apriha.com » Germany http://apriha.com Personal Travel Blog Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:28:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 The Great Untold Adventures of Yesteryear http://apriha.com/2009/03/01/the-great-untold-adventures-of-yesteryear/ http://apriha.com/2009/03/01/the-great-untold-adventures-of-yesteryear/#comments Mon, 02 Mar 2009 02:53:51 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/?p=756 Observant readers will remember a brief mention of Eurotrip III back towards the end of 2007, with no word since. (Sorry, things were busy.) Over the next few months I plan to remedy that and tell the tales about the trips that have taken place since then and that I haven’t had a chance to write about yet.

Included in this recap of past trips are Eurotrip III (Germany and Spain), a trip to Turkey (Istanbul and Ankara), a ski holiday in France, a road trip through the American West, and Eurotrip IV (Hungary, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Italy). Stay tuned!

]]> http://apriha.com/2009/03/01/the-great-untold-adventures-of-yesteryear/feed/ 1 Cologne http://apriha.com/2007/12/01/cologne/ http://apriha.com/2007/12/01/cologne/#comments Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:33:49 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/12/01/cologne/ After Oktoberfest, we caught a night train from Munich to Cologne, where we connected with our train to Belgium. Since the Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is literally right outside the train station, we used our downtime to check out this impressive UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The imposing Cologne Cathedral.

Inside the cathedral.

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/12/01/cologne/feed/ 1 Oktoberfest – The People http://apriha.com/2007/11/30/oktoberfest-the-people/ http://apriha.com/2007/11/30/oktoberfest-the-people/#comments Sat, 01 Dec 2007 01:59:53 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/12/01/oktoberfest-the-people/ My series on Oktoberfest wouldn’t be complete without highlighting some of the people we met.

Renate was the best beer waitress anyone could ask for. Friendly, fast, and German. She signed Hofbräu coasters for us to commemorate our first day at Oktoberfest.

Christof, a German guy we met in the Hofbräu-Festzelt, taught us the lyrics to Ein Prosit.

Verena and I met in the Augustiner-Festhalle, and after a bet to see who could win the Hau den Lukas (the game where you use a mallet to hit the weight and ring the bell), we exchanged e-mails. We traded e-mails with lots of people, but Verena was the only person to e-mail back, and I’m very thankful she did! You’ll hear more about her after Eurotrip II – she visited the Netherlands, and we toured Delft, Den Haag, Brussels, and Amsterdam. By the way, she won the Hau den Lukas; I contribute that to her being Bavarian. ;)

Finally, Oktoberfest wouldn’t have been what it was without the countless others we met – they helped make it an incredible, unforgettable experience.

John and Renate. Tent: Hofbräu-Festzelt.

Christof and John. Tent: Hofbräu-Festzelt.

Verena at the biergarten wearing dirndl. Photo courtesy of Verena. (Thanks again!)

John and the two Germans who let us sit at their table. Tent: Augustiner-Festhalle.

Another German, John, and me. Tent: Augustiner-Festhalle.

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/11/30/oktoberfest-the-people/feed/ 0 Oktoberfest – The Rides http://apriha.com/2007/11/27/oktoberfest-the-rides/ http://apriha.com/2007/11/27/oktoberfest-the-rides/#comments Wed, 28 Nov 2007 00:10:38 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/11/27/oktoberfest-the-rides/ The rides at Oktoberfest are all temporary, but many of them could very easily be permanent fixtures at an amusement park. We rode the Toboggan and the StarFlyer.

The roller coaster at the end of one of the midways.

The StarFlyer.

Oktoberfest from the StarFlyer.

The Toboggan! (The oldest and “most classic” ride of Oktoberfest.)

The ferris wheel (aka huge wheel).

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/11/27/oktoberfest-the-rides/feed/ 0 Oktoberfest – The Food http://apriha.com/2007/11/26/oktoberfest-the-food/ http://apriha.com/2007/11/26/oktoberfest-the-food/#comments Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:44:56 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/11/26/oktoberfest-the-food/ Oktoberfest isn’t known nearly as well for its food when compared to the bier, but it should be. Over the four days we sampled nearly all of the traditional Oktoberfest food, including roasted chickens (hendl), pretzels, peanuts, and sausage (Weißwurst). The roasted chicken in the Augustiner tent was particularly good!

John chowing down on a half hendl at the Käfers Wiesen Schänke.

Augustiner’s half hendl (ze best hendl in all of ze vorld!).

Grilled fisch. I’ve never had, but I heard it’s good.

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/11/26/oktoberfest-the-food/feed/ 0 Oktoberfest – The Bier http://apriha.com/2007/11/25/oktoberfest-the-bier/ http://apriha.com/2007/11/25/oktoberfest-the-bier/#comments Sun, 25 Nov 2007 12:11:05 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/11/25/oktoberfest-the-bier/ Brewed by the “Big Six” breweries, the special Oktoberfestbier is served in a 1 liter Maß (mass). Each Maß costs about €8, and at about 6% ABV, it’s wise to enjoy them with pretzels and chicken!

The “Big Six” breweries and their bier.

Prost! Decked out in lederhosen with a Maß of Hofbräu.

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/11/25/oktoberfest-the-bier/feed/ 1 Oktoberfest – The Tents http://apriha.com/2007/11/24/oktoberfest-the-tents/ http://apriha.com/2007/11/24/oktoberfest-the-tents/#comments Sat, 24 Nov 2007 11:12:56 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/11/24/oktoberfest-the-tents/ There’re 14 main tents at Oktoberfest, but we spent most of our time in three: the Augustiner-Festhalle (Augustiner Bräu), the Hofbräu-Festzelt (Hofbräu München), and the Käfers Wiesen Schänke (Paulaner). As you can see from my post on the festival, the tents are actually very large tin sheds (constructed and deconstructed each year), but the insides of each are elaborately decorated creating an atmosphere perfect for “merrymaking.” As an example, more than 600kg of hop decorate the ceiling of the Hofbräu-Festzelt.

Getting into the tents before 4:00pm is easy, but finding a seat is not. Even at about 1:15pm on a weekday, John and I found ourselves crisscrossing the Augustiner-Festhall for 15 minutes before we found places to sit (you’re only served food and bier if you have a seat).

In the end, we always (eventually) found places to sit, and we had a great time in all of the tents we visited. My favorite, though, was the Augustiner-Festhalle, where we spent an entire day (from 1:30pm-10:30pm). Augustiner is the local favorite, because – at least according to the Germans we met – it has the best food and the best bier! It’s impossible to describe the atmosphere (singing, prosting, eating, etc.), so I’ve included a short video, featuring the music of the Augustiner Oktoberfest band. Enjoy!

The Augustiner-Festhalle.

The Hofbräu-Festzelt.

The Käfers Wiesen Schänke.

The Löwenbräu-Festhalle.

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/11/24/oktoberfest-the-tents/feed/ 0 Oktoberfest – The Festival http://apriha.com/2007/11/22/oktoberfest-the-festival/ http://apriha.com/2007/11/22/oktoberfest-the-festival/#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:51:59 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/11/22/oktoberfest-the-festival/ 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.

The main entrance to Oktoberfest.

On the grounds at the Theresienwiese.

Oktoberfest from the ferris wheel. Photo courtesy of Csaba (dedicated to his bike: Shadowwalkerdonkey).

Delivering Hacker-Pschorr to the Hacker-Festzelt (Hacker-Pschorr’s tent).

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/11/22/oktoberfest-the-festival/feed/ 0 Munich http://apriha.com/2007/11/18/munich/ http://apriha.com/2007/11/18/munich/#comments Sun, 18 Nov 2007 10:41:27 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/11/18/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.

We’<p>ve arrived.

John adjusts our tent at the TENT (your home in Munich!).

Munich’<p>s Hofgarten (court garden).

The Rathaus-Glockenspiel in Munich’<p>s Marienplatz. Like many other buildings and monuments throughout Europe, this too was under renovation.

]]> http://apriha.com/2007/11/18/munich/feed/ 0 Eurotrip I http://apriha.com/2007/10/08/eurotrip/ http://apriha.com/2007/10/08/eurotrip/#comments Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:04:54 +0000 Andrew Riha http://apriha.com/2007/10/08/eurotrip/ From September 25 – October 6, I traveled with a friend from Minnesota on a whistle-stop tour of Europe. Over 11 days, John and I managed to visit four countries (Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium), master public transportation, witness a small avalanche, hike into a glacier, eat amazing foods, participate in the world’s largest fair, and take over 1000 photos. Over the next few days I’ll be posting some of the highlights of the trip and my favorite photos.

To answer the popular question, yes I am taking classes this semester! Because of the scheduling here at TU Delft, though, I only have one class this quarter, which meets once a week. So, there’s some free time to explore a bit. :)

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