Munich, Germany
A day of exploring Munich and a night at Oktoberfest.
The photogenic Marienplatz U-Bahn station
I got to visit Munich with some friends while on a Europe tour with Contiki in 2010. We stopped in the city for a night, coincidentally during Oktoberfest.
We spent the afternoon checking out sights around the city. We decided to catch the U-Bahn to Marienplatz, one of the main areas, then took a walk around.
Marienplatz had a lot of well known buildings. After exiting the U-Bahn around the Square, we roamed around and came across buildings like the Frauenkirche as well as a bunch of interesting shops and delis.
Frauenkirche in Munich, Germany
Keep in mind that there is not much English anywhere, so it may slow you down like it did us.
The biggest issue that we had was figuring out the U-Bahn subway system because there was no ticket gate, meaning you can technically ride the subway for free - as long as you don't get caught. It's a sort of honor system, and if you are found without a ticket when randomly checked, there are steep fines.
The same goes for other cities like Berlin. You're supposed to buy a ticket, put it in your pocket and ride.
Oktoberfest
In the evening, we headed to Oktoberfest. We were incredibly fortunate that it happened to be the 200th anniversary of the festival, meaning it was a pretty big deal.
Oktoberfest lives up to the hype; it's a full on carnival slash circus-type of affair, full of huge tents packed to the brim with people drinking beer, singing and having fun with everyone around them.
We peeped into a few different tents to take a look and compare, but realized that if we could find a seat at any one of them, we might be better off just staying put. Each of them holds at least few thousand people and were all packed.
Our third tent was the Munich-native Hofbräuhaus, one of the largest there. It took us a while to get seated, and there was only room in the standing area. Beer women came by every now and then taking orders, but you might have to be a bit aggressive to get their attention as it's crowded and everyone is talking and having a good time with the band also playing on stage. Those beer women come back with an armful, quite an impressive armful, of glasses for you.
One of the best things about Oktoberfest though? So much beer and fun and did not even see one scuffle or fight. If you can time a trip to Munich during Oktoberfest, I highly recommend it, it's a good experience.
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London
A few days in London while on a European tour.
The London Eye and Big Ben, taken from the Golden Jubilee Bridges
I got to visit London for a few days with some friends while traveling on a European tour with Contiki in 2010.
I found just walking around the city to be amazing.
As an American, I really could see and feel the connection between the two countries. The influence was very visible. London is a gorgeous city though, and it also had a quaint type of feeling that I hadn't expected.
Getting Around
We split our transportation between The Tube subway and taxis. If you have more than a few people, taking a taxi may be the better deal as The Tube can be quite expensive.
The system itself is old - the train cars are rather small, and you'll find some stations with uneven floors and winding tunnels. There was even one where we had to wait for cargo-sized elevators to take everyone up.
They make for great "I'm in London" pics and will get you to where you want to go, but it wasn't exactly my favorite part of the city.
While we mostly stayed with stereotypically foods like fish and chips and lamb, the city is pretty diverse both food-wise and culturally.
And while I've heard stories of discrimination, I didn't come across anything like that and found everyone to be well-mannered.
The British Museum
An escalator down to The Tube in London - Barrettish
A street performer entertaining crowds
Stonehenge
We spend a day to check out The Stonehenge. It's worth seeing such a historical relic but do keep in mind that it takes a few hours to get to by tour bus, so it'll likely take up a huge portion of the day.
The Stonehenge
More than anything, the simple feeling of just being in London was great because like I said, there's such a connection to my own home country.
I definitely wouldn't mind a few more days at least to spend there, and hopefully I make it back sometime.
St. Paul’s Cathedral
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Paris, France
Shots from my second trip to Paris.
Paris is basically one big city museum. Even on my second trip to the city in 2010 (once before in 2004), I felt the same. Everything, even the random building on a side street corner, could pass as a stylish masterpiece.
Looking at the Arc de Triomphe from Champs Elysées
View of Champs Elysées from the top of the Arc de Triomphe
The Louvre is probably in the top three of everyone's itineraries. Unless you're really into historical art, it's probably way bigger than you'd expect or like. We decided to just check out the Denon Wing of the museum, as it had the famous Mona Lisa painting.
Looking up at the pyramid from inside The Louvre
At night, we checked out the sparkling Eiffel Tower, going up to the top deck. It wasn't too crowded at the time, and it gave spectacular views of the city and the Seine river running through it.
View from the Eiffel Tower
There are also boat cruise tours down below that will take you on the Seine river around a lot of the city's landmarks, like the Notre Dame cathedral.
After the boat tour, we were able to go the well known Moulin Rouge. It was a great experience, very entertaining with a little bit of cheesiness. I actually found the acts during intermissions to be equally as entertaining as the show itself. (My Yelp review).
Paris is a unique city and it's easy to see why it's one of the top tourist destinations in the world. Even having been there twice, I'd love to go back and experience more.
