Autumn at the Dult

Sure, Oktoberfest is long over, but that doesn’t mean Munich has lost that carnival feeling. As I’ve said before, you’d be hard-pressed to visit this city when there wasn’t some sort of festival (beer-oriented or not) going on. A couple weeks ago it was the Auer Dult, a thrice-yearly event involving rides, carnival food, and lots and lots of kitchenware.

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My favorite travel planning websites

I’ve been booking most of my travel online for a good 10 years now. Lots of wonderful innovations have come out in that time, but for the past several years my approach has remained mostly the same: a few reliable go-to websites that get me what I want in a relatively efficient manner. They keep me from losing my mind when I feel myself being pulled into travel-planning-related information overload.

With the launch of several new travel sites this year, it looks like my standard approach might be about to change. While I’m excited to move on to the new and the better, I’m also pretty pleased with my current travel-planning routine. So before I review the new sites, I thought I’d write about my standard plan of attack up until now.

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Oktoberfest tip: Oide Wiesn

Historisches Wiesn: Oktoberfest’s 200th anniversary celebration

UPDATE: The historical section of Oktoberfest was such a hit that it will be back in 2011, rebranded as the Oide Wiesn. Nostalgia and beer for everyone!

Entrance to Oktoberfest in general is free, but this year, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the first Oktoberfest, visitors were offered the privilege of paying for entry to a small section of the wiesn. This section promised something special: old-timey fun.

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Mad Schuhplattler

Schuhplattler at 200th anniversary Oktoberfest from zurika on Vimeo. In honor of the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest, a historical area has been set up next to the regular old tents and rides. It costs €4 to get into the historical area, but that €4 includes all kinds of entertainment, such as fancy historical whip-cracking and … Read more

Looking for a last-minute Oktoberfest reservation?

Edited to add: Tickets are now sold out for this event. If you’re planning to attend Oktoberfest without reservations, I recommend parking yourself at an unreserved table by three or four in the afternoon at the latest if you want to spend the evening drinking (that’s on weekdays; on weekends, fuggedaboutit). Also, check out my tips for first-time Oktoberfest visitors.

I hear that there are still a few tickets available for the Democrats Abroad tables at Oktoberfest this year. Whether you’re local or coming in from out of town, this is sure to be a great opportunity to party at Oktoberfest with a fun group of people. We went to DA’s Oktoberfest tables last year, and it was a blast.

If you plan to try to spend time in the tents on a weekend, I highly recommend securing a reservation of some sort. I’m guessing there aren’t too many other opportunities still floating around out there at this late date.

When? Sunday, October 3rd, 2010

Where? Schottelhamel Tent, Oktoberfest, Munich (I haven’t been to this tent yet, so can’t comment on it.)

How do I sign up? You can purchase tickets online. [Link removed since tickets are sold out.]

More info from Democrats Abroad:

Read moreLooking for a last-minute Oktoberfest reservation?

The New York food post 2010

Our last trip to New York City was a whirlwind of friends, family, and food, topped off with a little bit of art and some volcano drama. Here were some of the culinary highlights from this time around (if you don’t feel like reading the whole post, scroll to the bottom for the best restaurant of the trip).

We arrived in New York exhausted and much later than scheduled, but dammit we weren’t going to miss a single NYC meal opportunity.

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