We’ve been mulling the idea of Oktoberfest for a while and, on our last skiing trip to Switzerland, we got talking to Andrew & Mel’s friends about the local version, held at Unterterzen. Beck was adamant that, if we were going to do it, she wasn’t wearing any fancy-dress crap, but rather, if we were doing it, we were doing it properly, with the genuine article. Which is how we found ourselves in Schwarzwald Couture in Freiburg on our way home. Suitably attired we now had no excuse and so we schemed a jaunt which took in not one, but three Oktoberfest’s of varying style, location and vibe. Our first stop was Manchester at the Albert Hall. The venue is a fabulous Victorian building, originally built as a Wesleyan Hall. Now it hosts concerts and events. Oh, how the clientele have changed! We rock up on a Friday early evening in September in our authentic garb. Our outfits raise a few glances on the train over and some comments, but all in good fun. We join the queue and get a bump to the front from security as we are currently THE ONLY PEOPLE WEARING DIRNDL AND LEDERHOSEN!!!!! In fact, we pretty much stay that way for the whole evening! A couple of blokes turn up in fancy dress lederhosen, but they are not a patch on Ben’s, which is the real deal. Who the hell goes to an Oktoberfest and doesn’t bother to dress up?? Well, most of Manchester as it turns out. We are approached by a guy in the queue who asks what’s going on. Beck simply laughs at him, thinking he is taking the piss and when she asks what he thinks might be going on, given the alpine beer fest vibe, he simply replies, “Oh I don’t follow all that shit.” What can you do?!
No matter the lack of authentic dress, the beer is delicious, with a decidedly craft beer take, including a blackberry and oat pale ale from Cloudwater and a watermelon wheat beer from Seven Brothers. There are more traditional beers such as Paulaner, but we figure we’ll get plenty of that on the continent and so imbibe the local stuff instead. One criticism, the steins here are plastic. I’m pretty sure no self-respecting continental Oktoberfest would put up with that and, whilst I know we Brits really can’t be trusted when let loose with booze, it would have been nice for the souvenir steins to be glass, maybe given as you left the venue. But it’s a small niggle. There are some silly games (sausage eating with plenty of innuendo) and fancy dress judging which we miss due to being on the loo! However, the winners share their prize with us – their height in beer, and, it being nearly 10.30pm, we need to run for the last train back to Bamford. But not before a good boogie to the live band (sadly I have forgotten their name, but trust me, they were brilliant!)
All in all, Manchester was a good start to our Oktoberfest run. Probably not the most authentic experience, in fact, decidedly pastiche, but fun nonetheless.
How to follow up a night of drinking and cavorting? Obviously with a niece’s birthday party, with about 20 children, in a freezing cold lake with assault course! Actually, Wild Shore, which we head to on Saturday for Sophie’s birthday party, is great fun – a giant floating playground. The sun was shining, the water was cold and it was, indeed, the perfect hangover cure. Video
A short return to Bamford to pack the car and we head off to catch the tunnel to Calais and then on to De Panne, in Belgium. On our last European jaunt, we stopped off at a nice B&B in Veurne, Belgium, about an hour or so from the tunnel. The owner couldn’t understand why we weren’t visiting the nearby coast, so, this time, we stop at the seaside to see what all the fuss is about. We conclude that we still don’t understand the attraction. We’d much rather enjoy some nice Belgian beers in the pretty little town square of Veurne, than take in the windswept expanse of muddy sea that is Belgium’s North coast. It’s probably not a place we will come back to but it serves its purpose. Not least, it gives us time to realise that Ben has forgotten his trainers, allowing us to pick up a new pair from a conveniently located Decathlon in Dunkirk.
We intersperse the Oktoberfest experiences with some physical activity, so we don’t keel over in an alcoholic daze. So, our first segment of the trip is planned as a three-day cycle through the Weinstrasse. We start at Asselheim with an Airbnb in a winery. Here the curse of the poor packing continues as Beck has forgotten her cycling shorts. Luckily, she has brought a triathlon suit for swimming in the Walensee which will do the job for now. There is another Decathlon in Neustadt if needed. We set off on day one and manage to arrive at Bad Durkheim just as it starts to rain. We stop for coffee and to dodge the shower at a weird historic brine collecting structure thing. Then it’s on, through the vineyards, to Neustadt, our stop for the night. We have time for a brew and a rest before we hop back to Asselheim on the train to collect the car. We’ve decided to do this each night, rather than carry stuff with us on the bikes. It’s a bit of a hassle, but saves one big train trip at the end of our three days, gives us more flexibility with packing and its quite nice to see the landscape from the train as well as the bike.
Ben chose the hotel in Neustadt, and as ever, he has gone for the luxury end of the spectrum. The hotel has a Michelin recommended restaurant and, starving from the day’s activities, at 6.30pm we embark on their tasting menu with wine pairing. We read the menu and think it sounds delicious. We then realise this is the amuse bouche menu, and we get all five tasty morsels as a complementary start to the evening. In order, these are:
- A carrot cream shaped like a real carrot which dissolves in your mouth
- A lamb sweetbread tart with plum puree (again one delicious mouthful with pastry that simply disappears on your tongue)
- A broccoli medallion with cashew nut crumble in a tiny pot of rich cauliflower soup
- Smoked trout foam with parsley gremolata which adds freshness to the rich fish
- Homemade ryebread with nutty spiced butter which we could eat all day long
And these are just the kitchen welcome dishes! At this point, we move on to the main tasting menu of:
- Eel – neither of us had eaten this before, and we weren’t sure about it when we ordered, but it was a revelation
- Lobster with a fig and artichoke garnish and a lobster bisque which is like a warming hug in a bowl
- Zander with cucumber and mild mustard seeds, a perfect lighter course following the richness of the menu to date
- Little Campari and orange sorbets for clearing the palate, which burst with freshness and zest in the mouth
- The main event (if a meal of 12 courses can have a main event) is lamb with an oriental sauce, chickpea disc and the richest lamb jus you’ve ever eaten
- Dessert is all things lemon but we haven’t finished there, as another, unexpected dessert of pumpkin is headed our way from the kitchen, just in case we are still feeling peckish!
All in all, the menu is pitched perfectly. For example, I doubt anyone leaves feeling like the Zander dish was their favourite, but it was a welcome change in style from the richness of the other dishes. We meet the chef at the end of the evening and chat over some of the ingredients, vowing to buy some sushi vinegar when we get home to experiment with!
We decide to pair the food with recommended wine highlights and we’re really glad we did. The sommelier is clearly a very knowledgeable guy with no pretention about heritage or name, just on the lookout for great tasting, but good value wines. We get to try a wider variety than if we’d just headed to one or two vineyards for tasting, and in an area this size, with hundreds of vineyards to choose from, we wouldn’t know where to start. Highlights included a rose fizz and a white Sylvaner. Actually, they are all tasty. The guy is really down to earth in his introductions to each glass. For example, one is described as “a train wine”. By this, he explains, “it’s 10pm, you’ve missed your last train home, and the next train isn’t until 4am. This is the wine you drink between now and then to pass the time.” Just a good value, delicious wine that will make time fly by! He also relays a story about organising a dinner in the restaurant for one of the area’s top wine makers. The client asked only for the work of young wine makers on the menu, so that he could be inspired by the next generation, and ended up predicting some of the winners at the next year’s competition. It’s great to hear about the older generation encouraging and supporting the new makers coming through. We finish up around midnight, having retried a quite few of the earlier wines just to make sure of our favourite!
The next morning, we leave it as late as possible to have breakfast, still being full from the night before. Still it doesn’t stop us managing smoked salmon, fruit, bread and cheeses off the sumptuous buffet. This place is really bad for the waistline! It’s a good job we have another day of cycling through vineyards. But first a mooch around Neustadt. The old town is formed of a pretty market square with church and some interesting street art by way of statues and fountains.
Cycling out of the town we head through numerous little villages with pretty half-timbered houses. Cycling is a great way to see the area as each place is really too small to stay but is worth a look nonetheless. Driving through you might miss a lot of these hamlets, but on the bike we can take them in alongside the countryside. The weather is drizzly today and we are glad of our waterproofs and that we aren’t hauling all our stuff with us. We have a few near misses as Beck takes a corner slightly too quickly and then has to swerve around a reversing van, but we arrive in Siebeldingen, tired but with a sense of achievement. We track back via train to Neustadt for the car, avoiding the man trying to scam people out of 100 euro at the station. A quick side trip to Decathlon for the aforementioned more padded cycling shorts sets us up and ready for day three tomorrow.
Our evening meal couldn’t be more different than last night as we opt for schnitzel and noodles in a traditional bar (which is heaving with Germans – always a good sign). It hits the spot perfectly and we head back to the hotel, thankful for the 15-minute walk to digest our dinner, and sleep soundly!
As with our last foray into the Black Forest in 2017, the weather decides to take a turn for the worst on our final day of cycling and, rather than battle through and get soaked, we decide to simply head on to Bad Herrenalb to our AirBnB to wait out the storm. It’s a good choice as the following day brightens up considerably and we get a bonus day of cycling through the Northern Black Forest. This makes a nice contrast from vineyards and is considerably hillier! We stay here for a couple of nights, meaning we also get a chance to do a longer walk, incorporating an excellent meal at the Zavelstein Hiking Hut. The walk starts off by meandering through the forest and alongside the river, lulling us into a false sense of security before swerving off the main forest path onto a steep side path which takes us up to rocky outcrops and a magnificent view point. We then pass through meadowland, before re-joining the forest and heading back to our start point.
From here we head to the second of Ben’s chosen hotels, the Therme Hotel at Bad Teinach. After our long days walk its wonderful to luxuriate in the thermal pools, including a spell in the hot outdoor pool, during a passing shower, which is both invigorating and relaxing. But first, we must navigate reception where the concierge takes one look at us, in hiking boots and sweaty from our day in the hills and questions: “You?! Have a reservation??!” We’re sure it’s just a lost in translation moment, but it really feels like he is incredulous that we might be able to afford to stay here. To be honest, we are a bit too! But good old Booking.com has come through for us and we have a fabulous night enjoying the spa facilities.
From here, we head towards the second of our three Oktoberfests, this time in Freiburg, the city which sparked it all by selling us our outfits. This turns out to be no mean feat as an accident on the main roads means we drive for about 45 minutes just to pass within about 3 miles of Bad Herrenalb, before we turn back south opting for smaller roads rather than trying to battle with the main traffic. This does mean that we get to see bin day in action in one of the small villages en route. Each and every house has piled a load of junk at the roadside for collection and we wonder where they have been storing this mass of debris up till now, and, more to the point, how long it will take to collect it all!
We make use of the excellent park and ride to get into the centre of Freiburg. This becomes even more excellent on the way out as our hotel gives us guest cards which entitle us to free use of all public transport, so we don’t even have to pay for the tram ride back to the car.
By this point, both of us have succumbed to a minor, but persistent cold, so we take an easy time of it mooching around Freiburg, taking a very undramatic funicular ride up to the top of the Schlossberg to admire the views. Ben takes on the spiral viewing tower for added height, Beck waits at the bottom, snottily, to see the photos. We need to get ourselves in tiptop condition as the evening sees us taking on Oktoberfest Part 2! This is hosted by the Ganter Brewery, a short walk from our hotel. Initially we had booked somewhere out of the city centre as we thought the address of the event management company was the address of the festival. Luckily, we realised our mistake in time to cancel and rebook a more suitably located hotel! We arrive to a traditional German oompah band playing tunes, and find our table. We are the only ones on our trestle table so far, so take the opportunity to order some food while we still have elbow room. This time, everyone is in the traditional dress, so we fit right in. Shortly after we finish eating, our table is filled with a group of seven women who work at Freiburg University. They are brilliant fun and, as the music turns from traditional to modern (think Titanic theme tune and the Macarena) we are up on the benches dancing together. One of the brass band saunters over and puts his card in the middle of the table, obviously on the look out for a partner for the evening – which brings the whole table out in fits of giggles. Ben gets talking to the guy later and, having played at Munich, he suggests that it’s too big an Oktoberfest now to be enjoyable, whereas Freiburg is about the right size. That was always our concern with Munich, so we’re glad to have gone for the smaller event. By the end of the night we have given our phone number to one of the women as she is heading to London in a couple of weeks for a city break. They have been so welcoming and friendly towards us, we can’t help but feel anxious about the sort of reception she may get in the UK as the Brexit deadline approaches, especially with our Prime Minister intent on whipping up hatred towards Europe with his warmongering rhetoric. This Oktoberfest has been a brilliant experience; singing, dancing, beer and genuine friendly warmth from the locals. We really can’t understand why our country is intent on making all of this stuff much harder and more expensive to do!
We leave Freiburg for the Black Forest and a circular walk from Obersimonswald to the Hintereck Hutte and back. The walk starts off with a steep pull up for a couple of hours, opening out into panoramic views of the valley. We hadn’t expected the hut itself to be open, so have filled up on breakfast and brought cereal bars and fruit to keep us going. But as we approach its clear that the hut is not just open, but serving plenty of people with food. It’s a Thursday, but all the information has clearly stated that the hut is only open on weekends and holidays. We put it down to a group booking meaning they have possibly opened for the general public too. Ben manages a pork steak with potatoes and sauerkraut, Beck is still full from breakfast so just takes a bread and butter pudding type affair with custard and cream! The walk continues back down through a forested river valley and then open meadows back to the car. From Obersimonswald, it’s only a 15-minute drive to Furtwangen and our AirBnB base for the next five nights. The place is lovely; spotlessly clean, with all amenities that we could need. We head into Furtwangen town, planning a big veggie meal to compensate for all the meat feasts we’ve had recently. But weirdly, none of the supermarkets are open, despite big signs outside saying: “Open till 10pm”. Google provides the answer, and it turns out its Germany Unity Day and therefore a public holiday. This is why the hut was open! For us, this means petrol station pizza for dinner! Happy Unity Day! The irony of celebrating Unity Day with the German people whilst our own government is trying to forcibly take away our right to move freely across the continent is not lost on us. Michael Gove is later heckled at the German Embassy for comparing Brexit to the German reunification and we are so glad that people are calling out this type of bullshit. Being part of the EU is such a great example of cross border unity and collaboration, which is why it’s so depressing that we are turning our backs on it.
Over the next few days the weather takes a decidedly autumnal turn for the worst – not totally unexpected given it is now October – and we hunker down in our lovely AirBnB, catching up on bits of work and other admin (jauntjournal included!) whilst taking short walks in the forest on our doorstep.
Once the weather clears we take a couple of trips around the area, the first to check out Germany’s highest waterfall at Triberg and the second, a 33km bike ride around the area. The former is made all the more impressive by the amount of rain we’ve had over the previous two days (every cloud eh?!?) and we thoroughly explore all of the surrounding footpaths, getting away from the groups who stick to the tarmacked paths directly next to the falls. Triberg itself is a bit of a tourist town, with lots of opportunity to buy cuckoo clocks and other carved wood items, but still it’s a pleasant day out on a day of sun and showers. Our bike ride the next day is an altogether more energetic affair taking us in a sort of figure of 8 around the forests, villages, hills and meadows of the local area. It’s cold but bright and we stop (after a bit of searching – it is Monday in October after all) for a bowl of soup and cake at one of the Gasthofs in the valley. It’s probably the longest and most challenging bike rides that Beck has ever done and it feels like a fitting way to end our stay in Furtwangen.
Our final stop before Murg is Hofgut Sternen, a holiday complex just South of Furtwangen. Our thinking for booking in was that there seemed to be a fair few wet weather options on site, including craft workshops and glass blowing. En route we check out Titisee, walking the circumference of the lake, a 6km loop. It’s pretty enough, but we are on our way to the Walensee which is altogether in another class!
Our stay at Hofgut Sternen gives us a Schwarzwald Red card offering free access to lots of sites and activities in the area and we make good use of this, especially on the days that the weather is poor, taking in the Badesparadise on a couple of occasions for some free swimming / spa / sliding action. We sample each of the slides and Beck gets kudos from the lifeguard on the ‘vertical plummet’ slide, a 30 metre drop of 60degree incline – it seems not many 40 year old women take on that challenge!
We also do some great walks, one a gorge walk from Schattenmuhle to Wutachmuhle, taking advantage of the free public transport included in the Red card to get us back to the start and our car.
On our final day in the area, the weather is kind and, as Drew & Mel are also away and won’t be home til late, we decide to make good use of the remaining time. First we take on the challenge of the Hasenhorn Rodelbahn which is also included on the Red card. We take the chairlift up, alongside the rodelbahn carts which are being sent back up following use. We then make a short trip up to a lookout tower on the hill, before joining the queue for the ride. Beck is up first. You are meant to leave at least 20 metres between carts and luckily the controller leaves plenty of space between the previous car and hers, telling her, with a cheeky grin: “No brakes all the way!” She feels obliged to comply and actually manages to catch up with the car ahead, despite its major head start! Ben, in the car behind, does not catch her.
From there we head on to Feldberg to get the lift up to the base of Germany’s highest peak outside of the Alps. Here we plan to do a circular-ish walk to a lake except Ben has missed the memo on this and has brought the heavy SLR camera. It turns out later that the camera bag is so heavy because it actually also has our soap bag in it, hastily stowed there as the suitcase was bulging. Still, had either of us felt the need to brush our teeth half way round the circuit, we would have been unwittingly prepared! It’s a stunning walk, with really pretty circular lake, the Feldsee, which we loop part way around and, towards the end, a great mountain hut for coffee and cake.
We’ve really enjoyed this part of our trip. Hofgut Sternen has been a weird place for us to stay – it’s clearly geared up to large groups of package tourists, particularly American and Japanese, with plenty of organised activities to occupy them (Black Forest Gateau decorating anyone?!) which is not generally our cup of tea. But it has been fun to watch the glass blowing demonstrations and the food and staff have been excellent. The Red card has been an unexpected bonus and we leave with good impressions.
But now the time has come to move on to Switzerland to check out Drew & Mel’s new place and revisit our favourite spots around the Walensee. First up, our third and final Oktoberfest of the trip. The weather is stunning and we troupe up the mountain to the Prodalp hut with an array of friends of Drew & Mel. Mel has wisely reserved a long table outside and Beck & Handy Andy (one of their friends and not to be confused with Unhandy Andy – ie Drew) are soon getting scorched as they have drawn the short straw of being slightly outside of the shade of the umbrella. Sunburn in October?! Interestingly, here we meet the lone voice in favour of our exit from the EU. It’s a Swiss national who tells us it will be great to be just like Switzerland. What he fails to pick up is that in fact, Switzerland is probably more integrated with the EU than the UK, having reciprocal freedom of movement with EU citizens, and, unlike the UK currently, being part of the Schengen area, meaning no passport controls between its borders and the rest of the EU. The Euro is accepted alongside the Swiss Franc on public transport and at many of the businesses along the border (something we could never see being accepted in the UK). It also has a free trade agreement with the EU and, in return, accepts the final authority of the European Courts of Justice and Human Rights on disputed matters. Whilst our government is intent on pursuing a no deal Brexit leaving us dependent instead on World Trade Organisation terms which leave our country open to, for example, unregulated food and drink imports (chlorinated chicken anyone?!) as, in an attempt to keep feeding ourselves, we would have to offer the same trade terms to all countries. We point this all out, giving him plenty of food for thought! Video
All in all, Oktoberfest here has just been a brilliant day, probably one of the best of the holiday so far. Steins of good beer, huge portions of food, much dancing (Mel gets accosted to dance ‘properly’ with a local), laughter, amazing scenery. Everyone looks so good in their outfits. It’s clearly the overall winner of our Oktoberfest challenge. Drew and Mel have found some great friends out here and it’s so great to see them so settled. We make the last gondola down the mountain by the skin of our teeth, after tearing ourselves away from the giant trampoline, and head to Pat & Olivia’s for pizza and kaffee lutz. We manage to avoid going on to the Unterterzen Oktoberfest that evening despite Pat’s pleas to join him and the neighbours. Instead we stop whilst it’s still fun and consequently manage a hike the next day to the Pax Mal monument and then to Walenstadtberg, stopping off for chocolate and chestnut cake at the cute little Calusa Beizli café – well worth a visit if you’re in the area. In the evening, we bbq by the lake and are joined by more friends, Frank & Fatma, for steaks and salad. BBQing in late October is a novelty that we could get used to! Actually, we get a taste for it so much that, a few days later, we take steaks over to the far side of the lake to BBQ on a secret spot we discover in Boaty, our trusty inflatable canoe. On this particular trip we manage a 10km loop of the lake, but we’ve taken the boat out most days for some fun and Beck has also swum most days and NOT EVEN IN A WETSUIT!!!! Our last few days in Murg coincide with Chilbi, the local fete, so we get stuck in to rides, games and Magenbrot. Ben helps Drew out with a little light DIY and Beck survives a go on the dodgems, with Freyja in the driving seat, with her life just about intact! Once again, Murg has provided a great holiday within a holiday. We are already looking forward to coming back in Spring and seeing how the project house has taken shape.
All that remains is to hot foot it back to Belgium for a night in Villa des Raisins, our trusty B&B of choice in Bruges, sampling a new bar, Castel Nuovo, for excellent beers, wine, coffee and cakes. From there, it’s on to the Eurotunnel and then a short four hour hop back home where the garden is slightly overgrown, but otherwise, all is exactly as we left it.