Oktoberfest!!!!

So it has been a while since a post... After our trip to Jersey, we took it a little easy for the next 2 weekends.  I think we had what you call 'post holiday' blues haha. The summer weather has unfortunately passed... and the typical London weather has settled in. 

During these 2 weeks, we have mainly were just hanging out in London. Jeff had a big black tie affair at work. He looked stunning in his black suit and tie! It was for employees only, so he flew solo but seemed to have a grand time. 

I was able to get together with some ladies from work and had my first proper 'girl's night'. We went to see Sound of Music in Regents Park. It is an outdoor theatre and we had a fantastic time! The rules are very relaxed here, so we were able to bring in our own food and drink for a picnic to snack on during the play.  The Hills are the sound of music.... These are a few of favorite things... awww these songs bring up such good and happy memories watching the movie at Othermomma and Otherdaddy's house growing up :) 

One weekend we went to a house warming party for one of our friends, Hannah. She went to school with Jeff at UNCW. She had just moved flats and into a new place with her co-worker Cass. We had a nice time mingling with her friends and meeting new people. We were actually able to catch up Tyler in Munich the next weekend. 

Which brings me up to one of the best weekends yet... Our trip to Munich and Oktoberfest! Jeff was lucky enough to travel to Munich for work that Thursday and Friday, so it was the perfect excuse for me to come and visit on Friday and for us to stay through the weekend. I got there Friday afternoon and met Jeff in the hotel. He had mentioned a potential work event that night he had been invited to... but we hadn't decided if we wanted to go. We got a bite to eat and then decided Go Big or Go Home, we were going to the work event! So this work event was a mock Oktoberfest in a real tent, with traditional food, big steins, and live music. It was hosted by PwC, however there were other people who were in the tent as well. Given this weekend had taken a different turn, we both decided our cheap outfits for Oktoberfest were not going to cut it for the work event. We went down to this store the hotel recommended to purchase a proper lederhosen and dirndl and it was a mad house. The men were trying on clothes in the middle of the store and the women had 2 people per dressing room. Nothing like I had ever seen before. Nonetheless we were able to find something and rushed back to the hotel to get going. 

We were a little behind schedule when we arrived, but it didn't seem to matter. The first course served as family style, with meats and cheeses on a large wooden board placed on top of the empty steins on the table. We got our first steins and seem to fit right in with the rest of the table! I will let the pictures tell the rest.. 

It was a grand entrance

  with live music

 Traditional food, we had roasted chicken,    

roasted duck, potato dumpling, and cabbage

and two smiling faces!

 Just to give perspective on the size of the steins... 

 and as the evening progressed the smiles got bigger... 

and the dancing moved to the benches! 

Saturday we headed to the real Oktoberfest! Due to the previous night's activities we missed the annual parade that kicks off the festivals, but we still got to see the horses that brought in all the kegs!

We wondered around the grounds and grabbing some traditional street food and soaking in the view!

We found this 'ride' that was really a carousal and a bar too!

We waited in line and got into one tent. It was a sight to be seen.. Long tables, interesting decorations and we got to see one crazy fool get up on a table and down a full stein!

They had so many kegs!!!

After so much excitement at the Oktoberfest, we headed back to the hotel for a quick cat nap and then hit up Munich to see the city's sights. Munich was much more walkable then I had expected and very pretty. We took a quiet stroll along the river and branched off to see the sites on the map. 

 There is one river that causes rough spots in the currents. 

So people have learned to surf it. 

Who would have thought... German surfers!!

 So pretty!

We met Tyler here for dinner.                    

On our last day, Sunday, we had one last traditional Bavarian meal at one of the breweries. It had a massive bier garden!

                               Delicious food!

We had just enough time to visit a second bier garden before heading home

What a weekend!!!! This past week has been busy and back to the grid. Friday night, we used up a groupon and went to a new polish restaurant, Tatra. I originally got the groupon because it was one of the restaurants listed in our Lonely Planet book. It was for a 3 coure meal and included a vodka tasting. It was a smaller place, but it was full of character and the food was good. We had finished eating and the waitress comes by and we tell her we are done. She says, 'No no, you have to eat everything on your plate. I will come back. You have plenty of time.' haha Never in my life has someone made me eat everything on my plate when I am out at a restaurant. She was pleased to see that everything had been eaten when she came back and she passed our compliments on to the chief. 

The vodka part was interesting as well. Jeff got horseradish and I got the blackcurrant flavors. Both were surprisingly good. The vodka was not very strong, so it was a very nice surprise. We might even have to go back and try some different ones. 

This past saturday we ventured out to a market nearby our flat, Portobello Road. It is know for being big into antiques, but it turns out to be very similar to the other markets we have visited. 

They had an area with food from all over the world. 

So we grabbed some food and enjoyed some live music.
Perfect saturday afternoon!

There was a pretty interesting clothing store that 

used older sewing machines for decorations. 

I think they had every model ever made!

Saturday evening we made our way over to the 'Book of Moron' theatre to try and get free tickets. Before every show, they have a lottery to give away tickets that haven't been sold. This is the second time we have been and there were more people there than before. Unfortunately  luck was still not on our side, so we we settled for pizza and headed home. We wrapped up the day with trying one of the beers we got from Munich. 

Today we are wrapping up the weekend with some NFL in London with excellent seats from our couch :) Jeff is relaxing and playing fantasy and I am blogging and planning our next big trip! Any suggestions? I am thinking Oxford for a day or Paris for a weekend... or maybe both! 

Cheers!
Callie