On the advice of Jean-Claude, I decided to reroute my trip and cruise through the alps as I had originally planned but later rejected. Here’s my revised route:
OK, I admit Zurich isn’t too exciting, but let’s see what lies ahead.
Posted in Zurich
Thursday and Friday were great nights, but Saturday that’s a-whole-nother ball park! It was a beautiful day – the first day it didn’t rain since I had been in Munich – and it. was. PACKED!
Like I mentioned in the previous update, the Swiss ladies offered to give me one of their tickets to eat with them at Das Hippodrom, which happens to be the most exclusive celebrity tent at Oktoberfest. The tickets to this tent have been sold out for months, so I had an excellent hookup. Unfortunately, they didn’t return my calls to them on Saturday. Let me recap:
1) It’s the first beautiful day at Oktoberfest in an entire week (if not all of Oktoberfest),
2) It’s Saturday, AND
3) I’m supposed to be going to the #1 tent at Oktoberfest.
I sure as hell am not gonna miss this one – I don’t care WHAT the Swiss ladies are doing. So I went to the tent an hour early and hung out with the crowd outside. I figured the only way I’m gonna get in is to start asking for a ticket. The second group of people I asked said they had one, but told me that it wouldn’t be much good without a seat. Well, I was hesistant at first to crash their party, but in the end I accepted their offer because they seemed like a really great group. Sure enough – they were some of the greatest people on my trip yet.
One of them told me that his company sells industrial lubrication. I told him a have some marketing ideas. ;-)
As the Hippodrom closed and kicked everyone out I met a new group of friends with whom I headed over to the dance hall of the previous night.
Saturday beer count: 4-5 steins (who’s counting anymore)
Posted in Munchen
It was drizzling again on Friday.
I had a pretty good time on Thursday at Käfer’s Wies’n-Schänke tent so I ended up there on Friday too. I met a bunch of Swiss ladies.
I took a breathalyzer test at the tent. I guess the Germans measure BAC in “promille”, or thousandths. So you can calculate that my result was .11%, which, I know, is a very poor showing. But what does make it impressive is that it was after 3 liters of beer. Hmmm, I’d expect it to be much higher…
After the Swiss ladies were done eating dinner and the tent closed we went to a large dance hall. Aaaand they invited me to dine with them the next day at the infamous Hippodrom tent.
Friday beer count: 3 steins.
Posted in Munchen
Oktoberfest 2007 started out in a very rainy way, but I wasn’t about to let that keep me inside. So on Thursday night I ended up at the Käfers Wies’n-Schänke tent.
Oh, I almost forgot – how do you like my lederhosen? Unfortunately there’s no real photos or videos of it.
Thursday beer count: 2 steins.
Posted in Munchen
On my fourth night in Berlin I walked outside my hotel to order a bratwurst from the metro station vendor. Shortly after I received it I was suckerpunched by one of the hoodlums hanging out there with his group of friends. It’s a long story but not worth telling. The upshot is that I decided to move to another hotel to protect my (at this point) uninsured vehicle. Alexanderplatz Hotel, with its excellent location, was where I should have been in the first place anyway. I told the receptionist what happened outside the other hotel and he gave me a deal on one of the rooms in his. On second thought maybe the deal was due to my negotiation and insistence that I could get a better price at his hotel online.
After I checked in there I rallied for a night on the town at 90 Degrees and Felix. I definitely recommend Felix.
Suliman, the receptionist, turned out to be a really cool guy. On my second night in his hotel we talked some politics. The next day I picked up my Porsche from the Porsche dealer, who had put on new front tires and a new spoiler, and left for Oktoberfest in Munich! Oh, I almost forgot, one more monument/Porsche photo:
Posted in Berlin
After an excellent bike tour of Berlin with InsiderTour.com I and some of the bikers had a Guinness at a nearby Irish pub.
Posted in Berlin
Anna flew down from Stockholm to hang out with me in Copenhagen. We walked the city, including the Rosenberg Castle, the Little Mermaid, and Christiania. Saturday night we ended up at NASA nightclub.
OK, maybe we took the Porsche to see the Mermaid… The Porsche and the Mermaid – isn’t that a movie?
Posted in Copenhagen
I decided to take a scenic train and boat ride out to Bergen to see the Fjords. I regret not scheduling at least a one night stay in Bergen. I only saw it at night since I hopped on the train back to Oslo 3 hours after I got there. I really recommend looking at the photos from the ride.
Posted in Bergen
After taking a ferry back to Stockholm from Tallinn, I drove to Oslo. Since I had limited time and no weekend nights to get into trouble in Oslo, I checked out the ski jump and the Vigeland Sculpture Park.
Posted in Oslo
The morning we arrived we drove off the Ferry straight into town and to the 5-star Schlössle Hotel that we got an excellent deal on at the last second. The breakfast, which wasn’t officially included until the next day, here was quite an experience. The girls serving the breakfast were so friendly. They told Anna and I that we had to drink very large shots of traditional alcohol and wash them down with orange juice – because that’s the tradition here. Hmmm, I don’t know if I believed them completely but it certainly jumpstarted our day with a bang.
Then we took a walk around Tallinn.
That night we dined at the best restaurant in town, the Restoran Gloria, to complement our stay at the best hotel. Oh yeah, this is the life!
Posted in Tallinn
European Party 