Oktoberfest: Day 5

Oktoberfest: Day 5

9/25/2024

Bavarian Countryside - Augsburg

Beers Drank: 3 bottles

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I woke well before the alarm and much too early to be up and about. Rolled over and was violently startled when my alarm went off at 6:30am. Time changes are hard. We headed down to breakfast around 7:30am and dropped some laundry off at the desk. I tried the soft boiled egg and it was delicious. I think we are getting the hang of the European breakfast.

We packed a day bag, our goal for the day was to rent a motorbike (real Europen term) and take off to explore the countryside. We arrived at the BMW dealership that offered rentals and found out they don’t rent helmets which are legally required when riding motorbikes. Frustrated doesn’t even begin to describe how I felt, for reasons. An hour of internet browsing, our solution was to walk a few blocks down the street to a motorbike accessories store to buy cheapo helmets so we could rent the motorbike. So a few hundred euros lighter and brand spanking new helmets in hand, we were off. 

Brand spanking new euro helmets

We headed south toward Kochel where there is a very popular, curvy motorcycle road. We stopped en route at a lake to enjoy the scenery. 

With the beautiful lakes, the Swiss Apls, picturesque towns, this road was everything we could’ve hoped for. We ended up riding all the way south to a small town called Krum. 

After Krum we headed east on a toll road with some epic views.

Heading back north we went through a small town called Bad Tollz which made us chuckle. We traveled on a small portion of the notorious autobahn when we headed south and a larger portion heading back north. While it’s nice to say we’ve been on it, motorbike would not be my choice of vehicle in the future. Jake wants it stated that we reached 200km/hr which translates to…let’s say a-lot-mph. I can attest it was super uncomfortable as the passenger.

We had the motorbike for 24 hours so we took it all the way back to the hotel. We found out that the hotel’s laundry machine was broken so we took our dirty clothes down the block to the laundromat. It took us a few minutes to figure out how to work the machines but we managed. Automated machines with built in detergent is the way of the future my friends! We stopped at the kebab stand next door and had doner kebabs. I was able to use the phrase my mom taught to use in Germany “mit kase!” when asked. (with cheese)

Jake demonstrating the proper way to load the washer

We stopped in at the local grocery market, Rewe, for cheap beers before putting our clothes in the dryer. We found out later it is pronounced “ray-vah” not “ree-wee” (my guess) or “ray-way” (Jake’s guess). While our clothes were drying a tiny Palestine protest march went by, chaperoned by police. 

Once our clothes were dry, we dropped it off at the room and ventured out for a late dinner. We had been passing a Vietnamese restaurant on our way back and forth from the train station that Jake had been dying to try. It was still open for another hour so we grabbed a table and I enjoyed the best pho of my life to date.

We were the only people in the restaurant besides on other group of three

Bellies full, we had another round, this time hotel room beers before calling it a night.

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