Surprise appearance in our tent...

[dufremle]

Of all the 'tents' here, Arnold shows up in ours. Awesome!

I have video of him directing the band.

[JTChiTown]

1 where are You?
2 totally awesome!

[dufremle]

Germany for Oktoberfest!

We were in the Lowenbrau tent. All of a sudden everyone was scrambling to look toward the band stand. There he was.

[fixxervi6]

cool

[Telomere]

I lift things up and put things down.

[Telomere]

Except for Jim...I drink beer up and put empty cup down

[dufremle]

[dufremle]

Seeing lots of motorcycles here. Random Aprilia in Stuttgart...

[dufremle]

The are some things I didn't expect when I got here. I'm going to make a list below and update it as I go. Anyone who's traveled to another country probably already knows this.

Things I did not expect:
- A lot of places do not take credit cards. I didn't expect this and probably didn't bring enough Euro's.
- bathrooms, unless you are at a restaurant, cost anywhere from .5 to 1 Euro
- building floors start at 0. Their first floor is what we call our second floor.
-everything is smaller here. Cars, hotel rooms, showers, etc. Traffic is a cluster fuck. I'm surprised anyone can get anywhere.
- most people speak enough English that we can communicate fairly easily. We've only run into 1 or 2 people who speak no English, or at least claimed they don't. One was at a restaurant, and she had no interest in waiting on us. We left after 2 beers.
- hotels don't provide bath soap or wash cloths
- the 2 hotels we stayed at didn't have AC

- water normally comes carbonated, unless you all for still. It is not free, anywhere. It also comes in bottles.

- drinks usually do not come with ice. They are served cold, but no ice.

[JTChiTown]

That sounds like a fun trip, but I've gotta ask, did you do any pre travel background prep? I was slated to go to Germany/Belgium for work back in 08, and I was given a 8 or 10 page packet of "cultural differences to be aware of during your trip". I distinctly remember the bathroom information, the lack of AC, and the idea that most people will be able to assist in simple English.

Either way, I'm totally jealous. Doing a trip like that is a bucket list thing for me. Keep the updates coming!

[dufremle]

Nope, no background prep. I should have learned some basic works, like 'thank you', please, egg, etc. Mustard is called Senf. 'Yellow sauce' doesn't work.

Fries are called pommes or frites. Tipping isn't expected, but I've been leaving a little bit. It's little thing that you don't think about that can be an issue, like trying to get mustard on a burger when the server doesn't know what mustard is and doesn't know the brand Grey Poupon.

[dufremle]

Oh, smoking is allowed almost everywhere. They even have cigarette machine dispensers on the street. You have to scan you drivers license, but they have them. Even very young people will walk down the street smoking. Smoking in restaurants is something I didn't expect.

Legal age to drink here is 16, too.

[SputnikSam]

What do they call a Big Mac?

Seriously through, awesome trip and insights. Sounds like a you're having a blast!

[dufremle]

We ate at a McDonald's at the train station but I didn't look at the burger names. I got the Big Breakfast. I think that's what they call it in the US.

[dufremle]

Well, Oktoberfest is officially over for us. Today we are just relaxing, exploring the city and doing a bit of shopping. Tomorrow we head back.

I checked, and the McDonald's Quarter Pounder is called the Royal here. Big Mac is still called the Big Mac.

[JeffStrom]

Well, Oktoberfest is officially over for us. Today we are just relaxing, exploring the city and doing a bit of shopping. Tomorrow we head back.

I checked, and the McDonald's Quarter Pounder is called the Royal here. Big Mac is still called the Big Mac.

Yeah? Is it actually"The Big Mac" or is it "Die Big Mac" or "Der GroBen Mac"

[dufremle]

Big Mac