Early Friday afternoon, our friendly neighbor, Karolin, drove me to pick up the girls from school and then onto the station, so we could begin our weekend adventure. We arrived early for our planned local train, which was good as the elevator was broken to ascend to the train platform. I lugged the stroller, lunch boxes, and duffelbag up the 2 flights of stairs while the girls followed. We made it to the top just as the earlier train was pulling into the station. We quickly boarded it while a young lady held the door open for me to get Emmie onto the train. We arrived at Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof with lots of time to spare since we took the earlier train into the city. Our first train trip was complete and we only had two more trains to get on and off of before the hotel.
We found our way to the platform for the long distance ICE train. While waiting for our train to arrive, the girls ate some of their lunch and just observed everything going on within the train station. They were very anxious for our train to arrive.
When our train did arrive, we boarded the correct car number. Due to it being a short stopover in Frankfurt, I was nervous about getting us and the gear on the train as it is quite hectic with people getting on and off with their bags. Unfortunately, it was the wrong end of the car I boarded, so we had to make our way through the entire car to the opposite end for our seats. I was very happy to have my seat reservations as it was a full train. The girls took their seats and enjoyed watching the coutnryside, going through the dark tunnels, and coloring their pictures. After a few stops, the train started to empty, so we had more room. This worked out great as the girls were able to get a little sleep before we arrived in Munich.
We arrived in Munich eleven minutes later than planned. Eric had phoned me about getting to the hotel on the street train (tram) so I was prepared when I got out of the train station. We disembarked quickly and made our way down the platform, looking for the tram signs. Eric's information was quite helpful as the station was crazy with so many people going in every direction. We did stop and get pretzels for the third train ride- our last train ride of the day.
I found the tram station on the north side of the main train station and had to wait only a few minutes for it to arrive. Thanks to some young guys, they made room for us and the stroller on the tram as there was no room with all of the people already on board. As the tram rounded the corner to the front of the station, my heart dropped when I saw the group of people waiting to get on. I had to jump off since I was in the doorway when it stopped, but quickly re-boarded. The girls were able to get seats together for the rest of the ride with the shuffling of people.
We made it to our final stop near the Englisher Garten. Here we de-boarded the tram and walked to the hotel. We were welcomed into the lobby by many people in lederhosen and dirndls as they were already enjoying happy hour. We rested for a few minutes and then set off on walk to the Chinese Turm as Eric would not be joining us till later. He was at Oktoberfest with PRTM in the Käfer Wies'n- Schänke tent. The company was able to reserve a late afternoon time slot, which conveniently coincided with happy hour and dinner time. He did inform he was 1 of 3 guys not dressed in lederhosen. One guy was also not from Germany and the other one was from Germany, but his mom made him wear them so much growing up, he refused to wear them today.
We walked over to the Chinese Turm to walk up the stairs to view the city, but it was closed. We did find a playground and then the biergarten. After helping some lost travelers from Oktoberfest who had been walking for over an hour, we sat down and consumed a large glass of Sprite.
In the early evening, Eric joined us while we were at the hotel's indoor pool. He enjoyed his evening in the beer tent. He commented how when the reservation time is up, they completely empty the tents and close the doors. This then just creates chaos around the entire area as mass amounts of people are leaving and then you have those who are waiting to get into the tents.
It was an early evening as Saturday was going to be a big day attending Oktoberfest 2010.
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