Day 13 - Munich

While we are still staying in Irsee at the closterbrau we made a day trip to start our Oktoberfest festivities early. We woke up and got breakfast and then got gas to spare ourselves the awkwardness of pumping gas in our tracht. We got into Munich around 10:30 and headed from out parkinglot to the fairgrounds. We approached a hill top at the park and were able to hear the first of the Oktoberfest madness. We walked down and strolled down the main strip poking our heads in each tent and taking some pictures. We were stopped by a camera crew who had been looking and Jessica's Dirndl and then asked us to pose together as they taped us for a good 30 seconds. There is a good chance we were on some local news coverage of Oktoberfest that day. After that we decided to grab a seat at the Augistiner tent which we heard had the best beer.

We sat down at a completely empty table next to a rather roudy one. The table next to us obviously got an early start drinking and turned around a few times to comment/yell/laugh at us in German before realizing we spoke English. They seemed very interested in Jacob's hat and started their day long quest of bidding on it, joking of course as they were informed if it's importance to Jacob.

Shortly after 4 young women in dirndls sat with us at our table. Everything we pretty passive until the polka band started up. First a German named Joe from the other table came over to talk with us and stayed with us nearly the entire time leaving only to fraternize and pee. He was joined later by his friend Reiner who was far more drunk and unintelligible. They were there with their soccer team and had come to that very table for 10 years in a row. They all took a liking to Jacob's hat and Reiner told us his grandfather used to wear a hat like that hunting and before we knew it Jacob's new name was Yacob, Master Hunter which they proceeded to cheer often. The conversation was mainly focused on stereotypical assumptions about Californians. They also confessed their love for American football and the 49ers. At this point we were also conversing with the girls at the table who we found out lived only 10 kilometers outside of Irsee and kept inquiring about a ride back. They too were interested in American football and expressed their attraction to Jerry Rice and compared his strong attractive stature to Jacob's in a way that can only take place in a drunken Oktoberfest state.

Throughout the day we were continuously congratulated and wished well on our marriage in toasts, hugs, handshakes and embracing. The conversations carried on through music and movie preferences. All in all there was a lot of conversing and at times very little understood. There was also a lot of puking. Around 4 just about everyone was on the tables. Now having almost completely lost our voices we decided it was time to call it a day. We went and grabbed some sandwiches and headed for the car.

When we arrived at the garage we came to the entrance to find the gate shut and locked. We had apparently parked in a private office parking garage and were locked out. It was right next to the parking lot we had intended on parking in and we continued to walk around looking for a way in or someone to talk to. We went into the other parking garage to see if they somehow connected. We ended up in an emergency exit that connected to two garages and were able to make it to our car. We got in and drove around to see if the gates would open when approached but they did not. We were very lucky that an employee at the office building was leaving and we quickly followed him out as he opened the gate. Very fortunate and relieved we headed back to Irsee.

Tomorrow we will be heading back to Munich to stay and drop off the car to relieve ourselves of any more stressful situations.

Day 12 - Fussen

We decided last night that we would drive to Fussen today, so we left as soon as we were ready. There were a lot of round-a-bouts along the roads connecting the towns. We parked in the center of Fussen and took a bus up to the castles. We first toured Hohenschwangau Castle, which was the summer home of King Maximillian II of Bavaria. We saw the music room in which his son, King Ludwig II. Ludwig was a huge patron of Wagner.. We looked at some letters they had written to eachother and saw the piano that Wagner played and composed at.

Next we headed up to Neuschwanstein Castle, which King Ludwig started building after his father died. It was a bit of an uphill walk after the bus ride. Jacob pushed an old lady in her wheelchair up into the Alps. No big deal, it's only Monday. Ludwig had the whole castle built around the idea of fantasy romance. It was all dedicated to the operas of Wagner, which were all depicted there in some way. There were beautiful murals and ornate wood carings, and there was even an artificial cave built to replicate one from Wagner's opera. The tour ended in, fittingly enough, the opera hall. We were then able to walk around some of the unfinnished rooms (only 18 of the originally planed 60 rooms were completed before Ludwig died, putting a halt on construction). We walked back down the mountain after the tour and waited for the bus back into town. We finally got on with what seemed all the other tourists of the castles that day. When we got back to the middle of Fussen we ate some delicious lunch and drove back to Irsee.

Tomorrow we are getting up early to drive to Munich. We decided to take a day to walk around and take pictures and get on with the festivities, just in case we aren't able to on the days we had planned for Oktoberfest.

Day 11 - Irsee

We woke up, ate breakfast, packed and hit the road. We drove to Irsee where we are staying at a cloister brewery. Irsee is out in the middle of farmland and alpine countryside. Once we got off the autobahn we made our way through a series of small towns in the most amazing green field and forest patched area. The monastary is kinda like a resort, everything here is beautiful. We went to check in but apparently they didn't have us in their main books, so they started preparing a room for us and told us to check back in a little while. We walked around, found a duck pond, ate lunch and then checked in to a room about 3 times the size of the one we originally booked since there was the mix up at no added cost.

After settling in and taking a little rest we went out for a walk in the woods that we saw out by the duck pond. Our walk turned into a bit of a mushroom hunt. We saw such a large variety of mushrooms. Out beyond the forest clearing along a little path to the next forested area we passed a man and his dog. He was carrying what Jacob thought was a dug up sign post, but was infact a huge mushroom. We carried on into the thick birch forest. All the while we could hear the ringing of cowbells from just beyond the forest in the pastures, although we could never see them as the forrest was too thick. We cant describe how amazingly green everything was. The ground and treestumps were covered in the most lush, thick and flourishing moss. The sun shining through scattered light all across the ground and the smell of wood burning chimnies filled the air. We walked for about 3 hours and decided to turn back. We got back and took showeres and went and got some dinner and sat out in the beer garden and relaxed. Tomorrow we are thinking of heading to Fussen and seeing some castles.


Pictures are having a hard time loading, internet is a little slow here. Hopefully we can get some up soon, they are amazing.

Day 10 - Rothenburg

We woke up in Rothenburg this morning, ate some breakfast, and headed out. The town is quite small and it is surrounded by a stone wall with little towers. We walked through a main entrance and under a clock tower, through the town square, and out to a church with beautiful gardens. The gardens and much of the town overlook hills below, scattered with little cottages. We then walked through the convent gardens and found the Midieval Crime Museum. It was a pretty large building filled with original and replica pieces of torture equipment dating back up to 1000 years. There were a lot of old manuscripts and drawings depicting law enforcement procedures in Europe. It was pretty interesting.

Next we walked more through town. We saw a little biergarten and agreed that we would go back later. We walked across a little bridge to the edge of town and crossed the street. We were near a wooded area and there was a little doorway with steps leading down into the woods, so we walked down. There were stone terraces followed by what seemed to be a large private building. There were a lot of cars parked in front of it and as we walked back up the stairs there was a large group of people in fancy cloths heading down. We then walked back into town and up into a guard wall. We walked all along the inner edge of the wall surrounding the town.

After that we were a bit thirsty, so we found our way back to the biergarten. The restaurant was closed because they were serving a party elsewhere, but the bar in the garden was still open. Jacob asked if they had any Oktoberfest beers available, and the server went in the back to check. She came back with a two liter bottle and said that was all they had. We asked how much it was, to which she replied no more than ten euros. We decided to get it and started drinking. We were the only two people in the garden the whole time, aside from one server. It was pretty nice, even with the wasp dancing and gossamers carrying caterpillars.
When we were done we took some more pictures at the edge of town overlooking the hills and then got some lunch. There was some really good sweet pickled red cabbage, even Jessica liked it.

We then shopped around for some gifts and went back to the hotel to get the tripod for some night time photos. We walked around looking for a place for dinner, but it seemed there were only cafes open. We finally found a place, ate, and headed off back to the first gardens we had gone to. Jacob took some 20 second exposure pictures of the buildings in the hills, then we decided to call it a night. All the lights in town were tungsten, which apparently make for bad pictures of buildings.

Day 9 - Travel Day

So we woke up a little early, mostly because our neighbors on both sides must have been families of about 20 who needed to shower and slam doors. But that was alright since we needed to hit the souvenir shops before we left Brugge. We hopped in a taxi for the train station and were informed that our driver was an olympic swimmer and competed in the Atlanta and Sydney games and now teaches classes. The train was just about empty which was awesome. We then caught a high speed train to Aachen, Germany. The Belgain country side is absolutly beauftiful. It is so green with trees seperating property and fields rather than fences. As we got near Germany everything got even more green as the horizon rose due to rolling hills. Little villages scattered throughout deep valleys and old farmhouses fit nicely in their surroundings.

The trip to Aachen was about an hour, we got in another taxi headed for Enterpise rent-a-car where we had a reservation. We were then informed that we needed to be German residents and they don't have a large enough fleet for renters to make one way trips, so we couldn't rent there anyhow. They suggested we go to Hurtz up the road about a quarter mile. They did do one way rentals... but they didn't have any cars, so we had them call the other Hurtz in town... they had no cars as well. Well... there was another car rental place about a half mile back the other dirrection, so we walked. They don't do one way either. About another half a mile down the road is the last car rental spot in town. So off we went. Sixt was the name of the company. It just so happened that they do point to point, but it is the weekend and they are all out of.... oh wait! there is one car left! So we got our Ford Fiesta and off we went! We were a little discouraged when we heard Ford Fiesta, but the new models are solid, attractive and comfortable. We originally wanted to stop in Aachen to see the cathedral there wich Charlemange first started constructing. It later saw a variety of additions in various types of archetecture ranging from Byzantine archs to Gothic roofs. Unfortuanly due to all the set backs this was not possilbe. Here is what we would have seen. Oh, well.

We left around 3:30 and fiddled with the navagation system for a bit before getting on the right course. The German courty side is amazing as well. We are either surrounded by thick woods or high above little villages on bridges or hills. Everything was beautiful today. There were amazing little suprizes scattered all throughout the scenery like a little white house atop a tall and steep hill where the only thing breaking the thick green forrest was that house. Or, tops of castles sticking out above the tree tops and sitting above towns off in the distance. It took us 4 hours of driving at autobahn speeds, but we finally made it to Rothenburg, a preserved medieval town much like Brugge from which we just came. Tomorrow should be very exciting.

Day 8 - Brugge

Today was a beer day, finally. It was also the halfway point of our trip. Jessica stated today that this trip is a lot like getting through the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so much has happened yet there is still so much more to come.

First thing we did was take a boat tour through the canals of the town. The driver of the boat made jokes the whole time in a monotone dry voice, but what can you expect when you tell the same lame jokes 30 times a day in four languages. It was great being able to see everything from the water level.

Next we went to the the Halve Maan Brewery. The current company operates on an original brew house a few hundred years old. They kept all the original brewing equipment and turned that area into a museum. It was neat seeing the facilities in which beer was made so long ago.

Next we had lunch and stopped by the hotel for a quick nap.

After our nap we headed out the tavern we had tried yesterday. They served over 300 Belgian beers. They had a lot of lambics, faros, gueze and Flemish reds, all unique sour ales very hard to find in the States since they are so different have a very small market. We got to talking with the barback. The conversation stated when Jacob inquired about a California flag in the bar. The bartender asked if we were from California, and we answered. We talked about American beer and its perception in Belgium. He pointed out that it was in that vary tavern that the owners of the New Belgium brewing company decided to start their brewing company, in fact Jacob was sitting in the exact seat that Jeff, the owner of New Belgium, sat in when he made that decision so many years ago. We also ran into someone who had just been to the opening of Oktoberfest and we told him we were on our way. We talked briefly and left for some waffels and some delicious paninis made entirely from scratch at the most unlikely place.

Tomorrow we leave Brugge and train hop our way to Aachen where we will pick up a car and Jacob will brave the autobahn.

Day Seven - Brugge

Before we had fully woken up and realized what we had signed up for we were taking our first of 366 steps up to the top of the belfry at the market square. The view was amazing and just before we headed back down the bells chimed. We walked down and headed towards the edge of town were there were a couple of windmills. From there we headed back for lunch. For lunch Jacob had rabbit in a Flemish gravy and Jessica had half a chicken. The philosophy behind dining out is a lot different here. Food is not just a means to an end, here it appeals to all the senses. You don't find dishes that are easily prepared at home, dining out is a special occasion where one enjoys amazing food in beautiful settings. Not that we don't have that sort of thing in the United States, and we are in an already beautiful and tourist centered location, but it does not seem as though the public relies on restaurants for meal after lackluster meal experience as people do in the U.S.

Also, I have no idea how Europeans stay hydrated since water is so hard to come by and is never cheap. Were sticking to beer since it is cheaper and quenches your thirst so much better.

After lunch we walked around and shopped for a few gifts for family back home and patronized an amazing local artist. We went back to the hotel to drop some stuff off and picked up the tripod for some night shots.

We left the hotel to visit a tavern with over 300 beers, but it is closed on Wednesdays so we will have to try back tomorrow. We walked around looking for a place for dinner for about an hour and returned back to the same square we had eaten before since everything there seems to be about 25% less expensive. Jessica had a Flemish beef stew and Jacob had a pot full of mussels in a beer cream sauce, there must have been at least 40 of them.

We headed out after dinner to take some night photos with our tripod. It was drizzling and unfortunately the cameras could not pick up exactly how beautiful it made everything.


Jacob's mom emailed him a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow about the Belfry in Brugge. Since we got to see the same sight that Longfellow did and wrote about we find it very appropriate to post it here.

The Belfry of Bruges

In the market-place of Bruges stands the belfry old and brown;
Thrice consumed and thrice rebuilded, still it watches o'er the town.

As the summer morn was breaking, on that lofty tower I stood,
And the world threw off the darkness, like the weeds of widowhood.

Thick with towns and hamlets studded, and with streams and vapors gray,
Like a shield embossed with silver, round and vast the landscape lay.

At my feet the city slumbered. From its chimneys, here and there,
Wreaths of snow-white smoke, ascending, vanished, ghost-like, into air.

Not a sound rose from the city at that early morning hour,
But I heard a heart of iron beating in the ancient tower.

From their nests beneath the rafters sang the swallows wild and high;
And the world, beneath me sleeping, seemed more distant than the sky.

Then most musical and solemn, bringing back the olden times,
With their strange, unearthly changes rang the melancholy chimes,

Like the psalms from some old cloister, when the nuns sing in the choir;
And the great bell tolled among them, like the chanting of a friar.

Visions of the days departed, shadowy phantoms filled my brain;
They who live in history only seemed to walk the earth again;

All the Foresters of Flanders,--mighty Baldwin Bras de Fer,
Lyderick du Bucq and Cressy Philip, Guy de Dampierre.

I beheld the pageants splendid that adorned those days of old;
Stately dames, like queens attended, knights who bore the Fleece of Gold

Lombard and Venetian merchants with deep-laden argosies;
Ministers from twenty nations; more than royal pomp and ease.

I beheld proud Maximilian, kneeling humbly on the ground;
I beheld the gentle Mary, hunting with her hawk and hound;

And her lighted bridal-chamber, where a duke slept with the queen,
And the armed guard around them, and the sword unsheathed between.

I beheld the Flemish weavers, with Namur and Juliers bold,
Marching homeward from the bloody battle of the Spurs of Gold;

Saw the light at Minnewater, saw the White Hoods moving west,
Saw great Artevelde victorious scale the Golden Dragon's nest.

And again the whiskered Spaniard all the land with terror smote;
And again the wild alarum sounded from the tocsin's throat;

Till the bell of Ghent responded o'er lagoon and dike of sand,
"I am Roland! I am Roland! there is victory in the land!"

Then the sound of drums aroused me. The awakened city's roar
Chased the phantoms I had summoned back into their graves once more.

Hours had passed away like minutes; and, before I was aware,
Lo! the shadow of the belfry crossed the sun-illumined square.

Day 6- Brugge

We took a train from Brussels to Brugge this morning. We weren't entirely sure we were on the right train until we actually saw Brugge. The train station was a little way from the town so we took a cab in. The receptionist at our hotel was a super sweet and funny lady. She kept calling Jacob a typical man for asking where the brewery was. We put our stuff in our room (it's awesome, it has a skeleton key and a mini fridge) and then went for a walk around town. It was beautiful. Brugge is nearly a completely untouched medieval town. There isnt a square inch that isnt absolutly amazing. We went to the town square first and passed a lot of chocolate shops, restaurants, and gorgeous old buildings. There were a lot of big orb weaver spiders outside so Jacob was a little disappointed, but other than that it was amazing.

We went to the Half Moon Brewery for lunch which makes the Bruges Zot beer that we had the chance to drink before back in Clovis at our favorite pub BC's. Jacob ate beef stew and Jessica had shrimp croquettes. We went back to the hotel for a bit and then walked around some more. We found a pub that serves 300 different beers (we will try that tomorrow) and then got some dinner. We had a waffle for dessert. It was called the nordique chocolate waffle. It had crunchy sugar on top covered with toffee ice cream, whipped cream, and hot chocolate sauce. Delicious. Now it's off to bed so we can get an early start on tomorrow.

Things learned today:
The tomatoes here are delicious.
Fried parsley melts in your mouth.

Day 5 - Brussels

Today was a much better day. Brussels is still a town covered in graffiti but it also has some of the most amazing sites. It seems as though the graffiti and such is the result of rapidly mixed cultures. Post WWII Europe actively endorse immigration from Muslim countries to provide lower class labor. The immigration still continues even despite the lack of jobs which only further perpetuates the social divide and in turn causes the problems we see to grow since the incoming population has little connection or respect for the country's history (which again hurts the tourist economy).

The touristy areas however are clean and beautiful. We woke up and had breakfast at our hotel and then headed out for some parks. It took us a few blocks to realize our notion of north and south were completely flipped which prompted us to turn around turning what we thought was a much larger city into a small one. Walking the streets is much like San Fran, except every so often you turn a corner to find a square with the most amazing 600 year old building right in the middle. On our way to the first park we walked by the Royal Palace which had beautiful gardens. Some friendly tourists helped us further gain our bearings. From that park we walked to a much bigger park with a huge arch with with large halls on either side with an aviation and car museum on either end. Not wanting to walk back uphill 3 km we hopped on the metro which put us near the Grand Place. The Grand Place is a town square where all the craftsmen guilds built their meeting places in an elaborate rivalry of the others. We ate outside in the middle of the square. The buildings were covered in gold statues and incredibly ornate decorations. It was absolutely beautiful.

After we ate we walked around a bit more and stumbled across a beer store. One of the workers was extremely helpful and loved talking about beer. He pointed out all his favorites and gave his reasons, showed us the ones he thought were too commercial, pointed out the popular ones and let us know if their popularity was based on good taste. He added a lot of fun phrases and sound effects. We spent the usual amount of money that we do when we buy beer. Overall, it was a great half-hour or so of Jacob talking to another version of himself.

After that we trucked around our 20 pounds of beer and walked over to the brewers guild house, the only still functioning guild. We watched about 15 minutes of a video in French before the guy running the place switched it to English. When that was done we walked around a little more in the Grand Place. Jacob was strangely compelled to touch a statue that people were rubbing. We then walked back to the hotel and went to Le Trappiste again for dinner. Jacob got veal kidney in a gin, mushroom, juniper sauce, and Jessica got salmon and spinach lasagna. We were going to drink some of the beers we bought, but neither us nor the hotel staff have bottle openers and we don't want to accidentally break anything.

Things learned in Brussels:
Pharmacy Apotheeks are very easy to find.
The police patrol the streets on roller blades.
Jacob is a lemming.
Toilets have 2 buttons, one for a little flush and one for a big flush. (one for pee pee and one for poo poo for those who couldnt figure that out)
The dirt around trees is either for 3 loaves worth of bread for birds to eat or rings of dirt piled up to house hobos.

Pictures arent uploading, so stay tuned.

Day 4 - Brussels

The start of day four was an early one. We woke up early in case the underground line near us was being worked on over the weekend which it indeed was. This meant we needed to take a bus to the nearest station that was working and the buses take forever. We got to the St. Pancras train station and sat next to a booth with 3D TVs. We hopped on the bullet train and headed for Brussels. What they dont tell you is when you are traveling at such high speeds and enter and leave tunnels there is a huge pressure difference which can be a little uncomfortable on the inner ear. We were able to catch up on a little sleep on the train before we got there.

Brussels is an entirely different city. It is very dirty. There is graffiti everywere even on old medieval and political buildings. It seems like there is very little respect for the town by the people. A bit of a letdown. Still walking the streets was interesting and beautiful in some areas. We could see a huge church off in the distance. When we arrived we saw that there was a skate park built right up against the church with a double decker bus parked to the side where a DJ was putting on a loud concert. It is almost as if it was the church that was inconveiently placed there hundreds of years ago. The town kinda remindes me of Santa Cruz, it is a much more laid back town, there are bikes everywhere as well as hippies. The streets seems more for people to hang out in rather then for transportation. We did however arrive on sunday, things will be more hectic in the morning. We found a metro line and hopped on back to the hotel where we had seen some nice places to eat. We ate outside and enjoyed a variety of fantastic beers. Our waiter was funny and charming and made us feel very welcomed.

Day Three - London

Just getting back up from the pub and a little bit of a slower day, but not too much. Sore from yesterday we hung around the hotel a bit longer. We left around 10 to find the tube right next to our hotel was out of service. We hopped on a bus going in the general direction of of Buckingham Palace. We rode the bus until we heard the familiar Baker Street stop announced and got off and jumped on another line to the palace. We got off at Green Park, a huge park next to the palace. We went and saw the palace, took pictures and continued on to the Wellington Arch and further on to Hyde Park where to got some frozen whip. We hopped back on the tube and went to the London Museum of Natural History and an art museum where we got to see some pretty amazing things. Had lunch at a pub which marked the first time we actually ate some British food on our trip. From there we came back to get some rest for our trip into Belgium tomorrow.

Notes for the day:
We are now proficient in London public transportation.
All the movies advertised here are at least a year old.
Streetlights blink yellow before they turn green again.
Squirrels are just as cute in London.
Jessica blinks in every picture.

Second Day - London

Walking, and lots of it. All powered by a breakfast of nutella and pancakes. We were out the door around 10 and didnt stop until 8. We hopped on the underground and got off at the Westminster stop. Right outside the station we were greeted by Big Ben only right across the street. We walked around Parliament and took a detour occross the river where we saw various signs about humps. We took the next bridge east back over river and walked from Parliament to St Pauls Cathdreal. After that we decided to take the train back towards the tower and were helped by a station employee very insistant on singing us Elvis and Jonny Cash songs. We then walked around more looking for food to find that all Pubs and packed with business people on lunch, all standing outside smoking and drinking (rinse, wash, repeat for dinner). Avoiding pubs we ate some sandwiches and got on with the day. Next we took a tour of the Tower of London and got to see the crown jewels and walk the walls. After that we grabbed a pint at the Market Porter and went back to a grassy area by the Tower Bridge to wait for nightfall and photography.

To summarize:
Business people take lunch breaks at pubs in swarms.
If you are going too fast you might want to look out for speed humps.
People need to donate money to keep the thousands of huge diamonds in the crown jewels safe.
We cant understand anything anyone says here. Answering yes has worked out thus far.
Double decker busses are a little weird when you are on the second story.

Anyways, hope all is well back home. Were off to bed.

Click any of the photos to enlarge.