Neuschwanstein Castle - Sunday 3rd Oct (still on the Oktoberfest tour)

Neuschwanstein Castle

Still recovering the next morning we had the choice of going back into Oktoberfest with Dax or going to the Neuschwanstein Castle with Damo I opted for the later. We met up with our driver Johhny Rockstar and headed out of Munich on the 1.5hour journey to this amazing castle.

The Neuschwanstein Castle is spectacular both on the inside and out. The castle often pictured by Disney, is the most photographed building in all of Germany and has more than 1.3 million people visiting each year.

The building of this castle actually bankrupted Bavaria during its construction. Its assembly started in 1869 and was commissioned by the then King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

King Ludwig II

It was built because of Ludwig's immoderate enthusiasm of Richard Wagner's operas - truth is he had a man crush on Wagner, and idealised his operas which was the inspiration for the castle. Ludwig built his ideal fairy tail castle and dubbed it 'New Swan Stone' or 'Neuschwanstein' after the 'Swan Knight' from an Opera of the same name.

King Ludwig II memorial

King Ludwig II also known as 'Mad King Ludwig' died under mysterious circumstances. He was deposed from the throne under the grounds of metal illness without any formal medical examinations. He was then found drowned in Lake Starnberg the day after his deposition.

I think that he may have been killed not because he BANKRUPTED an entire country! But because he was gay, this is why 'they' coined him mentally unwell. He had no heir, no female partner, idolised a male opera singer, and had dubious relationships with other men. Given the extravagance of the castle especially on the inside, no normal straight man would go to that extreme ....
(not that I care, what ever floats your boat - but I believe that this is why he was murdered)


No more than six weeks after the Kings death, regent Luitpold (the de-facto ruler of Bavaria) opened to the palace to the public for paying visitors.

The Neuschwanstein Castle has also appeared in many movies, such as; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Space Balls, The Great Escape and The Time Keeper, as well as in a few TV shows.

The castle is situated in the Alpine foothills near the Austrian boarder. The whole area is very picturesque

<-- In this pic I am standing on a little bridge built for the purpose of viewing the castle.

the very crowded viewing bridge

The viewing bridge is only small and is a wee bit nerve racking to go out on, especially with so many people.

You could actual feel the whole thing move every step you took and the drop down was huge.

the drop below the bridge

Our group was booked into a inside guided tour of the - this was going to be amazing.
nb: if you don't pre-book a ticket it can sometimes take upwards of 4 hours to be able get into the castle if your on your own (due to the amount of people).


More than 6000 people a day visit the castle in summer!

Unfortunately we where not allowed to take any photos of the inside of the castle...
I have borrowed a few images from a friend in our group who managed to get a few sneaky photo's of the inside (got to love FB :)

The inside of the castle is amazing, the attention to detail of every aspect of the rooms are incredible.

The kings bed shown here took 14 wood carvers more than 4 years just to complete the canopy! that is insane but spectacular!

This photo is taken from a balcony from the Neuschwanstein Castle. There was a breath taking view from up there, and you could see for miles.

Hohenschwangau Castle

The Hohenschwangau Castle can be found at the bottom of the hill from the Neuschwanstein Castle, it is the childhood residence of King Ludwig II. It was constructed from 1833 until 1837, and was the summer and hunting home of King Maximilian II of Bavaria and his wife Marie of Prussia (Ludwig's mother and father).

This entire experience was amazing!! well worth the trip out of Munich especially as the transport was included in my prize.

I had been to Munich twice now and was now finally doing some quality sightseeing that wasn't through the bottom of a beer glass :)

My liver had a day off and was happy + I got some good quality fresh air and exercise for the day.

Now to head back to Munich for more of the madness

Back to München - Oktoberfest final weekend

Oktoberfest again, back for the final weekend this time for free YEW:) Thanks to Hostelworld.com and Busabout. Emil my German friend and myself departed from Stansted airport early Friday morning on 1st of October and got into Stuttgart about 10:30am. After liaising with the rest of the tour group we headed for the Busabout tour bus.

Dax   n  Damo

We met our tour guides Dax from Australia, Damo from Germany and our driver Johhny Rockstar from the UK then we were off. We headed out of the airport and where on the way to Oktoberfest in München.



We listened to many a beer drinking song on our way, (including Kevin Bloody Wilson lol) and where educated on Oktoberfest, its history and some of the do's and dont's.

people leaving Oktoberfest grounds

Arriving in Munich we could tell we where nearing the hostel as we passed the Oktoberfest grounds, there where people everywhere...

I was back into the craziness again :) look out liver here I come.

We got to the Wombats hostel which is only a 15 minuet walk to the Oktoberfest grounds and right in the heart of Munich, it was a great location.
We had 20 minuets before our orientation walk started, so we checked in and made our way to the rooms. They where HUGE, these are the biggest hostel rooms I have stayed in yet and they had there own bathroom! which is a 1st in hostels for me so far...

New Town Hall

Most of the group met for the orientation walk, and we set off for the Marienplatz, Munich's central square since the foundation of the city in 1158. We passed the New Town Hall, which is an impressive Neo-Gothic style building built between 1867 & 1909 and the home to the famous 'Glockenspiel'. It is also the 5th largest building in Europe.

Glockenspiel

*NB: the 'Glockenspiel' despite being well renowned is not a very impressive spectacle, in fact it is more fun to look at peoples faces when they have just realised this fact after they have been waiting a while to see it...lol

We continued around town on our orientation; we saw a few of the beer halls and some other impressive sites before going back to the hostel. Damo and Dax where taking those who wanted to into festival for there first glimpse of Oktoberfest. As Emil and I had already been before we went back into town to get a nice meal and have a few beers. Tomorrow was going to be a big day so we where just warming up.

In the morning we had a typical German style breaky of cold meats bread, toast fruit and cereal at the hostel. Those who survived their first night got up early as well, and after a feed we commenced our mission to Oktoberfest.

Lowenbrau Lion

Its was early Saturday morning, arriving at the grounds at about 7:30, we headed for the Löwenbräu tent - (Löwenbräu = meaning Lions Brew). The tents open around 9am on the weekends (or 10am weekdays).

reserving tables

Our guides had some contacts on the inside, Damo and I where able to get into the Löwenbräu tent at about 8am (before anyone else) so we could reserve tables for our group.
<--- Here is a pic with all our stuff on the tables to reserve them for when the tents where opened and the following stampede occurred ..

As soon as they opened the doors it was on!!! it was a struggle to hold the tables as everyone raced in, with people trying to steal our seats left right and centre...luckily more of our Busabout group made it in quickly and we where able hold our tables. You find a lot of the tables are already reserved* which makes it hard for people who haven't booked to get seats inside.
But we where in and the drinking began.. again :)

my table

The Löwenbräu tent filled up fast and by 11am the doors where closed because it was at capacity. No more people where able to get in! and it stayed this way for most of the day.

Our beer wench

There was no smoking in the beer tents this year, so a lot of people where smoking in the toilets as there where no provided smoking areas, if you get caught you get kicked out and they wouldn't serve you again. This happened to me and a friend & we where thrown out. Luckily our beer wench and tour guides where able to talk with the head of security and we got back in = very lucky :)

NB* if you ever go to Oktoberfest you can reserve tables through the respective tents providers, these book out very early, so you have to get in quick.

Emil and Me

Most of our group had their orange Busabout/Oktoberfest shirts on which made it easy to identify each other in the masses. During the day I got to know the most members of our group pretty well, as well as a lot of the people on the tables around us.

Band Stage

We drank a lot and it slowly progressed into a messy but lively afternoon, there was singing with the band, dancing on chairs and tables, socialising and enjoying beer related foods like half chickens, pork knuckle, pretzels and more :)
There was traditional beer drinking songs being played all day and we where actual sitting just behind there stage.

Natasha and the English lads

An ingenious way to monitor how many steins you have is to mark each one off on your arm with a pen, this way when you wake up the next morning you can tell how much damage you did. I managed 8 steins that first day and set myself a bench mark. I also lost 2 pens..lol

I ended up bailing in the late afternoon and can remember stumbling out of the Oktoberfest grounds and jumping in a cab, (luckily we had Womabts hostel wrist band with the address on it :), I got some pizza from a little place across the road then went and passed out cold. It was a good day.

 ''Prosit''

Back into the Bush - London

Shepherds Bush Green

After arriving in Shepherds Bush on Tuesday 21st September at 2:30am then drinking with my Irish friend until the sun came up, I managed a few hours sleep in my dorm and headed for my friends place around the corner.
The plan was to have somewhat of a detox/ recovery for the week after my 10 days Amsterdamage and my 1st weekend in Oktoberfest!!! My poor liver has been sending me hatemail....

After taking up residence on the couch again, I rested for the day then was lucky enought to be heading for a cultural night watching the Orpheus Sinfonia's Annual Charity Concert, at Cadogan Hall. This was a great change to the fast pace lifestyle I have been living. It was a great concert and a good change up in the lifestyle.

I largely chilled out for the week getting in some quality couch time doing nothing over strenuous. This included enjoying many typical English breakfasts, great for getting the strength back :) :)

I stayed in Shepherds Bush for the week and hung around for Alex's birthday that weekend (the 25th September).

Alex, Matt and myself headed to the Portobello Road markets on the Saturday morning. This is another must do while in London

(for more photos click link)

These markets go straight through the heart of Notting Hill (made famous by the film Notting Hill).

It stretches down Porobello Road for about 2km's and is really crowded. It has lots of different foods, antiques, fashions, second-hand goods and a lot of people squeezed between the narrow streets.

Notting Hill is also a famous area from some of the people that have lived such as George Orwell, 1903 - 1950.

We had a good day browsing the stalls, and enjoying some of the local food stalls.

Matt and Alex picked up some cupcakes for Alex's birthday from the Hummingbird Bakery, this bakery is widely renowned for its cupcakes.....

After tasting one i know why! they are delicious, and they have an amazing, and extremely rich cream cheese icing.
They had to line up for about 15 minuets just to get served!

That afternoon we went back to celebrate Alex's birthday and consumed a few litres duty free, and had a very raucous evening.

Me and Drew In the Dam

It was Drew's birthday the following weekend (my friend from Amsterdam) so I decided to hang around for it. I headed back to the hostel @ St Christophers in Shepherds Bush to chill there for the week and await the coming weekend.

The plan was to meet up go to the Bedrock 12 @ 02 Academe Brixton to see Carl Cox and DJ Digweed on Saturday the 2nd October...
Only something major would change these plans...

Urinals at Belushi's

I had a good week meeting new people at the hostel, i really got into the swing of life in the Belushi's bar which is attached to the St Christopher's hostel.

Monday 2 for 1 cocktails (this includes Jugs) and Trivia Night,

Tuesdays are match days for (for football / soccer) and £2 snakebites.

Wednesdays Glenn Aitken plays, (this guy is awesome) he is the UK loop champion.
Sir Paul McCartney signed Glenn to his publishing company and is playing on his debut album. Check out the link he is an amazing artist.
Plus it is £1.50 Jack Daniels or Vodkas

Thursdays is Karaoke, and just the weekly specials, 2 for 1 Coronas and £2 bundy's
(these are available all week as well as all other specials relevant to there particular day)

Friday's there is a DJ and just the weekly specials as well 2 for 1 Coronas and £2 bundy's

Saturdays is just £2 bundy's

Sundays there is a band, £2 bundy's and £2 snakebites ALL DAY...

I had an awesome week, meeting most of the staff and getting on well with all that I met*, also meeting a lot of other cool peeps at the hostel, both locals and guests** I had a crazy week partying it up and enjoying living in such a vibrant and amazing place....

After all of this I was just awaiting the arrival of the weekend to meet up with Drew and go out for his birthday....

* The staff at Belushi's / St Christophers have been amazing they are are really cool people that would do anything for you and help you out if you need it, I have a lot of respect for all of them and they have made this place my home away from home. This is the best hostel I have stayed in yet...and it is because of the them. I feel I have gained a whole lot more friends just from staying here a getting to know them.

Belushi's Bar

** There has also been a handful of locals and long term guests who stay at the hostel that have become my immediate partners in crime, giving me the low downs, getting up to shenanigans with me, drinking all night (on any given night), getting out there with me and experiencing what London has to offer, these people have also become good friends and have helped make the experience what it has become and continues to become now some weeks on.

ALL THINGS CHANGE AND NOTHING IS PERMANENT especially while you are a backpacker travelling on your own!!

Late on Wednesday I went up to my room and found a note on my pillow...


Come to reception because they had something important to tell me, apparently I had won something????

To my knowledge I had only entered one competition through HostelWorld.com
(which I thought had closed when I entered it) I had really only entered it to get me a HostelWorld gold card, this enables me to have no booking fee when I book hostels through there website.

I made it down to reception (and was very intoxicated this evening), to receive another piece of paper with a name and 2 contact numbers, they confirmed for me that I had won something but could not advise what it was....
I continued to drink on into the night with some friends from the hostel not getting to bed until early in the morning...

Getting up the next day was difficult. It was Thursday 30th September and the Oktoberfest final weekend was only 2 days away (this was a little concerning if I had won a comp there???)

I headed down around midday when I finally pulled myself out of bed for some breaky and to ring the numbers I had received for the competition.

During this time I pulled my laptop out and checked my emails (which hadn't been checked since Wednesday morning) only to find out that I had received an email Wednesday (at 3:30) which I was supposed to respond to by 4pm to confirm and claim the competition.

I received another email Thursday morning informing me I now had until 1pm to confirm everything...this left me with less than 1 hour to get in touch with hostelwolrd!!! I sent reply emails and used both contact numbers provided but could not get a hold of anyone, I left messages and continued calling every 10 minuets trying to get through....

At this point I was not holding my breath, just in case I was not successful...

Finally I got a call and confirmed that I had still won the competition...YEW....

I now had only 15 minuets to find someone to take with me as the airline could not hold the seats for any longer...

My German friend Emil was upstairs in his dorm and the only one around at the time, he had to cancel his trip to Edinburgh, but accepted.....we where going to Oktoberfest....

Apparently the original winner of the competition did not claim it in time and I was the second drawn out. The prize was valued at £500 per person, and included return flights, transfers, 3 nights accommodation  in Munich, 1 night accom in a hotel in Stuttgart, Orientation walks, Day tour to Neuschwanstein Castle, Table booking and meal at Volksfest T'shirt and experienced guide..WOOT!!!

So after everything was finally confirmed it was around 3pm Thursday arvo with the flight leaving out of  Stansted airport at 6:30am Friday morning. This was only about 15 hours later!!,
We had to leave the hostel at 4am to get a cab to the bus stop by 4:30am to get to the airport on time, it takes around 1 and a half hours to get to Stansted from Shepherd Bush....

               Back to Oktoberfest......Twice in one year!!!
                 I am not one for doing things in halves :)

Oktoberfest - München 2010 first weekend

Munich is the capital of Bavaria, Germany. Located on the River Isa North of the Bavarian Alps, and is the third largest city in Germany besides Berlin and Hamburg. The Citys motto is 'München mag Dich' - which translates to 'Munich Likes You' :) and it did like me...

Oktoberfest: is a 16 - 18 day festival held each year, running from late September to the first week of October. Originally an agricultural festival it is the worlds largest fair with more than 5 million people attending every year. There is around 7million litres of beer sold every year, which is equal to about €70,000,000 worth of beer sold in the 2 and a half weeks of Oktoberfest.

2010 marks the 200th Anniversary of Oktoberfest and expected to be one of the biggest on record. I arrived in München on Friday the 17th of September, a day before Oktoberfest started, still recovering from my 10 days worth of Amsterdamage.

I caught the train from the main station in Amsterdam very early on the Friday morning and arrived in Munich in the early afternoon. These trains travel really fast (as shown on the pic on the left). This is my first inter - country train trip, and have decided it is one of the best ways to travel while in Europe.

Once in Munich I cab'd it to Hotel Santis to settle in, get my bearings and prepare for Oktoberfest :) It was a nice establishment, despite being only 3 stars, i had a buffet breaky every morning, my room was a decent size, and internet was fairly cheap. They had a nice restaurant, and bar downstairs, with meals being cheap for hotel guests. I enjoyed some great local meals here and it was really good to have my own room for a few days, especially after all the hostel living I did in Amsterdam.

That afternoon I did a little bit of an explore and visited the a nearby Cemetery. I saw some amazing old tombstones and really took in the history of the area, it was in a really old school forested area and I enjoyed walking around and looking at some of the headstones that were over 100 years old. Despite being a Cemetery it was relaxing to just take a step back and look around.

That night I decided to buy some scissors to trim my beard. Since travelling I had not trimmed it at all, and it was definitely getting out of control, in the words of my cousin 'what is with the dead possum on the end of your chin'....lol

Oktoberfest: I headed up to the train station around 9:30 the next morning, it was only a short walk up the road, and only about 3 stops to the festival grounds called Theresienwiese.

I started talking with a local German chap at the station,  who was wearing his Lederhosen, (German for leather breeches - the traditional national costume) and I got the local low-down of Oktoberfest. I walked with him to the grounds and then we went our separate ways.

There were already people everywhere, it was a hive of excitement. I wandered around for a little while, taking in all the sites and surveying the area. There are 14 main tents which are all non-permanent structures and only used for the festival, they are huge with the biggest one housing almost 7000 people inside and around 3500 people outside.

The main street was cordoned off for the opening precession, where each of the tents bring there beer into their respective tents and the festival is then officially opened at midday by the incumbent Mayor of Munich by tapping the first keg of beer.

Trying to get into a beer tent first thing was virtually impossible, so I wandered around a little and ended up sitting with some kiwi lads in one of the outside areas attached to one of the major beer tents. We waited out our time until we could purchase beverages by playing some cards and then it was on.
We where then joined by an American girl who was just trying to get a beer,  it is equally impossible to get served if you are not sitting down at a table. She was wearing the traditional dirndl dress, they where selling for around 100euros, and you pay even more the the lederhosen (and I decided not to get myself a pair)

As soon as it midday cheers went up as well as the stomping and the banging, then the beers flowed, I consumed a few steins that day, (but no where near my record by the end of my time at Oktoberfest). Steins where approx 8.80euros but if you didn't tip you would not be served again, so we paid a min of 10euros per litre stein.

We continued on until late in the arvo, then I missoned back to my hotel, jumping in a cab as soon as I was out of the grounds...wasted....
It was a good first day. I enjoyed an early night and was back in the grounds fairly early the next morning

I spent the Sunday mainly wandering around trying to get into the beer tents I had not seen and to get the photos I missed out on the first day. There was live music in all the tents all playing traditional German drinking songs as well as a few classics from around the world.

It was an amazing atmosphere, people dancing on tables, beer wenches walking around carrying epic amounts of beer at one time (I think the record I saw was about 9 steins at once!!) crazy drunken people everywhere termed - bierleichen (German for beer corpses). A lot of them end up on the hill you can see in the back of this picture.

I flew out of Munich in the early afternoon of Monday 20th of September, having to travel to Berlin before a final connection flight back into London. Due to a fire alarm going off in Luton airport my plane was delayed and I did not arrive back into London until about 1am Tuesday morning.

I made it back to the Saint Christophers hostel and Belushi's bar in Shepherds Bush around 2:30am in the morning after a long and drawn out time in transit (which included missing my bus transfer and having to buy another ticket)

I was checking in and met a interesting Irish fellow down in the chillout room, after some banter we ended up drinking until the sun came up...
Welcome back to London.....