A Spreading of Wings: The Sound of Music

The sound of music seems to be a combination of many contradictory sounds. It is the sound of a bustling city and the quiet noises of the hills, it is the tune of traditions combined with the boisterousness of foreign tourists, it is a powerful history mixed up with an eye to future progress. But overall, everywhere you go and in everything you do, there is always the chance of a beer.

Following my farewell from Crundale, a quick and not entirely sober stop in London, a short flight to Frankfurt and the final leg, I arrived in Munich, capital of Bavaria. Travelling to Munich during the Oktoberfest can be a recipe for disaster and a lack of accommodation. However, I was lucky enough to be met at the airport by my German sister and given a place to stay. After dropping my gear at her apartment we did a self-guided local's tour through the city, stopping for enormous pizzas and Belgian hot chocolate.

The following day we travelled about an hour south of Munich along the autobahn to the hills around Bad Weissee for an afternoon hiking through the hills on the Austria-Germany border. We climbed a couple of peaks, saw amazing views over lakes, into Austria, the main body of the alps rising in front of us and little holiday huts hidden away. On the way home we stopped at the lake for a quick paddle. That night everyone was too sore and tired to do much, so we watched a movie and hit the hay. Preparation for the big day to come.

Day dawned with a little high cloud that promised to burn off later. This was the day of heading to the Oktoberfest with a group of locals (all of whom thankfully spoke very good English). We started with a traditional Bavarian breakfast of weiss wuerste (veal sausages), pretzels, radishes, tomatoes, sweet mustard and of course, beer. The girls dressed in dirndls and the guys in lederhosen, except me. Although I would have liked to wear the traditional leather trousers as well, spending upwards of €100 on a pair of pants that I would wear once didn't seem like a sensible use of my money. Especially with a beer at the festival costing €11 each! I can now confirm that it is impossible to look bad in a dirndl. Oktoberfest is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. The closest I can think of is the Fielddays. It is a similar size, but half the space is taken up by giant pavilions for the big breweries. These beer tents and beer gardens can hold several thousand people each. The rest of the space is taken up with food stalls or theme park rides. After looking around the entire place, we sat out in the Hacker-Pschorr beer garden for several hours. In this time I managed to drink a few steins of helles and eat a half hendl (roast chicken). Around 6pm we moved inside to where the party was. With the band playing English songs I knew the words to and German songs that people were happy to help teach me, the rest of the evening passed in blaze of dancing nonstop on benches and meeting people from all over the world (not that I could hear or understand most of them). It was definitely something that is incomparable and leaves a lasting impression. It is not even all about the beer.

Yet another day with the “Himmel der Bayern” (heavens of Bavaria, blue skies and a few fluffy white clouds). I joined an organised tour with Discover Bavaria, heading to the fairytale castle of Neuschwanstein. This castle was designed by King Ludwig II, based around the works and operas of Wagner, it is also the inspiration for the Disney castle. As one of the top 10 things to do in Germany I felt I should visit while I was so close. It was a pleasant experience to be surrounded by people speaking English again after hearing so much German. We took a bus to Tegelburg, arriving for lunch that included the best wheat beer in the world. After lunch I took a bike ride down to Swan Lake with a girl who it turns out I had met in Austria during Contiki. Then we had the main event. We were taken to various lookouts with amazing views of Hohenschwangau castle and Neuschwanstein castle, before doing a tour of the inside. Grabbing an icecream on the way to the bus rounded out a day that was even better than I thought it would be.

Finally it was time to move on from Munich. Packing in the morning, I was given an informal food tour of Munich that ended with lunch at a small Barvarian restaurant in the centre of the city off the normal tourist lines. It was a good way to end a great stay in this amazing place. With farewells at the train station and Nuremburg in my sights, it was time to move on.