Oktoberfest Day 2

On Day 2 Jusso and I braved the Oktoberfest on our own with the aim of not getting too drunk....... bwahhhhahahahahaha.

We started off at the Hofbrah House at the Oktoberfest itself with the thought of having one or two and then moving on to another tent.

Jusso and I at the Hofbra House

6 mas later we were amongst the aussies, kiwis and pom's..... still in the Hofbrah House and singing again.

We managed to head out the door around 10.30 but we walked straight across to the we saw the dodgem cars. Now I don't think of myself as a genius (well not all the time), but usually I'm smart enough to find the slot to put the token in so the car would work.

On this occasion................. not smart.

So there I was, sat in the middle of the dodgem cars with no power to the car at all with 10 other very drunk drivers. Luckily they took pity on me and steered clear of me for the 3 minute ride.

Pigs Arse!

It was as if everyone got into a line at one end to build up speed and smash into my car, only for it to happen from the other end a moment later.

Eventually the guy showed me that the slot was in the front end of the car, instead of next to the wheel like Australia.

As I leaned over to put the token in someone hit me causing my forehead to test the solidity of the steering wheel. To make matters worse as I got power and put my foot down the ride ended. SPEEEEEWWWWWWING.

Luckily we had a few tokens, so now it was payback.

I managed to nail a few people that got me, but it was all a hell of a lot of fun. At the end of that ride Jusso came running up to my car only to slip and go sliding past it again. I had an extra token so myself and another aussie decided to spend the rest of the ride driving backwards, which is no easy task after a few beers.

From there, and after a few more Jusso tumbles, we did what we promised we wouldn't do after 6 beers.

ROLLER COASTER!

And to be precise....... my first ever roller coaster.

Jusso's got some footage of it, but it's pretty much sky, ground, sky ground, me going woooooo, f%$k yeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhh and repeat.

Somehow we weren't sick but I think it disorientated us a fair bit because it took us another 2 hours to get home to a place only 40 minutes away.

I got lost at the tube station trying to find the WC, while Jusso was cursing me for leaving him alone on the platform. We got off at the wrong bus stop and took the wrong road back to Larissa's, but we lucked out because when we called her she was at a friends house only 20 meters away.

The main thing is we got back alright..........

Mates share umbrella......only after lots of beers

Oktoberfest Day 1

Well there's broken and then there's broken.

I thought that after a few big nights in Dublin that I was a broken man and it couldn't get much worse.

I am now a shell of a broken man.

I'd love to say that I have Cory, Rol's, Lambo or Jusso to blame for it, but I've got nudding!!!

I did this all to myself.

Actually I can't be all to blame, where's the fun in that. Jusso got some explaining to do, after all it was his idea to come over to Germany after the reunion...... and if shag's wasn't such a cool pub with such a great bunch of staff I wouldn't have gone to that either.

But of course, without these things I wouldn't have met the wonderful people that now litter the memory chip of my camera. I wouldn't have been able to see my bank account drop so dramatically over a period of just 2 weeks (seriously, it dropped quicker then shares in Peptech).

We met up with my friend Larissa after arriving on the train from Frankfurt and headed off by train to her place. At first we were a bit dubious at how far she lived from the Oktoberfest, but we thought we'd give it a go and if it was too hard we'd hit hotels.

The first night out, Tuesday, Larissa took us to the Hofbrah House (not part of Oktoberfest) and we enjoyed a good feed and a Mas (or as we refer to it, stein). I didn't want to say anything, but after one I actually felt a little bit pissy eyed, but I'm sure that was just residual alcohol from Dublin.


We headed into the Oktoberfest from there with Larissa and she took us to a beer hall to meet some of her friends.

When we arrived at the grounds I was stunned. For those that haven't been, it is something to behold, and for those that have, you know exactly what I mean.

Rollercoasters, Ferris Wheels, Dodgem cars, whole chickens, pork knuckles and silly hats, it had everything. But that was nothing compared to the size of, and contents of the beer halls.

We met her friends, but unfortunately they were sat in a "exclusive" area so Jusso and I hit the tables on our own. After pushing through the mass of crowds we found a table with a few spare seats and parked our asses.

We had two more mas that night but had a great time standing on the chairs and singing our voices off to the live music.

We headed back early that night and got home without too many dramas thanks to Larissa being with us.

The next day Jusso and I braved the Oktoberfest on our own with the aim of not getting too drunk....... bwahhhhahahahahaha.

Escape from Munich

I've managed to get out of munich after 6 days of oktoberfesting and I'm happy to say that I'm safely back in London, albeit a little stupider and only one functioning kidney.

Thank you thank you thank you to Michaela, Toni-Louise and Lana for making the the 18 hour bus ride home a strangely fun experience.

Here's some pictures of what's been happening over the past 2 weeks.

Shag's Reunion
Oktoberfest Day 1 - 4
Oktoberfest Day 5 - 6

Oktoberfest

3 days

Litre beers

Two Justins

Broken...........

Train bound for Munich

Die Bahn train number01 805 194 195

If I've learned anything in life I should have known not to say it.

When your AFL team is 23 points up with 3 minutes to go, do you say you've got a certain win?

When South Africa has to score over 400 runs to win a One Day game do you say "it can't be done" and head to bed?

When you're out for a few beers on a sunday afternoon do you turn to your friend and say for the amount of beer you've drunk you feel pretty sober?

When you're driving the ball well in golf do you say "geez I haven't sliced/hooked a single ball today"?

No,

You don't say a single word. Why? Because your team goes down by a point, South Africa do it with easy, you end up blind drunk and you couldn't throw the ball down the fairway straight.

So why oh why did I say to Jusso this morning that we've got nothing to worry about for this trip to Germany.

We managed to get up on time, catch the cab with no problems, pass through security without any beeps, boarded the plane on time for a change, and the plane arrived in Frankfurt without any problems............. Frankfurt Ham.

We estimated that it would take about 30 minutes to get through customs and get to the train station, and I was even carefull and booked the train a full hour after we arrived in Frankfurt.

Unfortunately Frankfurt is not Frankfurt Ham. Frankfurt Ham is no where near Franfurt.

Which means it's no where near the train station.

Which means we've got nothing to worry about actually translates to being an hour and a half late for the train bound for Munich.

It's not all bad though. We can get on any train for the day, and my couch surfer Larissa has sent her numbers and has borrow a car to come and collect us from the train station.

We've also managed to back up (finally) from the thursday, friday, saturday, sunday night session in Dublin. But as usual, that's for another post.

Guinness, Shags staff and more guinness

I haven't had much time to write about Dublin, mainly due to the fact that I've either been in the pub drinking guinness, or too drunk to see the keys on the laptop.

Jusso, Prue and myself arrived in Dublin on Thursday afternoon and headed to the Regency to check in and get sorted. We met another girl from Australia, Leanne, on the plane and shared a cab from the airport.

We exchanged details and organised a place to catch up for our first Guinness. After a couple of touristy photo's we got the pour, the sit, and the settle over and done with.

For all those that like a guinness but haven't made it to Ireland, it's something to behold. For all those that told me how much better the Guinness tastes in Ireland, you were right.

We had a few beers that night but didn't really let it get too out of hand, we had to try and save ourselves for the reunion on the Saturday night.

After some breaky in the morning Jusso and I headed in to the city to catch the final between Geelong and Collingwood, and I have to say it's the first time I can remember that I actually cheered for Collingwood.

AFter a few beers and one hell of a game we decided it was time to head off and do the Guinness Brewery tour.

The tour was awesome, but because we got there a little bit late I had to rush through the upstairs area (and through the ad's) to make sure we made the roof top bar for a pint of the greatest Guinness of all.

After the beer we had to head off to a pub quickly to make sure that we caught the Ireland game. We headed up to the Barge and quickly found a spot to watch the rugby directly under a telly.

From here everything goes a little bit fuzzy. Prue left us at the pub, and I have vague memories of ordering 2 Guinness and 2 neat Jamesons each round, and how many rounds there were I'm not 100% sure.......... but I don't think you could count them on two hands.

I lost Jusso on the way home, we stopped off at a kebab shop for some food and while I was inside talking to some friends we made back at the pub (it seemed this kebab shop was a bit of a popular hangout), and when I came back outside he was gone, along with my food.

I set off down the road to get back to the Hotel, turned up the road that our hotel was on and walked for about 10 minutes........ except when you turn on to the road our hotel is on you only have to walk about 30 seconds.

Hmmmm, could I be on the wrong road at 4.15am after starting drinking with Jusso at 11am for the footy? Surely not.

After walking back 10 minutes to the main road it turns out, and don't be too amazed here, but I was actually on the wrong road. Not only that but when I left the Kebab shop I started walking in the wrong direction.

TAXI!!!!!!

When I got back to the Regency (10 minute cab ride, no chance of walking) I went past Jusso's room to get my food.

GAAAAWWWWWNNNNN!

Bastard!

The next morning was slow, but because this is a long post already I'll leave the story of the reunion until tomorrow.

Thursday night, Fitzgeralds, Temple Bar, the Quays (AFL), The Barge (Rugby), Messrs McGuires (lunch and reunion)

Must See in Mexico - Part 2

I've decided that my second must see entry will be all about Surfing thanks to one of my videos making it up on surfline. Thanks to Surfline for putting it up there, and please make sure you check it out (link is at the bottom of this post).

I've made very short notes on each of them, but if you want to know more click on the titles to head to a previous post with a bit more detail.

Oh, and don't forget to check out the previous part, Must See in Mexico - Part 1.

6. San Juanico - Scorpion Bay
   Scorpion Bay was the first place that we managed to get a surf in Mexico. As we travelled down the Pacific Coast we were greeted by flat condition after flat condition.
   
   When we arrived here (after a long drive over graded road) and was happy to see a wave breaking, albeit a very small wave and ideal for the longboard.
   
   This is a must stop place, and if you're after a good coffee and internet don't forget to head up to see Dustin Smith at Point Surf Baja
   
   
7. Puerto Escondido
   This place is awesome, so very very relaxing and a great wave.......... to watch from the beach. The wave here is called the Mexican Pipeline, and for good reason. There are several breaks nearby which are more for the beginners like myself, but I had a lot more fun catching these guy's on film. To check out the film head over to Surfline
   
   
8. Barra De La Cruz
   This hosted the "Somewhere in Mexico" tour last year as part of the WCT. The wave is consistant and the place is beautiful, but be warned that if you sit on the shoulder and wait for someone to let you have a wave you're just not going to get one.
   The guys and gals that surf here are good!
   
   
9. Sayulita
   Sayulita is growing bigger and bigger each year, but the roads are still dirt and it's off the beaten track a little. The wave there is small but very consistent, I'm sure it gets much bigger but at least you're nearly always guaranteed a wave.
   
   
10. Playa Bruja
    This place is about 15 minutes north of Mazatlan. The break, while not really big, is consistent and there isn't that many people out there first thing in the morning.
    
    The restaurant do great meals and reasonable priced drinks, makes it a great place to surf a few sessions and chill out for a day.

For those of you that scrolled straight to the bottom, here is the link to the Surfline video that I filmed in Puerto Escondido