, go over to Paulaner am Dom.  It's a Bavarian-style beerhall.  I mean, yeah--they're serving a Munich beer in Frankfurt.  But whatever--are you really going to complain about eating a good etouffee in Dallas?  Sure, it's a New Orleans dish.  But I suppose it's fine to eat it in Dallas (particularly if you're a tourist from overseas and you're not going to get to New Orleans on this trip).

From there, you can walk across the Alte Brucke (Old Bridge) across the Main River and you're in Sachsenhausen, which is a cool area with a lot of bars.  You can walk around and get piss drunk before you have to get on a plane the next day.  

If you're a museum guy, there are a bunch of museums along the river.  The modern art museum is ok (It's not MoMA or the Pompideu Center, but it's fine).  The Historical Museum and the Communication Museum are actually kind of interesting and worth an hour or two.

 

 

* But don't pause too long.  Germany is very safe.  But the one place there is crime is in the train stations.  The crime is usually of the petty variety (e.g., pickpockets and purse snatchings).  And even still--it's pretty rare compared to, say, London or New York (or Dallas).  But no sense making yourself a target unnecessarily.

[4th&Five 41506]

Perfect! Thanks, man. 

[elfenix 34221]

The world's oldest brewery is right next to the Munich airport.

[Brodarious Hamm Sandwich 126]

I am going to Romania for work late next month and have a 13 hour layover in Munich.

What should I do with that time?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[squib 1120]

13 minutes ago, Brodarious Hamm Sandwich said:

I am going to Romania for work late next month and have a 13 hour layover in Munich.

What should I do with that time?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you want to hit up beer gardens, the Augustiner-Keller is a great one. I also like the beer garden next to Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower) in the park. But there are several other good ones. 

But you can also just hit up Marienplatz--the platz in the middle of town--and walk around the area. Hofbräuhaus München is near there, but I was not a huge fan of that place. Seems mega touristy--but still a cool stop. 

In Marienplatz is the Rathaus-Glockenspiel. Cool clock tower with the automatronic show of some local history. I can't remember what times it "pops" off, but it is listed somewhere. 

 

 

 

[Sam Lin 3550]

If you can get a reservation, and are a car nut, and depending on time of day of your layover, that's enough time to go do the BMW factory tour.

[Brodarious Hamm Sandwich 126]

If you want to hit up beer gardens, the Augustiner-Keller is a great one. I also like the beer garden next to Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower) in the park. But there are several other good ones. 
But you can also just hit up Marienplatz--the platz in the middle of town--and walk around the area. Hofbräuhaus München is near there, but I was not a huge fan of that place. Seems mega touristy--but still a cool stop. 
In Marienplatz is the Rathaus-Glockenspiel. Cool clock tower with the automatronic show of some local history. I can't remember what times it "pops" off, but it is listed somewhere. 
 
 
 

Thanks for the advice. I’m somewhere over the Atlantic right now

Plan is to hit Marienplatz via the S8, then lunch at Augustiner-Keller. Weather should be very pleasant tomorrow

This is my first flight on Lufthansa and hopefully my last. Dreadful business class product on the A350

-It’s a 2-2-2 in business, and I’m next to a guy who’s really salty I didn’t give him the window seat so his wife could there. Sorry pal, not riding facing in with a septuagenarian guy named Helmut for 8 hours in the middle seat. She’s still next to you
-broken power outlet (2 outlets shared by me and Saltman)
-awful food
-dated infotainment

FA is great but doesn’t make up for the overall scheiss

I never thought I’d say American Airlines is a great carrier, but their 777 business smokes this hunk o shit every day of the week


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[Surly Bevo 24908]

Augustiner Keller is fucking great. 

[dcbc 14465]

16 minutes ago, Surly Bevo said:

Augustiner Keller is fucking great. 

I friend of a friend sent me 3 Augustiner Helles for a special occasion.  I cracked the first one at the kickoff of the UT/Alabama rose bowl in 2010.  I then drank th eother two in quick succession.  I somehow still think that may be the best beer ever.

[Surly Bevo 24908]

47 minutes ago, dcbc said:

I friend of a friend sent me 3 Augustiner Helles for a special occasion.  I cracked the first one at the kickoff of the UT/Alabama rose bowl in 2010.  I then drank th eother two in quick succession.  I somehow still think that may be the best beer ever.

Was there in 2017.  First time wife and I went to Europe with the kids who were 10 and 13 at the time (older one turned 14 while we were there). We flew into Munich, went straight to Marienplatz and went up the tower, drank, ate shit walked around and then went back to our place and with kids did what you absolutely don't do, which is everybody fell asleep.  We got up, went to AK.  The strange mix of the atmosphere, the fatigue and multiple liters of beer was just fucking great.  Table of 16-18 years olds next to us who were drinking but not smashed.  Their parents were a table over, smashed.  European drinking culture is so much better than the bullshit we have here.   The "kids" were getting to enjoy it, the parents were really getting to enjoy it, but everybody was leaving together and it wasn't taboo. 

Oh and with 10 year olds at the time the massive playground, slide thing was great distraction.  

[Brodarious Hamm Sandwich 126]

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[PenelopeWitherspoon 19100]

I have never been to Germany, and I have been wanting to go.  Right now, my facebook feed is full of people there for Oktoberfest.  I would love to do it, but getting a group to go is like herding cats as a lot of my friends have been.  

So, I was looking and saw this tour.   I would like to get the opinion of the folks here.  Seems like this is right up my alley.  The reviews are good.  

https://www.bayerntrips.com/tours-of-bavaria/show/Oktoberfest Best of Bavaria.html

[Neonmoon 38129]

Germany is great. We went to Heidelberg years ago. That tour in that link looks awesome. Oktoberfest is a bucket list item 

Edited September 27, 2022 by Neonmoon

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19100]

15 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

Germany is great. We went to Heidelberg years ago. That tour in that link looks awesome. Oktoberfest is a bucket list item 

The price is definitely right.  I think I can schedule a trip to the UK for work around this time as well, so that might work to my advantage.  

[The Ace of Aces 5175]

On 9/26/2022 at 12:18 PM, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

I have never been to Germany, and I have been wanting to go.  Right now, my facebook feed is full of people there for Oktoberfest.  I would love to do it, but getting a group to go is like herding cats as a lot of my friends have been.  

So, I was looking and saw this tour.   I would like to get the opinion of the folks here.  Seems like this is right up my alley.  The reviews are good.  

https://www.bayerntrips.com/tours-of-bavaria/show/Oktoberfest Best of Bavaria.html

Fuck tours. We can meet you there, the wife can translate the German for us and also be our DD.

[Ghost of LL 15531]

On 8/20/2022 at 7:41 PM, Brodarious Hamm Sandwich said:

Thanks for the advice. I’m somewhere over the Atlantic right now

Plan is to hit Marienplatz via the S8, then lunch at Augustiner-Keller. Weather should be very pleasant tomorrow

This is my first flight on Lufthansa and hopefully my last. Dreadful business class product on the A350

-It’s a 2-2-2 in business, and I’m next to a guy who’s really salty I didn’t give him the window seat so his wife could there. Sorry pal, not riding facing in with a septuagenarian guy named Helmut for 8 hours in the middle seat. She’s still next to you
-broken power outlet (2 outlets shared by me and Saltman)
-awful food
-dated infotainment

FA is great but doesn’t make up for the overall scheiss

I never thought I’d say American Airlines is a great carrier, but their 777 business smokes this hunk o shit every day of the week


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THANK YOU!

Lufthansa has been waaaaaay overdue in upgrading their Business product.  As I understand it, the plan is to start rolling out a new 1-2-1 staggered with a 1-1-1 configuration next year.  But even after that, I think BA's and AF's will still have superior products (BA for the seat with a door; AF for the food/wine).

On 9/26/2022 at 11:18 AM, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

I have never been to Germany, and I have been wanting to go.  Right now, my facebook feed is full of people there for Oktoberfest.  I would love to do it, but getting a group to go is like herding cats as a lot of my friends have been.  

So, I was looking and saw this tour.   I would like to get the opinion of the folks here.  Seems like this is right up my alley.  The reviews are good.  

https://www.bayerntrips.com/tours-of-bavaria/show/Oktoberfest Best of Bavaria.html

You don't need a tour.  I think there are plenty of hints on here from previous years.  But you just go.  You don't need to speak German; you don't need a reservation.  Just do a little research on which tent you might prefer (I liked the Hippodrome and the Augustiner tents), get in there a little bit before 5:00, find yourself a seat, and start ordering beers and snacks.

[Grundy 27]

Looking to take the wife and two adult kids to Germany and possibly Switzerland for 10ish days.  Looking for a mixture or culture and nature. Any suggestions on itineraries, must sees?

[Ghost of LL 15531]

On 2/23/2024 at 3:04 PM, Grundy said:

Looking to take the wife and two adult kids to Germany and possibly Switzerland for 10ish days.  Looking for a mixture or culture and nature. Any suggestions on itineraries, must sees?

Sure.  Give me a bit more information, though.  Where are you flying into and out of?  Are you open to flying into someplace like Frankfurt and out Zurich?  Or are you intent on flying out of the same place you flew into?  And what about internal transit?  Are you doing trains or renting a car?  And how ambitious do you want to be on transit?  Like a "if it's Friday, it must be Munich" itinerary?  Or more of a "let's find one or two bases of operations and go from there?"  And what do you mean by "culture?"  Are you looking for art museums?  Cites of historical significance (and if so, what era)?  Or more like street art and the KitKat Club?

Just three ideas:

Rhine:

Fly into Frankfurt and drive up to the Romantic Rhine (i.e., the stretch roughly from Bingen to Koblenz).  Spend a couple days there checking out the various castles.  Drive down to Strasbourg and spend a few days there.  Then drive down to Basel and spend a couple days there exploring the Rhine as it exits the Alps.  Fly out of Zurich.

Berlin & Dresden:

Fly into Berlin (will require a connection) and spend five days there.  Drive down to Dresden, which is an under-visited and -appreciated city by Americans.  About halfway is the Spreewald, which is where the River Spree naturally spreads out into a huge floodplain but has, over the millennia, been carved up by small canals.  It's just a beautiful area that you can now get a gondola, a bike, or just hike around.

Munich & the Bavarian Alps:

Fly into Munich and spend three or four days there.  Then drive down to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, see King Ludwig's castles, hike the Partnachklamm and the Alpspitze, take the gondola up to the top of the Zugspitze (the highest mountain in Germany).  Maybe go over to Salzburg and check out Berchtesgaden if there's time.

Those are just some ideas.

[rage-a-holic 4371]

On 2/23/2024 at 3:04 PM, Grundy said:

Looking to take the wife and two adult kids to Germany and possibly Switzerland for 10ish days.  Looking for a mixture or culture and nature. Any suggestions on itineraries, must sees?

My goto is Southern Germany/Bavaria/Northern Austria (Munich, Berchtesgaden, Garmisch, Fussen, Salzburg, Werfen).

Then the Jungfrau region of Switzerland (Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Murren, Grindelwald)