Oktoberfest

I survived Oktoberfest!

We took off towards Munich at 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning. We traveled by bus, and it took about 5 hours with a couple of rest stops...not bad. If you all didn't know, my roommates and I signed up for a trip through bus2alps. This company plans all sorts of trips for kids studying abroad, and a trip to Oktoberfest is one of them. The price included the bus ride to and from Munich, two nights and three days at a campsite, two breakfasts and one dinner, free shuttle to the Oktoberfest grounds and a lot of beer and partying after the festival at the campsite!

We got to the camp sight and the party had already started! While we were waiting in line to "check in" (get our tent assignments and a "goody bag" filled with water, pretzels, chocolate bars, toilet paper and shower tokens)the "guides," really just a bunch of Australian beach bums who party all day everyday, gave us beer and "made" us take beer bongs.

Then we went to the festival and got there at about 4:00 p.m., quite late by Oktoberfest standards. We found our way into a tent and drank away! The atmosphere was really cool. Most people were dressed in traditional German attire and everyone was dancing on benches, singing and cheersing (Proost!in German). There was a little band with an accordion, tuba, trombone, trumpet etc. that played traditional German music. It was great! Oh and there were a TON of really really young Germans. They had to have been 13 years old! So yeah, Friday was a lot of drinking! We got lost coming home because we stayed later than our shuttle back, but we made it!

Back at the campsite the party was raging! Yes, we drank more and passed out pretty early...around 10 or so :) I'm so glad for the snacks I brought because we never ate dinner!

Sleeping in the tents was awful! We didn't have pillows, missed the memo that we needed to bring our own, and it was absolutely freezing. I don't think Ive ever been so sore from sleeping in my life.

Saturday was rough getting up but we got to the grounds by 10 a.m. We all had a really really sore spot on the top of our hands, my left and everyone else right, and we were dumbfounded as to why our hands would hurt. We soon realized it was from holding the gigantic mugs and cheersing!!

Once we got there I bought and ate an apple strudel and it was the best I've ever had! We did get oatmeal for breakfast, but I needed to get strudel since I was in Germany! Since we were so late we didn't get in a tent right away. Most people get to the grounds at 7:30 so they can get a table. We got in a tent because we tipped a waitress. Once inside though we could not find a table and you need to be sitting to get beer! Some Italians, of course, noticed our predicament and let us squeeze in at their table. They were actually a lot of fun, besides the fact that they were always asking for kisses, yuck! The atmosphere was even more fun than the tent from Friday, but it was very similar. We caught on to the cheers and songs and it was a lot of fun! There was a lot more music being played at this tent and a lot more singing!

Oh and I have the greatest respect for the beer maidens. I have NO idea how they can carry ten beers at time. The mugs were really heavy and held a liter of beer. The maidens would carry 10 or more at time and weave through all the dancing and drunkards. They had whistles they would blow to make people get out of the way. It was really funny.

Staying in the beer tent all day got a little rough. It sucked because if you steeped outside for some air you couldn't get back in the tent. It was really hot and there wasn't much air movement so at around 4 Mikaela and I went to walk around the grounds. We bought a huge pretzel and some souvenirs and then ended up sitting on "puke hill" for a bit before our shuttle came at 6. This is the huge hill at the end of the grounds where people go to either pass out or people watch. It was so fun! There were so many people to be entertained by and a LOT of passed out partiers.

We got back to the campsite and got dinner. It was hot dogs so I got bread :( I asked one of the guys if I could have some cheese and he made me a grilled cheese with fried onions...it was interesting but hey it was food! We drank and danced for a while and went to bed relatively early again.

Sunday I was done with the drinking. We got up and got a "scrambler" for breakfast with eggs and veggies and a piece of bread. Then Mikaela and I and a couple other girls we met went into the city center to explore the city while my other roommates went back to the grounds.

We walked around for a long time and saw some churches, the palace (I think), the famous English Gardens with the second biggest beer garden in the world, some surfers on a man made water enthusiast park and a bunch of other stuff! We ate lunch at a traditional German restaurant where we got some German cheese something that started with an S that turned out to be the BEST Mac 'n cheese I've ever had! And we got potato salad, again the best I've ever had. We walked around some more and came to a HUGE church. We noticed there were people at the top of a tower so we went to check it out. Turns out it was free to go up, they just asked for a donation and I gave them .60 Euro...all I had in my pocket in coins :) The view was amazing! We saw the Alps, the Oktoberfest grounds and pretty much all of Germany. I was very happy I took the day off to explore the city!

We were supposed to leave at 6:00 p.m. Sunday but two girls hadn't showed up yet. They showed right when we were pulling out of the campground, completely obliterated. They are the luckiest two girls and they had no idea! So we got going by 6:30 and made it back just before midnight. The bus was full of drunkies. It was funny cause they were so loud at first but all passed out in the first 5 minutes :)

I got back and showered immediately, since I hadn't showered for three days! Gross I know but the showers didn't have any hot water and it really wasn't worth it with all the beer spillers and smokers in the tents. I did my laundry this morning and now I'm going to hit the books. Overall I had a FANTASTIC, albeit an extremely unhealthy, weekend!