24 Sep - 25 Sep | Bavarian Central | Munich, Germany

My first new destination of 2010 - Munich! Needless to say, I was ecstatic about pinning this new destination down on my 'where i've been to' map! And buzzing with excitement about exploring a new city! Perhaps it's because I walk past the Lowenbrau restaurant on a daily basis, or because one of my most memorable birthdays of recent years was at the Bavarian Beer Cafe, or just the fact that, I've heard great things about Munich (probably just that). The July issue of Monocle magazine also ranked Munich as the No 1 Best Place to Live in 2010, so naturally that added to my curiosity. Munich, the mysterious city...I was about to find out!

After what seemed like a flight never-ending flight, Mum and I finally arrived at Munich approx 6am in the morning to reunite with my Dad. It was the start of the 3/4 family trip, my brother got left out of this leg. And if memory serves me correctly, the last time only the 3 of us traveled together was when I was about 2 years old, ever since then it's been all sorts of family combinations.

Actually the first thing I was excited about was eating German bread. Yes, bread. After months of obsessing with the German bakery near my office, I was excited to be eating German bread in Germany!!! Ahh, genuine German bread, so tasty and fresh :) After a huge breakfast at the Kempinski Airport Hotel (an excellent 5 star hotel right at the airport, too bad I was only there for 3 hours to enjoy the bed and breakfast), we left the airport and went into town for some exploration.

Genuine German Bread!!

At the Kempinski Airport Hotel

It was a gorgeous sunny day when we first caught glimpses of Munich city, so mum and I planned to just enjoy Munich by wondering around the town centre appreciating the stunning architecture, the organised and pleasant streets before heading towards Theresienwiese to check out the 200th year of Oktoberfest celebrations! We had the perfect plan until the excitement of being in this city for the first time took over, where we ended up walking around Marienplatz and surrounds for a good 4 hours straight. By which time our legs were so tired that they were about to detach themselves from our bodies. The fact that we had just arrived from Asia with minimal sleep, and were treated to nice, slow and easy whilst in Malaysia for a week didn't help our cause either. Its ok we thought, first nap then head down to Oktoberfest later at night. The best laid plans of mice and men - after waking up from my extended nap, Munich to find that Munich was now a pouring city. Bad weather had hit us. Bye bye to Oktoberfest fun.

Beautiful Munich

View from Holiday Inn Hotel room...a beautiful Bavarian day!

River view

Yum! Bread and Pastry

Isartor (Isar Gate), dates from the 14th Century

Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall)

Neues Rathaus, New Town Hall of the Gothic Style, Marienplatz

Happy to be in the city

People relaxing by the fountains at Stachus, Munich.

Internal courtyard, Neues Rathaus

Bavarian fashion @ the department stores

High-class Bavarian fashion

Jazz band entertaining city-walkers

Mariensäule - Statue of the Virgin Mary in celebration of the end of Swedish occupation
Erected 1638 

Bike City

Shops around Marienplatz

Enjoying a light beer in the arvo

Munich Architecture

Nationaltheater München (near Residenz)

I didn't give up though, the next day we quickly caught a taxi to get to the grounds. It was still raining, but not quite pouring like the previous night...and as one can tell, I finally made it to Oktoberfest!!

What a change in weather! But here's proof I was there, in the rain with no umbrella!

If it had been a gorgeous sunny day like the previous day, I certainly would have gone on a ride!! All I could do was appreciate it from the sidelines :( And the beer tents...they were all packed before 11am!!!! Given we had a train to catch, we didn't want to waste time queuing for a spot, so blitzed the grounds as fast as we could in 1 hour. By the end of the 1 hour my shoes and socks were completely soaked in water. Looks like I brought the wrong pair of shoes for this trip.

Despite the rain, I was just happy to be there! (really!)

It was a wet wet wet day

Try getting into this tent!

It's not all about the beer tents! 

Plenty of merchandise to buy as well

So as it turned out - given I had so much expectation for Oktoberfest, it was a washout for me. But at the very least I can say I was there in 2010 :)