September was a bit like August: you know, part of the year 2010, a mixture of sunshine & showers, and a time of seeing lots of friends. The main difference was that where in August I went to the world, in September the world came to me. The reason for this sudden popularity of the idea of visiting Rich in Munich? You guessed it: Oktoberfest!

There was life before Oktoberfest however this month: I popped up to Nuremberg for a day to catch up with Johannes & Alan, who were over from Sydney and spending a month or so travelling around Europe. We did the new art museum, walked round town, and visited the transport museum as well (full of trains). Good fun - especially the Bohemian restaurant we stumbled across in the Old Town.

Bernhard & I finally made it into the Alps for a day too, something we'd talked about again & again since about April. We caught the train to Schliersee, then went to Spitzingsee and walked up the Rotwand. Lunch at the restaurant near the top was splendid, and the weather was just perfect: sunny but fresh, so we didn't get too sweaty.

I visited the Allianz Arena stadium with my mate Matthias from Augsburg. Even though I'm not into football, it was an impressive spectacle. So big! So well designed! Food for thought - which we followed up with proper food in the form of divine Schnitzels just round the corner from my place in a restaurant called Giasinga.

And then it was upon us: the Oktoberfest (or Wiesn, as Bavarians call it). My first set of guests were Andy, Emmanuel & Stefan from Saarbrücken. Andy hadn't been back to the Fest since that time we went with Isa back in '02, and his two work colleagues had never been. They had a wild time!

Unfortunately, I was unable to join them in their tent (they had queued to get in from eight in the morning), so instead I sat in the beergarden of the Augustiner tent with Bénédicte, Marie-Laure, and two of Béné's friends from Amsterdam, Marcel & Jaap. It was a classic Oktoberfest day: too much beer, much silliness, and some madness on rides to round it all off.

I headed on to Schwabing after that full day of drinking to drink some more, with Bernhard & some of his friends from his days as a canoe guide in Sweden. Sara, Benjamin & Jutta were good fun, and we ended up dancing the night away in the Gasthaus zur Brezn.

Some non-Wiesn highlights included lunch with Gabi & Giovanna at a splendiferous little Italian hidden in full view downstairs in the Hauptbahnhof, brunch with Holger in "Maria" in the Glockenbachviertel, and dinner in the Indian near my church choir rehearsals with the usual choir crew.

But back to the Wiesn: I went along on the Monday night with EPO people, and again on Tuesday night with Bernhard & his friend Steffi. Then my liver had a few days' rest before Ali & Charlotte flew into town. We did the Wiesn BIG STYLE on Friday - but not before lining our stomachs with some cheese and Federweißer (which is this year's not-quite-finished-fermenting white wine: tasty but seriously bad for your head!), then having a few shots at the Wiesn, and then getting stuck in to the ales.

It all got a bit messy, especially when the weather suddenly turned from hot & sunny to cold, windy & pissing with rain. But that didn't stop us going on a few rides before catching the bus back to mine. The girls crashed pretty quickly after that, but I had to wait up because Lorna was flying in that night and her plane was delayed by the self-same storms.

Saturday was a bit of a washout, both in terms of weather and our physical & psychological wellbeing. Poor Lorna! She was desperate to catch up, but none of us could really face it. Not that that stopped us; by the evening we were having a few beers in the Funkstadl (having singularly failed to get in anywhere on the Wiesn and given up to find beer elsewhere).

We made a better fist of it on Sunday, with brunch round the corner from mine at Edelweiß, after which Charlotte had to fly home to Dusseldorf. I slipped away for a cheeky choir rehearsal, then rejoined Ali & Lorna at the Augustiner in the Arnulfstraße. From there we went to Pardi, Lorna's favourite Turkish restaurant just ronud the corner from where she used to live in Neuhausen. It is STILL delicious!

Lorna left early on Monday morning, but Ali still had time for breakfast with me in Haidhausen before she had to head to the airport. Then I had just over 24 hours to get my house in order before my next batch of visitors: Hamish & Rod from Edinburgh.

We did the Wiesn in a BIG way on Wednesday, getting there for lunch with Michaela, Danielle, Dave & Tim. Then I slipped away for another cheeky choir rehearsal before rejoining Dan & Dave, as well as Bénédicte, Marie-Laure & Corinne, at the Löwernbräukeller for an After-Wiesn party. Ouch my poor liver!

Thursday was a little calmer, with just a few Weißbiers at the Wiesn with Hamish, but Friday was mad busy again. In the morning I went with Hamish & Rod to the BMW World near Olympiapark, in the afternoon we walked all through town, meeting Johannes for a quick coffee at Hauptbahnhof (he was just passing through), and that evening Béné had tickets for seats at a table in the Hackerzelt. After the obligatory two litres of beer, we headed out of the tent and ran into Marie-Laure & her friend Roger, then walked round the Wiesn for a while. A busy day.

The final Saturday was calm, but the Sunday was once more a beer-soaked frenzy: Bernhard & I had seats from midday at a table in the Schottenhamel with Christoph, Ekke, Peter, Stefan, Ivo & Patrick. It was going to be my last day at this year's Oktoberfest, so I went for it in a BIIIG way. Some ten hours & five litres of beer later, it was time to go...

And that, as they say, is that. There's lots to tell ALREADY about October, but I think I'll leave this post here for now. Big hugs to you all, my dear readers!