Accidental Oktoberfest

Hello from the lobby of a Munich hotel from someone who would be the first one to call “bullshit” if they heard anyone say that they “accidentally went to Germany for Oktoberfest.”

But here we be.

You may recall that we learned a couple months ago that we can navigate our way around Europe. We also learned that getting here isn’t cheap, but being here is.

After the last trip, I toyed with the idea of coming back. The pace for return was set in part by the excitement of 2 (count them,…2!!!) weddings on the horizon and knowing that there’s going to be a lot of amazing things going on over the next few months. That coupled with the time off I’d already planned for just burning leave time, and some unsupervised time to fall down rabbit holes of planning imaginary trips, and yada yada yada, a few weeks ago I bought flights to Germany.

The itinerary was set primarily by cheap flight dates and getting picking planes that looked cool.

After flights, I started to book lodging in the way I choose most things, what’s cheapest. As I learned that there were not a lot of cheap options it occurred to me with an abrupt dawning of enlightenment, Oktoberfest is actually in September. Who. Fucking. Knew.

So here I sit in the lobby of a hotel around midnight, a time traveler unable to sleep more because it’s almost time to get up at home, watching people check in for the world’s largest frat party. I’d be willing to bet some expensive lederhosen that not one bro or one chick is here on accident.

The trip is “planned” much like the last in that there’s are start and end dates, a couple of “must do’s”, a week’s worth of clothes on my back, and that’s it.

A lot has happened since Wednesday at noon. Too much for capture for here already. And there’s a lot more to do if the stars of unplanned planning continue to align. Sleep would help, but there was a lot of activity yesterday that resulted in me, I don’t know, napping for 5 hours or maybe sleeping for a normal timeframe. But more sleep is needed to chase schnitzel, and to try to navigate ordering non-alcoholic beer at literally the world’s largest fair here in a few hours.

In the meantime, my initial thoughts on Deutschland are, it’s just so fucking cool.

Everything sings to my neurodivergent heart. There is so much order and grayscale. I keep looking for things that aren’t “on-point” and so far the most I’ve seen in that vein is me! My sincerest apologies to the Bavarians. I mean no disrespect but seeing sites of historical significance and modern relevance takes priority over combing my hair.

So anyways,…ja. Duetchsland. Thanks for reading, and stick around if you want to see how an old lady from Cottonwood sees this part of world.