Oktoberfest - Munich, Germany

Oktoberfest - Opening Weekend

September 19-20, 2009

J and I went to Munich, Germany for the opening weekend of Oktoberfest. It was a very fun and memorable experience!  We were walking through the main gates of the grounds as the gun started firing signifying the tapping of the kegs.  Our timing was perfect... except for the fact that at that exact moment the thousands of people there with us were all looking for beer... 

This was the first beer tent we walked in to... AUGH!  We couldn't believe how crowded it was.  We could hardly walk, let alone find a seat at a table to order a beer.  Apparently people reserve seats in the beer tents for a certain time.  We didn't, making our first beer a challenge.  

We were also surprised to learn that you can only buy beer in one of these beer tents.  We thought that we could by a beer on the grounds and walk around with it, nope.  Beer can only be purchased in a tent, you must have a seat, and you can't bring it with you.

We left that tent and continued on our beer quest.  We walked around a few of the other big beer tents and then decided to wait in line at a smaller beer hall.  

This turned out to be perfect!  We were seated at a long table with strangers.  We ended up sitting across the bench from a group of Italians who just about fell off their bench when we started speaking Italian to them (they were highly impressed).  This ended with the Italians giving us all their contact information so we could call them and be their guests in their home.  So cute!

After enjoying a liter of Oktoberfest beer and having a very yummy meal, we decided to hit the midway for some rides.  We had a blast!  We went on the swings, a roller coaster and the tilt-a-whirl.  J. took pictures on some of them, I think they are so funny...  

After a few hours of walking all over the Oktoberfest grounds (wishing we were in Lederhosen and Drindl) we decided to head back to the tent from earlier in the day.  As with most of the tents, there was a live band that led the crowd in songs and dances.  I can tell you that as the night went on and more and more beer was consumed, the German crowd got louder and rowdier!  It was a blast!!

This is our German friend, Armin.  He sat across from us at the table.  He was from several hours away and had come to Oktoberfest alone.  After talking with us for a while he told us he was "surprised at how much he liked us" and decided to spend the rest of the evening with us.  We had a great time and it was fun to have an "authentic" German telling us about Oktoberfest and teaching us the words to the songs.  

To finish off our night, we went on the huge ferris wheel.  It was really fun to see all the lights of Oktoberfest from above.  

The next day, we actually woke up early and went to the historical center to see the cool sights.  I had been there in March with my brother, so I tried hard to remember all the interesting facts for J.  Here is J in front of Rathaus. 

Then we went to the Oktoberfest parade.  It was SO cool.  There were so many people in the parade.  People from all over Germany in their traditional clothing.

This was one of the many beer floats.  Each beer tent had a bunch of kegs pulled by beautiful horses and all were decorated with different kinds of beautiful flowers.  

This one was my favorite!!!  SHEEP!!  It took 12 sheep to pull a wagon full of hay and one man.  It thought it was sooo cute!

After watching the parade for 2.5 hours, we decided to leave even though it wasn't over... I wonder what the record for the longest parade is, this has to be up there!  We went to the Hofbrauhaus for a beer and lunch.  It was great because we got there before the parade ended, so we found a seat without a problem.  We sat right behind the polka band.  We loved it here!

We went back to the Oktoberfest field for one more walk around and to buy some souvenirs before heading back to the hotel to pick up our bag and head to the airport.  We had an amazing time on this once-in-a-lifetime experience!

Andrew visits Florence!!

My brother, Andrew, had 2 research posters accepted to be presented at the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS) held this year in Florence!  Andrew stayed with J. and I, attended his conference during the day and we explored Florence at night!

This picture is on Piazza Santa Croce on Andrew's first night here.

On the opening day of Andrew's conference we all were able to attend the opening ceremonies and reception.  The conference was held at a huge fortress in Florence that has been turned into a convention center.  J and I had never been inside, so it was a neat experience for us too!

Andrew walking in the fortress wall which was protected by costumed guards...

This conference was a meeting of Europeans, but there were still Americans present.  Andrew said it was very interesting to be "in the minority" and hear all the different perspectives.  There were people from just about every country. 

After the reception, while walking around Florence we stumbled upon a micro-brewery.  Italy is not known for beer, so we were really excited to find this place that had really good beer!

The microbrewery.

That evening we walked around the center showing Andrew beautiful Florence.  Here is Andrew and I by the Ponte Vechio.  

J and I rubbing the boar's nose, for luck and it ensures our return to Florence.

The next day, Andrew had his first poster presentation.  J and I snuck into the center and were able to hear his presentation.  It was an informal presentation, but I was still pretty proud of Andrew!

That night, after Andrew's conference and J got home from work, we had a delicious dinner together and had a really fun time catching up talking.

J was able to get a Fiorentia uniform for Andrew.  We were all pretty excited about our awesome outfits!

On the final day of Andrew's conference the EFNS hosted a reception at the Pitti Palace.  They opened the whole palace up after the normal visiting hours.  It was really neat - we were able to wander through all of the museums and they had guides on hand to answer any questions. 

In addition to being able to go into all the museums, they also had entertainment all throughout the Palace.  There were these jugglers and many musical groups.  It was a fun evening. 

Andrew has always been a big fan of the Simpsons, so we were pretty excited to show him that Florence actually sells Duff beer.  J and Andrew said it was horrible beer, but they enjoyed the novelty of it!  

After the conference Andrew had 2 days off.  J had to work, but Andrew and I spent the day in Rome.  We had a really long day, but Andrew enjoyed seeing the Ancient city even just for a day.

Here is Andrew outside the Pantheon.

Brother and sister at the Trevi Fountain.

Andrew by the Roman Forum.

Looking at the Colosseum through the Arch of Constantine.  

Inside the Colosseum.  Such a neat place.  

We spent Andrew's final day off in Florence.  Andrew climbed up into the Duomo's dome to see Florence from above.  Then he and I went to the Uffizi to see the famous Italian Art.  We had a wonderful time with Andrew here in Florence.  It was so great that he was able to take time off of his residency to come to Italy!

Paris - Day 3 - 9/1/09

We woke up to a cool, rainy day... and we were SO excited!  After spending this summer in the hot, hot, hot Florence heat, we welcomed the change in weather.  We took the train to the Rodin Museum area and had breakfast at a cafe where we had the best ham and cheese omelet ever made!  After breakfast we went to the Rodin Museum.  This museum is beautiful!  It is located in central Paris in a historical hotel on 7 acres of land.  They used all the land to make a wonderful garden displaying Rodin's sculptures in addition to the hotel filled with his smaller sculptures.  

This is a picture of me in the gardens looking at the back of the hotel.

The Thinker

This is probably Rodin's most famous sculpture.  It was actually first created at part of his "Gates of Hell" sculpture depicting Dante's Inferno.  In these gates the figure was less then 60 cm tall.  Due to the huge success and deeper meaning of this Thinker, Rodin then went on to create the larger version, which is now what is most famous.  

This is are the "Gates of Hell."  This work is so detailed and intricate.  After this creation, Rodin went on to enlarge most of these tiny sculptures from the door into "life-size" versions.  Can you see the Thinker in this?

See the three figures at the very top?  The Thinker is below.  He is "thinking" on everything that is happening in the Inferno.  There are many deep analogies that go along with every single one of these figures, I am sure my art history friends are cringing at my simplified explanation.

Even though it was raining, we had a very nice time walking around these beautiful gardens.  We had fun "reenacting" the different statues...

After a wonderful morning at the Rodin Museum, we headed to the Orsay Museum.  We LOVED this museum!!  This museum picked up where the Louvre stops (in the historical timeline).  I think one of the reasons that we liked this museum so much was because it was very different then anything we can see here in Italy.  A lot of the works in the Louvre were Italian and for a lot of them, we felt like "we had seen it before."  But the paintings at the Orsay were a completely different time period and style.  We were not expecting to see SO many paintings that we recognized.  It was thrilling for us, and we are not by any means "art buffs" (apologies to both of our artist moms). 

This is J inside the Museum.  It was once a train station and it still has that "grand central station" feel.  It was beautiful.  Just walking in, it took a second to catch our breath!  

In Paris they let you take pictures of all the works of art, in both the Louvre and Orsay.  We took a lot of pictures of the famous works.  These are a few of our favorites:

Claude Monet, Poppies, 1873

Vincent Van Gogh, Portrait of the Artist, 1889 

(J's favorite)

Edgar Degas, Blue Dancers, circa 1893

Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night, 1888

(My favorite - I had the poster all through college, it was awesome to see it in person!)

Edgar Degas, The Bellelli Family, 1858-1867

(It was so difficult to just choose a few pictures to post, there were SO many!  We saw works by Van Gogh, Monet, Degas, Renoir, Whistler, Cezanne, Munch, Seuart,  and Manet - to name a few.)

This is outside the Museum.

After we left the museum we had a beer at a cafe to rest our feet.  The sun came out and we took a walk by the river, through the Tuileries Gardens at the Louvre, to Concorde Square and up Champs-Elysees.  It was lovely, but my feet were killing me!

Here is J. during the first part of our walk.  

Taking a break in the gardens facing Concorde Square.  

After our walk, we did a little souvenir shopping before supper.  We set out to walk to the beautiful island for supper, but we got about a block away from the hotel and my feet decided that was far enough.  Fortunately, they stopped at a wonderful cafe where we had ham, cheese and egg crepes - delicious!

We had a fantastic visit to Paris and definitely fell in love with this city.  It makes our "top 5" list of cities we love.  We know we will be back!

Paris - Day 2 - 8/31/09

We woke up early in the morning to go up the Eiffel Tower.  We were 4th in line and we were in the very first elevator to the very top.  I was really nervous, but it was not as scary as I was expecting at the top.  It was a beautiful morning and we had an amazing view of Paris.

We also went down to the second floor to see the view from there.  We were so much closer to the ground, it really made me realize how high we had been at the very top!

After our Eiffel Tower adventure, we went to the Sainte-Chapelle.  It is a gorgeous church that was made up entirely of stained glass.  It was breath-taking walking into this place.  Close by to this church is the Conciergerie which is where Marie Antoinette we held in a cell before she was executed.  It was really creepy there.  They had it set up with mock models and furniture, like I said - creepy!

This picture is in Sainte-Chapelle (beautiful and not at all creepy).

Then we braved the crowds and went to the Louvre.  We got a Paris Museum Pass and we were able to go in a "special entrance" and didn't have to wait in a single line.  The Louvre is simply huge.  We made our way to the famous Mona Lisa.  Most people that see the painting in person leave it feeling unimpressed.  We were no exception.  There are so many amazing paintings here (one Da Vinci that is very similar) and they all get over-looked by the hordes of people coming only to see the Mona Lisa.  After a quick photo, we spend the next few hours seeing some of the masterpieces of the Louvre.

Venus De Milo

We had to take a daytime picture of this famous sight from the Louvre.

Next, we headed across town to Notre Dame.  It was stunning.  The detail of this church was amazing.  I think you could spend all say just studying the facade.  I love the gargoyles on this church.  We learned that the gargoyles are there to ward off evil.  This church was never used and it was going to be torn down.  Victor Hugo heard about this and was inspired to write "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" published in 1831.  The publicity and popularity of this book saved this church.  After publication, the church was completely updated.  

After Notre Dame, we headed back across town (we were getting really good at the subways) to go to the Guimet Museum.  This museum was supposed to have to famous Wave painting, but we found out that after we spend 2 hours looking at all the exhibits that it was no longer there because it was falling apart...  I was pretty sad.

Along the way to our next museum, we passed by this monument which was originally a gift from the US as a thank you for the Statue of Liberty but has become a memorial to Princess Diana because it was placed over the tunnel where the crash took place.   

We also had another nice photo op on our walk.

After seeing the beauty above the city, we decided to check out down below...  all the way to the sewer!  We went to the Musee des egouts de Paris (Paris Sewer Museum).  It was actually pretty interesting and it didn't stink nearly as much as I feared...  

After a solid 11 hours, we headed to our hotel for a well-deserved rest.  Then we set out to enjoy another beautiful Paris night.  We went to the Arc de Triomphe.  This beautiful monument is situated at the intersection of 12 streets, one being the famous Champs Elysees.  We climbed to the top to take in the sights of Paris from a different angle and at a different time of day.  It was beautiful to see everything sparkling below us! 

Gorgeous view. 

Imagine that, a windy stairway in Europe!  Fortunately, this one was not scary and less then 300 steps!

This is the view of Champs Elysees.  After our climb, we ate at a little restaurant right along the street.  It was a great meal and fun (and beautiful) atmosphere.