Munich (München), Germany (10/02/2012-10/04/2012)

First - apologies for the ~1 year hiatus .... it's been busy to say the least. 

Whenever Munich is mentioned, the first thing that often comes to mind is Oktoberfest, the 16-day long festival with its origins in celebrating the marriage of King Ludwig I, now associated with copious consumption of beer, grilled pork in various forms, and massive tents in which to do so.

Of course we were there for Oktoberfest, and actually in October (as most of it takes place in September).  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves - it was fun. Seeing thousands of happy Germans (normally quite stoic) was also a rare treat.

The city itself is beautiful - Gothic architecture, wide cobblestone streets,  and impeccably clean and efficient (even with 6 million tourists rampaging through).  It would be a shame to just see Oktoberfest.  

Munich is also home to one of the most impressive science and engineering museums I've ever seen - they have cross-sections of entire commercial jets (no Smithsonian, but close), rooms dedicated to essential components of modern mechanical engineering (engines, gears, piping, electricity generation), an entire section dedicated to bio- and nanotechnology and even a multi-story model mine beneath the museum that takes nearly an hour to navigate through.  It was a science nerd's dream and I only wish we had more time to see it. 

Last, we drove from Munich to Switzerland on the autobahn. Regrettably we had a diesel and I wasn't quite in the mood to rent a sports car for crossing countries.  Not very concerned about this as I know we'll be back.