Munich’s most delicious season

Look what opened today! Munich is already a fairytale-adorable city; toss in Christmas markets all over the place and it gets so cute it makes your cheeks hurt. I celebrated the start of my favorite time of year with some roasted chestnuts (which is probably the most Thanksgiving-like food I’ll eat all day). You can read about … Read more

Autumn at the Dult

Sure, Oktoberfest is long over, but that doesn’t mean Munich has lost that carnival feeling. As I’ve said before, you’d be hard-pressed to visit this city when there wasn’t some sort of festival (beer-oriented or not) going on. A couple weeks ago it was the Auer Dult, a thrice-yearly event involving rides, carnival food, and lots and lots of kitchenware.

Read moreAutumn at the Dult

Oktoberfest tip: Oide Wiesn

Historisches Wiesn: Oktoberfest’s 200th anniversary celebration

UPDATE: The historical section of Oktoberfest was such a hit that it will be back in 2011, rebranded as the Oide Wiesn. Nostalgia and beer for everyone!

Entrance to Oktoberfest in general is free, but this year, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the first Oktoberfest, visitors were offered the privilege of paying for entry to a small section of the wiesn. This section promised something special: old-timey fun.

Read moreHistorisches Wiesn: Oktoberfest’s 200th anniversary celebration

Mad Schuhplattler

Schuhplattler at 200th anniversary Oktoberfest from zurika on Vimeo. In honor of the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest, a historical area has been set up next to the regular old tents and rides. It costs €4 to get into the historical area, but that €4 includes all kinds of entertainment, such as fancy historical whip-cracking and … Read more

Eating Oktoberfest: a vegetarian survival guide

If there’s one thing you don’t see very often at Oktoberfest, it’s a vegetable.

Navigating the menu at an Oktoberfest tent is not always easy for vegetarians. In here, a plate of sliced-up sausage qualifies as a salad. But even at those tents named after the animal they are best at cooking, one can find at least a couple of meatless dishes. Bavarian vegetarian food is heavy, creamy, cheesy, and infinitely starchy: actually, not such bad attributes for a meal that’s accompanying many liters of beer. Now that you’ve found a seat in one of the tents, here are some of the vegetarian dishes you are most likely to find on the menu:

Read moreEating Oktoberfest: a vegetarian survival guide

Gratuitous sledding pictures from Wallberg

Making the most out of our recent snow, yesterday some friends and I headed up the Wallbergbahn for some extreme sledding. The run takes about 30 minutes and affords amazing views of the Tegernsee and surroundings, although sometimes it’s a little too scary to admire the view when you’re barreling down a narrow path next … Read more

Oktoberfest 2009 day 16: Das Schützen Festzelt

Somehow we managed to survive another whole Oktoberfest, concluding with a day in the Schützen Festzelt. This is the largest tent at Oktoberfest, and they really know how to pack in the people. As we were ordering up our first round of beers the tent shook with a mighty loud boom. Everyone jumped a bit … Read more

Oktoberfest 2009 day 13: Weinzelt, good and bad

After a couple nice visits last year, I was really looking forward to our evening reservation at the Weinzelt this year. Overall it was a fabulously fun Oktoberfest night, but my esteem for this tent has dropped considerably. I’ll have to be on the lookout for a new favorite. The main reason I love the … Read more