Prost to Oktoberfest!

Weekend ?? () – Munich, Germany

We woke up early morning Friday to take a 7 am bus to Munich for Oktoberfest. While grabbing Burger King before the bus, we realized that unfortunately Lauren had forgotten her passport. This meant she couldn’t get on the bus with us. Luckily, she was able to catch the bus that was only an hour after ours.

The bus ride seemed to fly by, because I had my own seat and slept most of the way. However, while we were getting off the bus I noticed a familiar face. A girl from the grade above me in high school was on our bus as well. It turns out she was studying abroad in Prague for the semester as well.

After we got to Munich, we went to a beer garden across the street to wait for Lauren to arrive. We quickly ordered beer and what we all presumed were sausage. My dish turned out to be unknown, still. Brady had a few guesses, but it honestly makes me feel better to leave in unsaid, based on the gross nature. It didn’t taste horrible, but I also would never ever eat it again. Everyone around us was dressed in their dirndls and lederhosen. We all quickly became excited about the weekend ahead of us just from the costumes and energy surrounding us. After Lauren arrived, we ubered to the AirBnB. Our host was the best host to date. She allowed us to add two other people, and accommodated all of us. At this point, it was only Lauren, Olivia, Brady, and me. The rest of our group was going to get to Munich much later, because they were taking flights. We decided it would be best to figure out the metro system to Oktoberfest, so we would be prepared the next morning (it would be too early too think). On our way to the metro, we stopped at a coffee shop nearby. I grabbed some coffee, but more importantly a salami sandwich. The first of four that I would eat over the weekend, and yes from the same coffee shop. After deciphering our route to Oktoberfest, Lauren, Brady, and Olivia went to find their outfits for the next day. I broke off to meet up with some of my high schools friends in town for the day.

They only had one day in Munich, so they were at the fair grounds already. As I walked into the Oktoberfest grounds, my mouth dropped opened. I was not expecting all of the rides, people, and food. It was way more organized and dare I might say a “thing” than I was expecting. I had heard Friday was more of the “family day,” and less crowded. It was still difficult to find my friends nonetheless. After finding them, we quickly got to catch up and hang out for a little bit. One of their friends with them was not being the most friendly to passing strangers, so we quickly diverted to outside of the fairgrounds. It made me so happy to see them, because it felt like a piece of home in Munich, Germany. I loved being abroad, but still missed my Nashville community. They brought the community with them. Sadly, they had to leave sooner than we all would have liked. They were heading straight to Innisbruck for the rest of the weekend, because they couldn’t find housing in Munich. We said our goodbyes, and I headed off to find the rest of my group.

At this point, it was nearing time for dinner. We decided to head to the original Haufbraus House for dinner that night. We texted the other Prague people who were in town for Oktoberfest, and rallied a large group to meet for dinner. On our way to dinner, we explored and saw a few monuments around Munich. I enjoyed walking around the Marienplatz the best. Once we got to dinner, the original Haufbraus house was jam packed with long lines out the door. Once we made it inside, we realized why so many people wanted to get in. There was food flying everywhere and a band playing. It was very obvious that everyone was gearing up for the big day on Saturday. Those arriving from the airport came to meet us as well. We had a great meal to kick off the Oktoberfest weekend of sausages, beef soup, pretzels, and beer. There were no complaints from anyone about the food or beer. After we ate, we decided it would be best to head back. We had a very early morning the next day.

After only 4 hours of sleep, our day started prompting at 5:30 am on Saturday morning. With 8 of us in the AirBnB and only one bathroom, we were a little cramped getting ready but made it work. Everyone put on their drindls as the excitment grew. Yurie put on her pajamas though, because she was going to buy her drindl after Oktoberfest opened. On our way to the metro, we stopped by the neighborhood coffee shop again. Another cappachino and salami sandwich, don’t mind if I do!

We had mapped out which tent we wanted to go to, and decided we should go to the back gate to line up. We grew concerned when we arrived, because there were only about 7 other people in line. We knew we were there early, but we heard that we should have gotten there even earlier. It turns out that everyone was just at the main entrance. Half of our group waited in line as Shiv, Natalie, and I went to go find a bathroom. We walked what felt like a year (15-20 minutes) to find a bathroom. There were no bathrooms close by to the Oktoberfest grounds. We also looked for umbrellas/ponchos and airplane bottles. It was supposed to rain all day, and we didn’t want to drink beer all day. The only thing we found was the bathroom. Natalie and I split off, because Shiv and Yurie went to find drindls. Soon after, Natalie and I received a text that they thought we might get let in soon. We sprinted all the way back to the fairgrounds. Our group was the very front of the line. By that point, the line had wrapped around blocks down.

Minutes before 9, everyone began antsy. The cop holding the line back advised us not to run, because we could get hurt. However, when the clock struck 9, the entire line erupted and sprinted into the fairgrounds. Even though I was at the front of the line, people quickly were sprinting past me. I was determined not to give up. I wanted to get to our tent and reserve us a table. We were going to the Schotten-Hamel tent, which is known for people our age. Despite being past in the beginning, those sprinters started to drop like flies. I kept pushing forward. Soon enough, I was back to the front of the pack. I passed the rest of our group, but once Yurie saw me pass her she picked the pace back up. I am not a runner, but the determination for a table kept me going.

Once I arrived at the tent, I got my ID checked, and then claimed three tables for us. The way to claim the tables was to stand on them until your group got there. The rest of our group soon filed in. Quickly, we ordered beers to start off the day. We danced on the table and met other people our age for hours. Other people from Prague joined us from other tent as well. My favorite part of the morning was when the band came on. I was so amazed that all of the German college age students knew every word to the songs the band played. I asked some of them how everyone knew the words. it turned out that they learned them in school growing up. That was the first time that I realized how prominent Oktoberfest was for the German community. As the morning went on and more pretzels were eaten, we all managed to get separated. We were separated because we were kicked out of Schlottenhamel for our dancing on the table repeatedly, might I add. After, I met up with Katie B and Meredith for a little bit. Next, Colin and I decided it was time to ride the rides.

Overall, I spent more money on rides than beer the entire weekend. The rides were huge and maybe not the best idea after drinking so much beer. Collin and I rode every roller coaster and upside down ride there was. I also got to meet up with my roommate from last year Tara. It was so much fun to bop around Octoberfest with her. I also ran into a girl I knew from growing up in Charlotte The whole day flew by with only a few mishaps to note. The first being Yurie and Natalie we’re not in the right mindset to keep track of their belongings, so they left their purses and jackets in the original tent. Yurie also got lost for a good period of the day, sadly. As the day continued the weather dropped faster and faster. It soon was unbearably cold, and every tent needed a reservation to come in. We decided it was time to go back to the AirBnb for the day. I grabbed another salami sandwich on our way back. Overall, Saturday was one of the best days. Tens of thousands of people all screaming with joy, and dancing. Everyone seemed so happy and to be enjoying themselves. Oktoberfest Day 2 was a success. After, we napped and ate McDonalds before going to bed for the night. As we ate our Mcdonald’s we gathered our the table in our AirBnb reliving the funny memories from the day.

Sunday morning began not as early, but still in our drindls. This time though, we had our travel backpacks strapped on our backs. I was craving Mexican, and our group obliged. There was a Mexican place around the corner. It turned out to be in a bowling alley, and the entire place was bumping with people. The food took years, but was delicious when it came out. After, we marched to the metro and to Oktoberfest to check our bags. We used Sunday to explore more of the tents. I was amazed by the wide range of individuals attending Oktoberfest. There were babies, toddlers, kids, tweens, teens, college age kids, young adults, adults, and elderly people. Not everyone, obviously, was drinking beer. Some of the people not of age were there just for the commradarity and pretzels/chicken. The family food tent was interesting to explore to see the different crowd. After meeting up with other Prague people, we went to the HB tent. The HB tent is known for being home to United States study abroad kids during Oktoberfest. We settled in, and the entertainment from the crowd began. We watched this one man one touch at least 5 of the giant beers. I waited for him to throw up, but it never happened. A boy in our group decided he would try it too. He did throw up though. A bummer.

Soon, it was time to grab our stuff and head to the bus station. I went with Katie B, Katie O, and Bethany. Their stuff was at the train station, which worked perfectly because the train station had lots of food options. I ran into a girl from the VT Lugano program there too! I didn’t eat much, because my stomach did not feel great.

We ate and then went to the bus station around the block. Our bus ended up getting delayed, but we didn’t mind just resting. To me, I learned that I enjoyed bus travel. It did help that I got my own seat both ways. This weekend turned out to be the final straw with my stomach problems. On Monday, I went to the international doctor. That was an experience on its own…..