OKTOBERFEST!

Good news...we survived Oktoberfest and had an AMAZING weekend! Bad news...I'm really sick :( I guess the lack of sleep, drastic change to freezing weather, and all the craziness that was going on just got to me. So that's unfortunate. Went to the doctor this morning-  they took samples of my nose and throat to see if its a bacterial or viral infection...but we won't find out for awhile. In the mean time, I got some medicine to help boost my immunity and will be resting and drinking a lot of tea and water for the next few days. Anyways....I have to post about the weekend- it was definitely everything that I had heard and more. I now fully understand what people mean when they say that Oktoberfest is probably the most fun, crazy, insane, unique festival on the planet.

FRIDAY
So our flight was at 7:30 am friday morning. As of about 8:00 on thursday night, Court and I were planning on taking the metro to the airport around 12:30, then sleeping in the airport until our flight. (the metro is closed from 1:30-6 so we couldn't have taken it in the morning...and we're cheap and didn't want to pay for a cab) but....a night of sleeping in our own beds was just too tempting, so we instead woke up at 4:45 am and took a cab to the airport. Flight went well, and we landed in Munich around 10. The second that we walked off the plane into the jetway, we could already feel the bitter cold. Needless to say, it was quite the change in temperature from sunny, hot Madrid. Well, we figured out how to use the metros/train relatively easily (shocker), and made it to our hotel by about 11:30. Let me tell you though, it made me realize how great the Madrid metro is...really, I was getting so fed up with the ones in Germany- how long they take, how expensive they are, much less modern...I guess now I understand why everyone says Madrid's transportation is the best! For the afternoon, we went to the main city center of Munich and just walked around and explored- bought one of the famous German pretzels with cheese on it..SO delicious...and got our dirndls!!!

(Those are the German dresses that the women all wear to Oktoberfest:)) The city was really beautiful to see- so many massive buildings and crazy architecture...I wish we had had more time to explore.

by the way...i really can't get over these german words. this wasn't even the best one

     By the time we headed back to the hotel, we were able to meet up with Victoria and Lisa, who are studying abroad in London and were sharing a hotel room with us. We then all got ready and headed out for our first night at Oktoberfest! So, I really don't even know how to describe this, but let me just say that it was like nothing I've ever seen. The amount of people? Insane. And the amount of drunk people? Even more insane. But not only that...it was an entire festival- like a fair at home but a lot bigger and everyone was wearing German clothes! It was so funny looking around and seeing everyone in different types of dirndls and lederhosens (what the guys wear). We walked around and took in everything- the people, the food, the rides, the music....it was all so great. So there are I believe 14 beer tents? And people get there extremely early in the morning to wait in line to get inside- because they fill up and then it's almost impossible to get in. But when you arrive later in the afternoon, around when we got there, you have a chance because there are people who have been there all day and are ready to leave. So we decided to wait outside the Hofbrau- one of the most popular ones. We were crammed in a mob of people all waiting to try and get in...it was pretty hilarious, every time people left, or the security guard went to let someone in, everyone went crazy and started pushing to get up front and yelling and geez it was madness.

But, we finally made it in, to the "beer garden" area, which is kind of like the big patio area. So they sit you down, and of course, right off the bat you have to order a beer. (which is 10 euro by the way) But this is not just any beer. Each one is literally 1 liter of beer. That is a lot of beer. And they serve it in these huge mugs, so you look around, and every table is filled with these humongous mugs of beer. I was quite proud of myself- even with my dislike of beer, I was able to do it. I did have help finishing the first one, but hey, I drank most of it. We sat at a big table and met people from all over the world. It was great because everyone is so friendly and just wants to have a good time- so you meet so many people and its such a great time. There were these crazy Italian guys behind us...let's just say they had had a lot of beers already. They literally had a dog leash with them, and were attaching it to us and trying to pull us toward them. Where else would something like that happen!? only at Oktoberfest. But everyone else near us was relatively normal, we had a great time and learned some cool German cheers and songs and chants and what not. Around 11, when the tents close, we left to wander around some more, then headed back to the hotel. Successful first day!

Had to get a famous pretzel of course! sooo delicious!

First beer of the weekend!

SATURDAY
So...since Saturday was our only full day, we wanted to make the most of it. In order to make it into a tent, we woke up around 6:45. Unfortunately, the night before was when I started to not feel good, so I barely slept at all because I was up coughing all night. In the morning, I was definitely still not feeling great...but I had to push through! We got there and headed straight for Hofbrau, since this was 'the tent to be in'. After tons of waiting in lines, pushing through mobs, being moved to different places, and being told a thousand different things...we made it in!


Once we got inside, we found a lot of other USD people from our program, and we also somehow were able to meet up with some of our friends from USD who are studying in other countries! We got our beer (at 9 am in the morning...) and started our day off right:) We had a blast just hanging out, talking to people, and just absorbing everything. around 11, they came and kicked us out, because I guess the tables we were at were reserved. So that was a bummer, especially since we walked outside and it was pouring rain :(

     So we decided to try out another tent, since Hofbrau was so packed. Everywhere was crazy busy and full, so we ended up waiting outside for about 2 hours (in the pouring rain) and were starting to wonder if it was possible to even get in again. (Got another bratwurst while waiting...soo worth it) Some of the people we were with ended up leaving, but we stuck it out, and ended up getting in! It was so nice to just be out of the rain and the cold, and back to the craziness. So we stayed in that tent for the afternoon- I finished my first liter all on my own, we met some Australians, some other Germans, more Italians...and despite me being sick, still managed to have a great time. I almost lost my camera, which was a bad scare, because that would've put a pretty big damper on the trip. But everyone helped me look for it, and we luckily eventually found it under the table, covered in beer and who knows what else---but I cleaned it off and its now as good as new!

     We headed out around 5ish, because it had been a long day and we decided it would be smart to go back and get some rest. So we did just that- got a good nap in, which was definitely necessary. Around 7:30 we went back to the city center and found a restaurant where we had an authentic German meal. Homemade cheese bread to start, and i had schnitzel as my main course (breaded veal) which was delicious! Well, to be honest, I couldn't 100% taste it because of me being sick, but...from what I could tell it was pretty darn good. 

Afterwards, we went back to Oktoberfest, just to walk around one last time, and Victoria wanted to buy some souvenirs. We ended up walking into Hofbrau (since it was the end of the night, you could walk right in) and walking through at 10:30 on the last Saturday night was absolutely INSANE. It was so much fun, even just being there for such a short time, to experience it. Everyone was singing, dancing, up on the tables, there were more people than you could ever imagine. It was amazing. 

Well...that's pretty much it! Sunday we just woke up and headed to the airport...flight was at 11:40 but it was quite the long venture to make it back to the airport. It was nice to get back to Madrid- actually comforting to hear people speaking Spanish, which is pretty funny. Also, it really felt like we were really coming home as we got off the metro and were walking to our place. Overall, I am SO glad that I went. I'd say that Oktoberfest is something that everyone should experience once in their life. It's like nothing else in the world, and it's impossible to fully understand without being there to witness it. Now, it's time to get myself better, and start studying for midterms next week :( ugh. Hopefully my next post will find me cured of whatever I have! Auf Wiedersehen! Till next time!

:)