Oktoberfest is the largest public festival in the world, with over six million people attending each year. Featuring beer-drinking and merrymaking, Oktoberfest is about 16 days long, and it’s held on the grounds of the Theresienwiese (field of Therese) in central Munich.
Munich, home to Oktoberfest, was our home from October 1-4. (In reality, the TENT was our home, but we only spent time there to sleep.)
As one of the main catalysts for our trip, most of our time in Munich was spent at Oktoberfest. One post isn’t enough to do Oktoberfest justice, so I plan to do six short posts on it: the festival, the tents, the bier, the food, the rides, and the people.
Interlaken is known as the gateway to Jungfrau, but for us it was the gateway to Munich and Oktoberfest. In the style of a travel guide writer like Rick Steves, our visit to Interlaken went something like this:
Need a place to relax after a day of hiking near Gimmelwald? Check out Backpackers Villa, where unlike the Mountain Hostel, showers are included and seem to have an endless supply of hot water. While you’re here, be sure to grab yourself a Rösti from Des Alpes, buy those last minute Swiss Chocolates, and book a train to Oktoberfest through the helpful ticket guy at Interlaken OST – you won’t regret it!
Interlaken was good, but that Rösti was great!
After Schilthorn, the night was spent in the Mountain Hostel enjoying some Swiss beer, perusing the guest book, and chatting with the hostel dwellers. While doing so, we learned about Kilchbalm and its glacier with an ice cave; our last day in Gimmelwald was planned.
Kilchbalm, a glacial cirque in the Bernese Oberland, is quite the sight to behold – mountains, glaciers, snow, waterfalls, and streams make this a stunningly beautiful place, and almost too much to take in at once.
Our two hour hike from Gimmelwald to Kilchbalm culminated at the glacier’s ice cave, where just moments before we bore witness to a “mini avalanche” literally thundering down the mountain in front of us. Since we came this far, we had to enter the cave to check it out, but since the glacier seemed like it was rapidly melting (and after just hearing snow crash down the mountain), we decided it was best not to linger.
I joined John in scrambling out of the cave after exploring some, but not before I topped off the water bottle with what tasted like some of the purest water on Earth. Water and photos in hand, we began our hike back to Gimmelwald and prepared for our trip to Interlaken.
At 9,744 feet, Schilthorn is home to Piz Gloria and offers incredible views of the Bernese Oberland. With fresh snow and crystal clear skies, we couldn’t have chosen a better day to summit.
Piz Gloria is the world’s first revolving restaurant, but in the James Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, it served as Blofeld’s headquarters in the Alps. We missed the memo to join the crowds and come dressed as Bond.
