Oktoberfest...

7:10 AM

All the build up to the keg tapping today has been pretty impressive.  Munich is pretty much filled to capacity with locals and visitors ready to participate in the largest beer festival in the world.  Today update will be in time blocks as we go through the day.  I am having a coffee at the camp canteen watching the tour groups line up for their busses.  I tried to go to bed at midnight but the party lasted to at least 4am with many going all night. The Aussies are either starting early - most are drinking beer now while I have my coffee.  Or they just never stopped and this morning is continuation - the Aussie are professionals when it comes to drinking and partying.  It rained again for the second night in a row.  The inside of my tent is getting pretty soggy.  The forecast is for rain the next 3 days so don't think we will dry out before we leave.  Oh well, at least there will be beer...

11:55 AM

We arrived at Oktoberfest about 10:15am and quickly realized we had come too late to get a seat inside one of the 10 massive beer tents - which was a problem as it has been pissing rain all morning.  We talked to one of the servers and found out that you have to arrive around 7am and get in line for the 9am tent openings.  We standed around in various tents amazed at the number of people - the largest tent holds 10,000.  We ended up at a beer garden at the Lowenbrau tent around 11am waiting for the cannons to go off.  At the time we were amount about 50 people in an area that could seat 800.  Beer is not served until the opening ceremonies where the mayor of Munich taps the first keg.  While we waited a steady rain was falling - not fun sitting in the rain with no beer.  Finally the cannons blew, the crowd cheered and liter beers started coming out 10 at a time from a stream of servers.  Life was good again.

1:45 PM

The rain subsided and the sky opened up to patchy blue sky and sunshine.  The rain had stopped completely and we are enjoying the music and our new friends and table mates from Germany on one side and New Jersey on the other.  The beer, pretzels, sausages and roasted chicken are flowing - good times at Oktoberfest in Munich!

4:00 PM

The rain has returned and we are getting wet again.  It was nice to be dry and in the sun for a while.  It may be time to call it a day and come back early on Sunday to try and get a seat inside.  3 liters of beer before 4pm is probably good.  Our German and New Jersey friends have moved on and we now have an Anerican couple living in Germany at our table.  They have a friend that just flew in this morning from Arizona with them.  The rain stopped again so we stick around, chat and enjoy the music for a couple more hours - while still nursing that 3rd liter.

6:00 PM

We left the beer garden and walked around the grounds - roller coasters, Ferris wheels, spinning vomit rides, games of chance etc.  it is basically a giant carnival.  The promenade was packed with people - adults, kids grandparents, etc.  Oktoberfest is certainly an event for everyone.  It's not entirely about drinking beer - but mostly.  After about an hour we decided to head back to the campground.  Another day of Munich and Oktoberfest awaits tomorrow.

Inside one of the massive beer tents.

The Lowenbrau beer garden.

Our new friends from Munich.

Munich...

We arrived at the outskirts of Munich in the late afternoon and took the ring road around to the south end of the city where the campground we would stay at is located.  Going through the city would have been a bad idea judging by the traffic lines we passed going the opposite  way.  The campground was pretty easy to find - it is a city campground totally set up to handle a high density crowd for Oktoberfest.  The security guard was telling us the camp maxes out at over 2500 people between the RV's and tent sites.  There are tour groups that rent blocks of space and have tents all set up for their guest to use - mostly from Australia.  Aussies definitely outnumber the Germans, Italians, Swiss, Brits and Canadians we have met.  So far we are the only Americans.  Everyone is pretty amazed when they see the bikes and we share our travel story of traveling around the world.  The security staff is all German and Swiss bikers so we know they will make sure our bikes and stuff is not screwed with - the biker brother thing that has been like a golden ticket all the way around.  

We met three Canadians last night who had flown to Munich and rented an RV and drove down to experience Oktoberfest.  Owen's wife gave him this trip for his 50th birthday and he brought two friends along.  We had a good time hanging out with them as well as several Aussies and Germans while enjoying a few liters of the local beer.  They had a giant beer trailer set up in the campground - so convenient!  The campground was only about a third full as the big arrival day is Friday.

Friday morning we took the subway into downtown Munich to pick up some supplies and see the sights.  The public transportation system is very easy to figure out and quite efficient - as you would expect in Germany.  We visited a BMW dealership and inquired on a couple of parts I needed - one was 550 EUR and the other was 1.61 EUR.  I left with the 1.61 bolt for the mirror that I broke in Mongolia - the brake rotors I need will have to wait as $710 USD was more than I wanted to spend.  I will deal with the constant rattle and hopefully find some used when I get back to the US.  We got back to a packed campground - later a huge party broke out.  We of course had to join the festivities.  Good times but couldn't go crazy as there is a little beer festival going on tomorrow that we plan to attend.  Word on the street is that we will have to get there early to get into one of the beer tents.  Oktoberfest here we come!

One of the dense tent cities blocked by an Aussie tour group. 

City center Munich.

Cool castle.

Beer.

Oktoberfest pre-party at the campground.

Prague Day 2...

Today we ditched the bikes and played tourist in Prague - maybe the best tourist city in the world.  We took the tram system down to the main square and visited many of the iconic sites including Prague Castle.  To say the castle was impressive would be an understatement - it was that good to see in person.  As the saying goes, pictures cannot do justice to this almost 1,500 year old castle.  Not to mention all the other interesting buildings, churches, monuments, etc. we passed by on the walk up to the castle.  This city is something special for anyone who appreciates old world archeticure.  There were crazy crowds of tourists most everywhere but I still enjoyed just walking around this unique city.  

Tomorrow we ride to Munich to hopefully secure a camp space at a campground on the city outskirts.  Oktoberfest starts on Saturday so hopefully a couple of days early will be enough to score a spot at the campground we are targeting - it is on a first come basis so no reservations accepted.  We looked into hotels, hostels, apartments, etc. a month ago and what wasn't already booked was stupid crazy expensive.  We like to camp anyway because we are cheapskate travelers on a budget.

Here are some more pics of Prague - but you really need to see and experience this city firsthand.  It is amazing and my new favorite city - that's right San Francisco, you've been punted!

Prague...

The back road route to Prague proved to be a good one.  Smooth and dry twisty roads - first periodically running through small Austrian villages and after crossing the boarder small Czech villages. We stopped in a small village in Austria to find some coffee and breakfast  - we had left Vienna early in the morning to avoid parking boots so didn't have a chance to eat or grab a coffee.  We found what looked like a restaurant and went inside to inquire.  The lady inside didn't speak much English (and we of course speak no Austrian) but understood when we asked about breakfast.  She just shook her head and pointed to the beer cooler and espresso machine.  This was apparently a bar that obviously opens early - in was only about 9:15 am and there was a table of 5 inside enjoying some beverages.  Of coure since we are on the bikes there was only one choice so we had espressos.  I am really enjoying the coffee situation since getting into Europe - Notherrn Asia was definitely all about the tea.  

After the espresso boost we rolled on and later found a McDonalds during a fuel stop.  Our second of the trip - first being the one in Moscow.  They had a breakfast sandwich I have never seen in the states  - egg, sausage, bacon, hash brown, tomato, lettuce and cheese on a kaiser roll - it was pretty darn good!  They also had a separate really cool coffee/espresso/pastry counter that resembled a Starbucks - called McCafe.  Maybe they have these in the states now too - it's been a while since I have been inside a McDonalds there.

Around 2pm we started to come into the outskirts of Prague and got a visual on its size - it's big!  Luckily we were pre-rush hour so the ride in was not too bad.  We found the hostel easily this time - Family Lorenz Hostel & Coffee House.  The coffee shop is right underneath our room and offers beans from 10 countries - love this spot!  This is by far the nicest hostel we have stayed so far.  We have a private room with two beds (no bunkhouse) and a private bathroom and shower - a rarity in our travels.  Usually we reserve the cheapest bed in a dorm room lined with bunk beds and shared toilet and shower.  This is like a hotel room at hostel prices - about $20 USD each per night each.  Not too bad for Prague where cheap hotels start at $100 US per night.  

We will be laying over here tomorrow night so will have all day tomorrow to explore the city - one of the most iconic in all of Europe.  A day off will be good as we have rode now for 10 days straight since leaving Moscow.  We also just passed 13,000 miles ridden on the trip - which looks like a ridiculous distance when we get out the world map and look how far we have traveled just from South Korea.

Pretty impressive city!

Hostel room - courtyard view.

Hostel room - street view.

Vienna...

We of course rolled into Vienna at rush hour - never fun when entering a large city.  We were driving circles around city blocks looking for the hostel - a common theme for us as most of the hostels we choose have little or no signage.  This one was no exception.  After several loops my bike overheated and we had to pull over.  Air cooled machines in traffic where you just sit at lights waiting for the line to move don't work very well.  The bikes need to be moving to force air to the oil cooler for the system to work.  So we parked the bikes and I set off on foot to find the hostel.  About a half block up and full block down I finally found it - after asking for help at a tea shop that had a similar address to the hostel.  It was if course through a locked iron gate and up three floors - so without guidance I never would have found it.  The good news after all the hassle finding it was that they had overbooked the dorm bunk that we booked and had to upgrade us to a single bunk room - score!  Nothing like an upgrade at the hostel - second one of the trip.

We only were spending one day in Vienna so we changed quickly and went to find a pub.  We already had scouted dinner near where we had parked the bikes to cool down around the other block.  The house beer at the brewpub was excellent and the sushi was pretty decent and surprisingly fairly cheap - and Vienna is not a cheap city.

We found out later that where we had parked the bikes on the street was not allowed after 8:00am so retired fairly early  in order to get an early start to Prague.  Since it is only about 300 km we will take the scenic longer  route through the Austrian countryside.

Some pics of Vienna.

Slovakia...

As we approached southern Poland the hills began to get bigger and turned to mountains as we got to the Slovakia boarder.  The route through northern to central Slovakia was quite beautiful - mountains, creeks and streams and every so often we would pass by a castle up on a peak or hillside overlooking a small town or village.  Slovakia has over 300 castles, some preserved - but many are in ruin.  We got to see both yesterday.  We were also riding through ski country and passed by several ski towns.  The day could have been perfect, but the weather did not cooperate and we pretty much got wet all afternoon.  The other drawback of the rain is not being able to take advantage of the twisty mountain roads which become very slick when wet.  Getting even the slightest bit aggressive and the rear tire begins to step out.  

It was beginning to get dark so we found a roadside hotel/cafe as the road was slipping down into the foothills.  The cafe had an Italian theme and featured pizza - which we had not had much luck with in other countries.  The saying is that there is no bad pizza - only pizza and good pizza.  But with pizza you just have an understanding of what is supposed to be like so are often times disappointed when it doesn't meet that expectation - which happened in pretty much every country we tried.  We found we were better off sticking to the local dishes for that particular country so there is no expectation - but sometimes when you see a familiar food group like pizza, you just have to try.  So we got the pizza and it was GOOD pizza - finally.

This morning we are changing plans due to bad weather in Hungary.  We were going to head south to Budapest but the forecast is for severe torrential rains - not ideal riding conditions.  We will instead head into Austria and stay in Vienna where the forecast is only for light rain.   

Cool castle overlooking the village.

Closer shot of the castle.

Slick roads.

Cool little place we stayed last night.

Auschwitz, Auschwitz II - Birkenau...

We visited the two Natzi death camps outside Krakow today - quite a sobering experience.  Everyone knows and history has certainly shown what happened here from1940-1945, but to see it first hand is a pretty sobering experience.  To visit these places gives a full understanding of the scale the genocide was carried out.  Unimaginable that any human could think  in this way.  To preserve, remember and respect the history hopefully will ensure it is never repeated.  I only took 2 photos to remember I was there and what I saw and experienced.

Auschwitz.

Birkenau.

Farewell to Mark...

We all left Kaunas together on Friday morning and then parted ways with Mark at the turnoff to Kaliningrad - Mark turning back to Russia with Ken and I headed towards Warsaw.  It has been great traveling with Mark - he is a really great guy and fun to be around.  I'm glad we met up in Soul and had the opportunity to travel together for as long as we did.  Mark is spending the weekend in Kaliningrad with some contacts from Dmitry and then meeting up with his girlfriend (wife) and daughter in St. Petersburg.  I'm a bit envious that he will get to spend 5 days in St. Petersburg - one day was not enough to do justice to that interesting city.  So long Mark - best of luck to you and your family as you start a new business in Ireland.  I will visit someday and we will ride together again.

We stopped at the road split to say our goodbyes and take a few photos together.

Old town in Warsaw.

More old town.