Bier! Bier! Bier! (oh, and Weinerschnitzel too!)

Well, we made it back from Munich! Abbie was a trooper the entire time (well, ok, most of the time!)... in fact, Alex was a whole lot whinier than she was! "My feet hurt!" "We're walking?!?" "I want to eat now!" "Are we done walking yet?" "I'm tired, I'm going to sleep" (note, this one was appx 9pm-- waaaaay before Abbie was in bed!) "Oh, she won't wake up if I slam the door!" (this was disproven soon after this statement was made). It was like travelling with 2 toddlers-- one happy one, and one with an advanced (well, better anyway) vocabulary! Eek, I'm glad the trip is over, but it was worth it!

We spent about 5 hours on trains on Thursday... a little longer than planned because Alex was "dying and starving" and had to run to McDonald's during the 15 minute train transfer-- cause it was so close to the platform. I gave him the benifit of the doubt, thinking, he's almost 20, he knows I have told him to take no more than 10 minutes, and I repeatedly told him the platform number (not to mention we got to the new platform before he left)... what happened, you ask? I talked the train guy into holding the train for an extra 2 or 3 mintues (Germans are really punctual) to give Alex a chance to show since our tickets were a special and non-transferrable to other trains. Alex didn't show. The train guy tells me that we will be able to switch the tickets to the next train, that it should be no problem. About 5 mintues after the train took off, Alex comes up to the platform, "well, ready to get on the train?"... umm... Alex, it's gone already. He claims he went to the wrong platform and was waiting there for us to meet him (Abbie and I hadn't moved from the spot he left us), and the McDonald's chick was slow. Luckily, the woman at the ticket counter bought my story of a "baby related emergency" and gave us a free transfer of ticket to the one 20 minutes later. Grrr... never again does that boy get trusted to get food and return within 10 minutes (although the 10 had a 5 minute buffer).

Abbie on the train:

Friday we went to Olympic Park and saw the Olympic stadim and tower, and the BMW museum (well, the temporary exhibition, as the museum is being renovated). That stuff was pretty cool, when Alex wasn't asking to sit down or change his shoes (yes, he made me put his other shoes in the stroller so he could change them every 1 1/2-2 hours because they hurt his feet-- not my fault he buys crappy shoes!). The park was gorgeous and the view from the tower was awesome!


Alex and Abbie picking flowers in the park:

Olympic Hall:

Part of the park:

The view from the tower(squint and you can see the Alps...aka the shadowy looking lumps in
the far background):


For the afternoon we wandered around Munich for a while (as long as Alex could stand it) and saw the Glockenspiel (aka worlds largest cookoo clock on their government hall):


Very, very pretty. The next day there was a stuffed cow (like cotton stuffed, not taxidermy stuffed) hanging in protest of animal slaughter yada yada right in front of the building... not so pretty then :-).

Random pic of downtown:


Saturday was the reason for going: Oktoberfest! The parade was definitley the best part, cause that's when the rain was lightest! The parade was awesome, and Abbie was allowed to stand up front thanks to some really nice women that let us up there even though we didn't wait for 3 hours for our street position in the cold damp misery. Abbie was allowed to stay up there until she tried to lunge out and pet the horses... then she was relocated to Alex's sholders, where she couldn't reach. She and I both got smudged on the noses with black gook by a jester in the parade though-- it took a lot of baby wipes to get those off! Here are just a bunch of pics from Saturday:



All in all, it was a good trip-- I didn't get to drink a beer at Oktoberfest though, cause you can only drink in the tents, and the tents were packed with lines longer than anything I've really seen before-- especially in the rain and cold, but, maybe next year (hint hint Jody-- and anyone else that wants to play while watching old men run around in knee socks when it's 40 degrees outside!)! I am glad we're back, although Munich is a great town, it's good to be home! I may update more tomorrow, but for now, good night!