On Saturday, I joined Nick in Munich, Germany for a work trip. He goes every year and finally I wasn’t running a marathon, pregnant or nursing so I tagged along.
We took a direct red eye from Boston and at only $600 total round trip, it was actually cheaper than a round trip weekend flight to Charleston, SC. I’m not even being sarcastic here.
Of course I didn’t sleep on the flight. I never can sleep on an airplane unfortunately. We took the train to our hotel which was located right next to Marienplatz. I was exhausted but we couldn’t check in to our hotel until 2 pm so off we went to the beer gardens.
After we finally got checked in and took a nap, we headed to dinner at a Thai restaurant before heading to the tents at Oktoberfest. I was warned ahead of time that I would struggle to find healthy food or vegetables. I was determined to prove everyone wrong but I also wanted to enjoy Bavarian foods.
I had a huge pretzel and cheese right before dinner so I wasn’t starving. We ordered a bunch of apps and so I got a small crepe type thing for dinner. It was just enough food so that I wouldn’t feel stuffed going over to drink beer at the tents.
Our first night was a ton of fun but tame since we got the tents around 9 pm. I don’t know how to describe the scene so here goes:
First off, it’s not a “tent.” It’s a temporary large warehouse with a stage and tons of narrow benches and picnic tables. But the benches aren’t for sitting. Once the sun sets, everyone just stands on them. Everyone is dressed up in their customary dirndls and lederhosen and in a fantastic mood! Even though most are pretty drunk, everyone is so friendly. In the US, there would be fights galore but here, it’s very amicable! I was shocked. I did not feel safe standing on the benches but plenty of other people did that I was the odd man out. There is really just beer, one kind of beer in most tents and it comes in a liter mug which is about 2.5 American beers. Food can be ordered as well but mostly pretzels, sausages and half chickens.
I LOVED IT.
The band played mostly American music so it was fun to sing along. Everyone knew the songs because everyone in Germany speaks English making it very easy to communicate.
I wanted to wear a dirndl but since it was a work trip for Nick, I followed his lead and he told me that most of the people from work did not wear them so I did not. I wish I had gone with my gut and bought one though in hindsight!
Day two, Nick and I accidentally slept in until 11:30 am! There is a 6 hour difference and we apparently needed to the sleep which is I think great since we rarely get to sleep in at home. We had booked Mike’s Bike Tours with a few of Nick’s coworkers who actually woke us up by calling Nick’s phone. We raced to meet the group and had plenty of time to spare.
This jacket is the Athleta Misty Jacket and I’m obsessed. I bought it especially for the trip because it was supposed to rain the entire time! It luckily only rained half of the time…
The tour was educational, entertaining and the weather was perfect. We stopped by a few historical landmark buildings, the English gardens, the Munich surfers and stopped at a beer garden for lunch which was our breakfast. I highly recommend Mike’s Bike Tours!
I can’t believe I forgot to photograph what I got but I had a delicious “greek” style salad and shared some chicken with Nick as well as a mushroom in cream sauce dumpling thing which looked like gnocchi with vegetables in a cream sauce.
Afterwards, we went and explored a bit on our own before heading to the infamous Hofbrauhaus. Nick and I then peeled off and went to dinner just the two of us. Nick got a pork knuckle and I got potato pancakes with smoked salmon. It came with a side salad and I felt pretty good about my meal. It was delicious, it wasn’t the unhealthiest thing and I still felt like I was eating German food.
Afterwards, we decided to call it a night and get to bed early in preparation for the big day!
Again, we slept in Tuesday morning.
Tuesday was the big day planned. Nick and I explored Munich by foot after eating a hearty breakfast at our hotel, the Platzl. I found Wagners, the one healthy place that I was told to check out that I remembered!
I didn’t seek out many places because I was joining the work trip and didn’t want to be all “Sarah Fit” annoying. Nick comes every year and loves his unhealthy German/Bavarian cuisine. I didn’t want to take away the cultural experience but I did grab an energy ball for later at Wagners and was impressed by the menu and food. When I come back, I’ll be visiting this place more often!
Nick’s company gets a table at the Paulaner Tent the final night of Oktoberfest and we were going to have dinner there and then stay until the end of the night. This meant we were going to arrive at 5 pm. The tents luckily close at 11 pm. Anyway, I had a blast!
The appetizer platter was daring and I ate mostly just cheese and prosciutto as well as a giant pretzel. The beer was delicious and I don’t remember how many I had but I think it was just 3… maybe 3.5??
For dinner, I discovered my love for German Potato Salad. I also had the chicken which is just roast chicken and a few bites of the white sausage which tasted like breakfast sausage. We stayed out late, I had so much fun and luckily Nick left right before I hit a drunk wall and potentially would have embarrassed myself in front of his company 🙂
Again, wish I had worn the dirndl but next time!!!
While Nick had to work on Wednesday, I had planned to go for a run before my flight. Unfortunately, my body did not want to wake up and so I slept in until 11 and then slowly got up just in time to grab breakfast before my flight.
I found this MyMuesli place and am in love. You just go in, pick out your muesli, they add milk (I tried the oat milk and Mango muesli) and walk out. I also grabbed an espresso. Perfection. Can you guys come to the US? Are you in the US?
So even though I never worked out on the trip, I did walk 6.7, 7.7 and 2.7 miles respectively each day. Even on Wednesday the day I flew home I logged 3.5 miles thanks to a huge airport and taking public transportation.
I love to give my body a rest, especially when I’m on vacation. I missed Tommy dearly and was greeted by the best hug and a kiss when I got home. I’m not sure when I’ll be back but I’m confident that I will be in the future and will be sure to check out a few sights outside of Munich.
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On Monday during our lunch stop, I learned of the shooting in Las Vegas. It immediately hurt my heart. I was so nervous about coming to Munich without Tommy, nervous about Nick and I on the same plane, and then being in the tent with so many people in such a small area. I am sick to my stomach thinking of the families left behind to grieve, the children who will now be raised by one parent, the parents who lost their only child, it’s all just so heart breaking and unimaginable that this is the world we live in. Without getting political here, because some of you get very upset when I do, but this stuff is happening everywhere. It’s no more likely to happen in Europe than it is in our backyard anymore. We can’t afford to be silent or ignorant. People said my flight was probably cheap because of ISIS and maybe less people want to come to Europe but if my time is going to be cut short, I’m going to make sure I live my life to the fullest and see as much of the world as I can. It’s a sad place but it’s also quite beautiful. The people of Munich were so friendly. The city was so clean and it felt safe and peaceful. This is me telling you not to be afraid to travel, especially abroad. This is me saying I am so sorry for your losses if you were personally affected by the tragedy in Las Vegas. I am not a republican and I do not own a gun. I just don’t get how many innocent lives have to be lost by automatic weapons until our politicians make some changes to our constitution. ????
I was on the fence about going to Munich for Oktoberfest for my birthday next year, but this sealed the deal! It looks beautiful! We went to Havana on a cruise for my birthday two weeks ago and, like you, I had all these workouts planned and my runs scheduled…and then worked out twice over 6 days. We walked so much and didn’t really have a day to just sit around (which was one of the two days I worked out anyway), so it didn’t seem that “unhealthy.” I used a lot of your tips from your cruise this year too, and honestly just enjoyed listening to my body say “give me a workout break,” and eating when I was hungry until full and not just stuffing my face. Great tips!
YES YES YES -- you have to go. So much fun. You should visit the “disney” castle as well as a near by concentration camp. I would have if I was not with Nick’s company. I would do two day trips to those, and a munich bike tour plus Oktoberfest.