Knowing that this will sound extremely cliche, I just want to say that the past five days display exactly why I came to Europe. I just got back to my room, and I had left on Thursday morning. It has been a whirlwind that included the right combination of adventure, alcohol, culture, and independence. I am aware that the volume of stories from the last five days will probably bore most of you (or at least Nikki, if she's actually reading this), so I am only going to write about Oktoberfest today, and I will save today's great adventure for tomorrow.
Anyway, Thursday night I stayed at Jenny's dorm because we had to catch a 7am bus to Munich. The adventure truly began at the bus station when I realized that my passport was not in my bag where I thought it was. I did a quick check but couldn't find it, but I decided to get on the bus anyway and hope that they didn't stop us at the border. (It's very uncommon for them to do so when you travel within the E.U., but you're supposed to have it anyway). I made it to Munich without a problem, but I knew I had to stay out of trouble since I was technically there illegally.
After six hours on the bus we made it to Munich where we managed to find Jenny's friends from Fordham and the Hilton where we were staying. (You're probably thinking, "The Hilton? Isn't she on a college budget?" but just wait and I'll get to that explanation soon!) Anyway, after checking in we headed straight to Oktoberfest.
Oktoberfest. I can honestly say that I knew nothing about it ahead of time except for that it involved beer, usually in large quantities. I had uncharacteristically failed to Google it, so it was all a complete surprise. I should have known the magnitude of the festival when we got on the metro and were stared at for being almost the only ones NOT wearing LEDERHOSEN and DIRNDLS (the traditional German dresses... think of beer commercials). EVERYONE, from small children to elderly, were wearing those outfits. I have never felt so out of place when dressed so normally.
When we came out of the metro, I was in shock. I felt like I was at Disney because there were carnival rides and stands EVERYWHERE! We made our way to the first beer "tent" that we could find. These "tents" are not so much tents as they are giant temporary buildings. The tent we found a place at was the Haufbrau tent, operated by the famous Haufbrauhaus. We sat outside and in no time the waitress had carried over all of our beers AT ONCE.
These were not ordinary beers. Not only did they cost 8.55€, but they were giant. Let me just say that I have an actual bruise on my hand from the weight of the mug. Anyway, we had a great time at HB on Friday getting to know people from all over the world who were around us. We finally left to head back to the hotel. On our way to the metro we ran into a little trouble. Remember when I went to Munich earlier in the month and commented on how many bikes there were in the city, well in her post-HB state, one of the girls we were with decided to sit on a random one and start riding it down the street. We turned around in time to see her being stopped by the German police for stealing. Somehow she was able to get out of it, despite the fact that all she kept telling them was that "in America it's only a joyride!" In my passportless state I was slightly worried about a run-in with the police but we made it out okay!
We headed back to the hotel where we realized that some of the boys weren't with us, including the boy with the key to the boys' room. That meant that the boys stayed in our room, bringing our grand total of guests to 10. (Yes, that is how we managed to afford a Hilton-7 girls splitting one room brings the cost down quickly!)
Sorry that this is so long! I will attempt to be more brief! Saturday we tried to get there early but the previous days activities made getting up difficult, and even more difficult for some of us. We ended up getting to Oktoberfest in two separate groups. The first group was able to get a table at a tent, but four of us waited outside of that tent for almost three hours without being able to enter. We finally gave up and decided to try HB even though they had an even longer line. We were the last people in line when a woman asked us how many we were. When we told her four this waitress escorted us past all different security checkpoints, THROUGH THE KITCHEN, and to a table. The best part was that a little while later she coincidentally brought two people in the same way and they were people that were staying with us! Eventually everyone else was able to get in and to our table, so we had a great afternoon.
All in all it was a great Oktoberfest experience. Sunday morning we checked out and everyone left around one to catch their busses and planes back to different parts of Europe. Unfortunately there was a problem with my ticket, so I was on the 11:40PM bus. Jenny left at one too, so it was just Munich and me! I had ten hours with no hotel so I felt slightly homeless. Thankfully it was Sunday and not a single store was open, so I was able to save my wallet (especially after those 8.55€ beers)! I ended up really enjoying my day to myself. Thankfully I had only brought a backpack for the weekend because I walked all over Munich to pass the time. I wandered from about 1pm to 7pm, picking random parks, gardens, and tourist attractions on the map to go see. I had bought the book The Economic Naturalist in Prague, and I was able to finish it throughout the day. I also listened to a lot of street musicians and string quartets that were performing all over. When I really, really had to go to the bathroom I paid the entrance fee at a modern art museum and used their bathroom. I then wandered around the museum. The day was good for some self-discovery, because I realized that no matter how hard I try I will never have a true appreciation for modern art.
Finally around seven I decided to grab some ice cream and then headed to the bus station. I sat at the deserted bus station for about 4 hours, but my 11:40 bus finally came. I arrived in Prague at 5 am after getting an hour of sleep on the bus and my next adventure began. I will tell you all about it tomorrow. (I'm so excited!) For now I am off to catch up on sleep. (And for those of you who were worried, I tore my room apart when I got back and still couldn't find my passport, so I went back to where I thought it had been all along and it was hidden inside a map! Crisis averted.)
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