Wacky Chinaman's European Vacation Part 5: Oktoberfest!!!

The final stop on our trip was Munich, site of the famous Oktoberfest. We were definitely looking forward to sampling the beers here. So it was surprising to find that on the opening day of Oktoberfest...it's nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get a beer! We first waited in line for an hour at the Hacker-Porschh beer tent (and there were only 20 people ahead of us!). Once we all squeezed in, we found that there were absolutely no empty seats to be found in the entire place. This was a huge problem, since in the tents, the rule is that you can't be served beer unless you're seated.



(No idea who that guy is.)

Eventually, we found a beer hall that didn't follow this rule, and tried the Oktoberfest beer. Excellent stuff. But since the crowds were a little much, we went over to the Englitcher Garden instead to party with the locals. And they had the liter-size mugs too...mmmmmm.

Wacky Chinaman's European Vacation Part 4: Berchestgaden

Eleven years ago, I first went to the Alps and was awestruck by the views. So I definitely took the opportunity to take a quick day trip to Berchestgaden, the site of Hitler's "Eagle's Nest" vacation home. The scenery did not disappoint...however, the pictures don't do it justice.

Wacky Chinaman's European Vacation Part 3: The Romantic Road

Yeah....so us four dudes certainly had some apprehensions about taking the path known as "The Romantic Road." The road is a section of central Germany where several old-style villages are located. Pretty much like looking back into the past. Below is a photo of the picturesque town of Rothenburg.



I enjoyed the Rothenburg beers more than Cologne's Kolsch. It helped that they came in larger glasses as well.



And this town is where we first bought some sausages. Absolutely delicious! Not that we knew what to get, but nearly everything we had was friggin' awesome.

Wacky Chinaman's European Vacation Part 2: Cologne

After a few days, we took the train down to Cologne. The main tourist draw is the humongous cathedral at the center of town. It's really quite a sight. I can only imagine how impressive it must have been when it was first built hundreds of years ago.





And on the food/beer front, I had some decent gravy-soaked schnitzel (fried pork cutlet) along with a local brew called Kolsch. As the night progressed, we actually discovered that there were several different kinds of Kolsch....so we tried them all.



(Btw, is it weird that we took pics of our food?)

Wacky Chinaman's European Vacation Part 1: Amsterdam

I took off with some friends and went to Europe last week for some male bonding. It was a pretty sweet trip. We started off in Amsterdam. A neat place, though I suspect if it weren't for the legalized marijuana and prostitution, it wouldn't be nearly as popular as it is.





Though we were severely jetlagged, we strolled around most of the city and took it in. Red light district was pretty neat, though I found it a bit unnerving when the prostitutes in the windows made eye contact.

As far as the local food in Holland, it was pretty tasty. We were advised to try the Bitteballen (essentially a fried vegetable paste with chunks of meat) as well as the ossenwurst (a fatty sausage-like meat). Both very tasty.



Ah, and the beer was pretty decent here too.