Oktoberfest Sequel: Day 1

Oktoberfest Sequel: Day 1

9/20/2026

Somewhere over the Atlantic - Frankfurt - Augsburg

Beers Drank: 1 each & much needed wassa

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Sleep was suboptimal on the flight. But I must’ve gotten some, or at least more than Jake. He poked me awake in time for brek service (cinnamon French toast for me, scramby eggs for Jake) and a very small coffee.

Landing seemed to take hours but we made it to the gate. Immigration was straightforward and rapid, especially to the hell that was Munich. We found our way to baggage claim with relative ease and waited for our luggage. We were crushing this.

And waited. 

And waited.

We had a high speed train ticket as part of our plane ticket and the time to board said train was rapidly approaching. Jake found a United rep who said we had to go to B arrivals where Lufthansa had their baggage tracker. Frankfurt is a giant airport, and spoiler: B arrivals was not close. Jake’s anxiety was already high and climbing by the step. Once we found the desk, we got in line and waited some more. I could feel Jake’s blood pressure at this point. Once it was our turn, we learned there is in fact a separate baggage claim for train transfers. Good to know. Would’ve been better had the luggage drop off staff had mentioned that when I asked if we needed to collect our checked luggage in Frankfurt, but details. 

Lesson 1: Train tickets have a separate baggage claim in Frankfut.

So off we headed to that baggage claim, the train transfer baggage claim. Make this make sense! Anywho, Jake took off running to grab the luggage while I power walked as quickly as my hurting back would allow. Sleeping in a seated position is harder each year, I am finding. 

Despite showing up 20 minutes behind the scheduled train departure, we learned it was delayed and had more than a couple minutes to catch our breath.

When the train arrived it was very, very long. And we had assigned seats. Smart, long-term readers will know that we knew exactly where we needed to go. Hah! There was mild panicking but by some greater power we had been waiting at the stop where our assigned cabin was. 

Lesson 2: Look at your ICE seat assignment prior to the train arriving. Yes, the electric signs will tell where to stand to get on the correct cabin. 

The high speed train was nice, comfortable seats next to big windows. I tried to read my kindle to stay awake while Jake chatted to his neighbor. Spoiler: I fell asleep anyways.

Jake learned there was a restaurant cabin on the train and ventured all the way to the end to find it. Bless his hunter gathering nature cuz he returned with waters. Sorry, wassa. Much needed wassa.

Lesson 3: Hydration is very, very important.

After arriving in Augsburg, we decided to test our memories and attempted to navigate to our favorite hotel sans navigation. We made it almost the whole way there, we peeked just once. Our room this time overlooks the back but it is still cozy and amazing. Dom Hotel, massive shout out! We unpacked and relaxed while being horizontal for a bit while looking at what might be open for food. Cuz German Sundays.

We gathered up our strength and ventured towards the center of town. Pickin’s were slim but we stopped at a very busy Asian fusion restaurant (we will be eating our weight in wurst, spaeztle, and schnitzel soon enough). It was nice that Japanese sushi is in, well, Japanese, and mores specifically Japanese words we recognize, to speed up our food decision. We did order German beer tho…

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