Munich, Newcastle, and the In Between

Oktoberfest, what can I say... a lot of beer, a lot of singing, a lot of sausages, too many people passed out on the side of the road, and memories that will bring a smile to my face for the rest of my life.

Our journey to Oktoberfest started by arriving into a small airport in the town of Memmingen. We took a few hours to explore the small town and were so excited we did, it was great.

Beautiful town with the absolute BEST gelato. Although we didn't really know what the flavors were considering our German is a little bit rusty, we enjoyed every bite of it. We then took a train to Munich where we arrived at the famous festival. Here's what we saw...

It was so overwhelming. 12 huge beer tents surrounded by rides, thousands of people, and hundreds of food choices. And most of all soooo many lederhosen and dirndls. Here's a few guys we sat with all dressed in their lederhosen.

We spent Saturday in the Hippodrom tent and enjoyed a few steins and a half chicken dinner, classic Oktoberfest cuisine. But, to get into each of these tents one most get in line hours in advance and wait in massive crowds of people like this;

 

 

The wait is worth it, Germans know how to make the best beer.

And they do not skimp on the size either... I would love to go back some day, and bring a dirndl along to wear next time.

 We arrived back home and celebrated Brittany's 22nd birthday on Friday. We went to her favorite restaurant here, Deacon Brodie's. Then we had a night out on the town and ran into the Edinburgh rugby team and the Italian rugby team.

                                                                           
                                                Here is Brittany with all of our Italian Rugby friends.

                           

                        Happy Birthday Brittany! 22 is going to be a great year for her,  I can already tell.

Also we took a Harry Potter tour through Edinburgh last week. J. K. Rowling wrote most of the Harry Potter books in local cafes. A lot of the places in the books come from real places here in Edinburgh.

Here is a school which as four different houses, each with the same color as those Rowling wrote about in Harry Potter.

                                                          
                                                               Tom Riddell's grave site.

Here is Victoria getting sorted into a house, she got Ravenclaw... most be a mudblood.

                                                     Here are a few cafes where Rowling wrote.

This past weekend we took a trip to Newcastle. Surprisingly, everyone in Newcastle hates Newcastle Brown Ale, and we got very weird looks for drinking it at a bar.

The Tyne River was so beautiful and I kind of got a bit obsessed with taking pictures of it... I'll only share two but there are about 30 more that all pretty much look the same. 

Then the highlight of our trip, a Newcastle United vs Manchester United game. Can't even describe the crazy fans, loud chants, and unbelievable skill of the players. 

 

Now we are back home in beautiful Edinburgh, here is our view from our favorite spot in the city to sit and read called "the meadows".

 

Also, when we return to Edinburgh we return to our normal diet of 11 pence top raman. 

 

 

 Next we are expecting visits from Victoria's parents and my sister-in-law Ashley!