13 Thursday Dec 2012
Mr. Selfish and I have arrived in Lisbon. This is our 26th and last city on our European/North African tour. We are here for four days in Lisbon and then we leave for the States. We are quite excited to be going home. Can’t wait to see everyone for the holidays!
For those of you interested, here’s the map of our last four months:
15 Monday Oct 2012
Tags
Bavarian Food, BMW Welt, Germany, Munich, Olympic Park, Spatzle
On our last day in Munich, Mr. Selfish and I went to the BMW Welt and Olympic Park, both of which are in the northern part of the city. Although both were interesting, we wished that we had spent another day at Oktoberfest.
The Olympic Park was the site of the 1972 summer Olympics. Despite being over 40 years old, it looks quite modern. Apparently, they still hold events at the Olympic Park (i.e., Nickelback concert). Also at Olympic Park is the BMW Welt, which is an exhibition hall for BMW. You can even pick up your brand new BMW from the Welt. It was a nice exhibition hall but neither Mr. Selfish or I are that interested in cars. (My dad would’ve loved it though.)
14 Sunday Oct 2012
Posted in Europe, Food & Drinks, Germany
Tags
City Center, Englischen Garten, English Gardens, Germany, Marienplatz, Munich, Odeonsplatz, Peterskirche, Rathaus, St. Peter's Church, Viktualienmarkt
Even aside from Oktoberfest, Munich was a lovely city. Mr. Selfish and I enjoyed sightseeing in its city center. We typically started at Marienplatz, which contains the epic looking Rathaus (city hall).
13 Saturday Oct 2012
Posted in Europe, Food & Drinks, Germany
Tags
Mr. Selfish and I made plans to be in Munich during Oktoberfest. We didn’t really know much about Oktoberfest – other than that there was lots of beer drinking.
We learned that Oktoberfest originally celebrated the marriage of Prince Ludwig to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, which was on October 12, 1810. Today, Oktoberfest continues as an annual 16-day Bavarian festival beginning in late September through early October.
Oktoberfest is celebrated on Theresa’s meadows, which is about a 20 minute subway ride away from city center. I didn’t realize that there would be roller coaster rides, a ferris wheel, and tons of other rides. However, the most festive aspect of Oktoberfest is that about half of the population is dressed in traditional Bavarian clothing.
31 Friday Aug 2012
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In May, Mr. Selfish and I spent eleven days in Berlin. This was the longest time we had ever stayed in one city while on vacation. It was a precursor to this ultimate “Selfish” year. We stayed in an apartment, grocery shopped, cooked in, and generally took it easy in Berlin.
One of the most memorable things that we did in Berlin was the Peristal Singum labyrinth. The labyrinth was built by hippies in what seems like a large abandoned apartment building. Interestingly, the labyrinth is next to a bar/dance club called the Salon Zur Wilden Renate. You order drinks and pay the person at the bar 10 euros to go into the labyrinth. You then sit in the outside courtyard and enjoy your drinks, and eventually, someone comes and brings you into the labyrinth.
The person that retrieved me was a goth looking girl with a husky voice. She gave me a gold coin and told me that I needed it to enter the labyrinth. She then told me to leave all my bad thoughts in the foyer area and enter the labyrinth. I put the gold coin into a door and then went down a slide.
