Oktoberfest

WOW! It's been so long, so much to update and so little time! Seriously, I am sorry I haven't written in so long, I just never find a chunk of time long enough to sit down and do an entire post. About a MONTH ago, yes, it's been a month, I went to Munich, Germany with some friends for the Oktoberfest beer festival. I am sure you have all heard of it as they have other Oktoberfest celebration around the world. BUT this is where it originated! We met up with four girls that we know from our sorority at UCLA and all stayed in a hotel together that weekend. This has to be my favorite weekend trip overall thus far. As you read below, you will understand why. ENJOY <3

Okay so one of the most entertaining parts of this trip had to be how absolutely impossible it was to understand any German. Even when trying to read a map and read street names, it was hilarious to hear all of us attempt the pronuncation. this sign was across the street from our hotel and made me laugh. I just had to share...

Our quaint Holiday Inn among the cornfields! I have to say it was really nice to stay in an actually hotel as opposed to a hostel. There was even free breakfast, SCORE!

Bella and I exploring the cornfields with Katie Jo. Since there were only 3 of the 6 of us here, and we were waiting on one more who was arriving that same morning, we decided to just walk around near our hotel. IT WAS SO COLD! I am wearing three jackets in this picture as well as a shirt and a sweater and a scarf. It was one of those shocking moments when you walk off and airplane and all the sudden the temperature is completely different. I really regretted not bringing my gloves!

Pretty corn!

More exploring and catching up on our abroad experiences! After another hour or so, our fourth friend made it to the hotel and we set off to explore town! We met a really nice young woman on the metro who grew up in Munich and California. We spent about 45 minutes talking to her and she even got out a piece of paper and wrote down all of the places we should see in town and where to eat. She was so helpful and it was a great start to our trip.

So we had two full days in Munich and decided to spend Friday in the town of Munich and Saturday at the festival. When we walked out of the metro, this is the first thing we saw. It is hard to explain how i felt walking off the metro because it was just so powerful. I felt so HAPPY and joyous and excited all at the same time. I swear the vibe of Munich is probably the coolest feeling I have ever felt while traveling. Everyone was smiling and just enjoying the day. This gorgeous building above is the New Town Hall in the center of Munich.

Everyday at midday, these characters on the building come to life and sing and dance (just like in Shrek!).

You know its a good day when you are able to give directions only 5 minutes after getting off the subway! We were approached by so many people who were just friendly and looking for directions (mostly looking for Oktoberfest).

Another shot of this beautiful building. As we walked through town searching for one of the restaurant's that our metro friend recommended, I thought to myself, "I could live here," and then laughed at myself because I realized that is exactly what I heard from my dad growing up whenever we went to another cool place. But really, it just has SUCH a wonderful feel, if you haven't gotten that already from reading what I've said haha.

We ran right into the restaurant we were looking for, Weisses Brauhaus. We were told this place was good and had great authentic Bavarian food. We were all so confused because we kept hearing things about "Bavaria" and honestly none of us knew what it was. When we got home, I found out its the STATE that Munich is in. Makes sense!

The first menu our waitress handed us. Just an example of how impossible it is to figure out any German without knowing it. I dare you to read a line!

So happy to be in Germany and in a warm restaurant.

First German beer! I don't know the first thing about beer except that there are light beers and dark beers, and I pretty much just ordered this one because I liked the way it was described, but it was DELICIOUS! I mean I can't say I have had a lot of good beer being a college student and all, but compared to what I have tried in Paris and some in the state, this had to be the best one I'd had. There was no weird after taste which is usually what turns me off from beer. I really enjoyed it and got even more excited for Oktoberfest!

Potato pancakes! mmm

Bavarian food is very dense and comes in large portions, so we decided to share everything. Everything was quite tasty, with the exception of the "meatloaf" which my friends described as being more like a giant hot dog.

Pumpkin Soup!

The restaurant was HUGE and decorated very cute. This is the downstairs area. We ate upstairs in a room that reminded me of a cute cottage/grandma's house but in a nice way. If that makes sense.

Alright, so I want to recount my entire wonderful day in full detail, but it would take me hours. You'll have to ask me in person for the full story of this perfect day! This view is the top of St. Peters Church!

Loving Munich!

Friends!

Making friends in Munich!

OKAY, long story short, we joined a British bachelor party in Munich. A tour guide we met invited us for a free walking tour with the bachelor party if they were okay with it. It was actually a beer walking tour, complete with a keg and beer games. It was an absolute blast and we got a free tour of the area!

Lenny, the tour guide, played a role of a mean drill sergeant and basically yelled at the groom-to-be the whole time. He was designated "Beer-bitch" and had to drag the wagon with two kegs the whole time.

Crazy Brits...

Another pretty church!

We tried to get them to all do the DG wave, unfortunately only about 1/4 them understood. Oh well.

SATURDAY MORNING: OKTOBERFEST! We woke up at 4:30 am in order to get an early start on the day (ridiculous, I know). Since we were staying far from the festival we needed extra travel time. The festival is filled with tons of LARGE tents (the one I was in fit 10,000 people), and people get in line 2 hours early to get a table inside. We made it to line at 7:30 am. We went to the Hofbrau tent which is notorious for having a lot of young travelers from all around the world. This is just some of the crowd outside the door. It was absolute insanity. We even ran into some people we met in Paris there.

Waiting in line!

Finally inside! The reason people get in line so early is to get a table. You can reserve tables, but it is free if you can just snag one. Throughout the day, sometimes they kick people off their table if someone with a reserved table comes in. Luckily we were never kicked off of ours.

PROST! First beer in the tent. You should see how many steins the beer girls can carry at one (I saw like 15 once). It is really impressive! Everyone says "prost" as they cheers their glasses. The happy vibe of Munich was honestly just intensified in here. Everyone was so happy and warm and nice. As much as I love Paris, it was refreshing to be somewhere where everyone smiles.

Our group!

Trying to take an artsy shot!

Okay, look at the size of that thing. It was absolutely ridiculous. Every few minutes we'd here a lot of cheering and look over and watch someone on the table chug an entire glass of this. I don't understand how that is even possible, but I saw it many times. Also, about my dress, it is not a traditional dirndl that you are supposed to wear at Oktoberfest (it's actually not even a dirndl at all). I found it at a thrift store in Paris for 5 euro and decided the sleeves made it look close enough and so I just went with it. I was surprised at HOW MANY people actually wore these dresses. It was actually a little bit weird for people to not be wearing one. I loved how festive everyone was!

A shot of the tent!

Some Italians that were sitting next to us!

Bella and Katie Jo!

And the front of the tent! We spent about 5-6 hours in there. We couldn't leave or else we couldn't be able to get back in because the line was so long.

Bella and me! <3

As we were leaving after a long, long day.

Besides just beer tents, there were also lots and lots of rides at Oktoberfest. They were like American fair rides but 10 times more intense. This ride is just as tall and scary as it looks. I didn't ride any but other people told me they were a lot of fun. They also had a lot of places to get food and souvenirs and all that. There were beer gardens outside where you could order beers as well which were good if the lines were too long to get into the tents

Some of the rides!

We made it back to the hotel after a very long day and got some real food for once (instead of just pretzels and nuts at the festival). After being in a place with so many people we all really appreciated having a clean, warm shower and a bed to sleep in. We had an early morning flight Sunday and made our way back to Paris.

Moral of this blog: You HAVE to go to Munich at least once in your life. When we planned our Oktoberfest trip, I had no idea I would love Germany so much. It makes me want to explore it so much more. Maybe it was the cold weather, but it gave me the same excited happy feeling that Christmas does. I am going to Berlin at the end of November and I am hoping to fall in love with Germany all over again. Of all the places I have been, I am pleasantly surprised to say that I think Munich has to be my favorite city. Also, I really do believe everyone needs to experience Oktoberfest at least once in their life. As we were leaving and I was planning my next trip to Oktoberfest in my head, I realized how far Germany is and how expensive it would be to go for a weekend from the states and I got really sad :( I know one thing for sure, and that is that i WILL return. Even though I was in the tent for young travelers, there are tons of other tents with people of all ages, from a family tent to classy tents with champagne.