Oktoberfest!!!


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Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Munich
October 4th 2008
Published: October 14th 2008
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Smallest room everSmallest room everSmallest room ever

5 people shared this tiny room, please picture four of us lying sideways and one on the floor.
So what can I say about Oktoberfest other than crazy. Seriously crazy. Molly, Daisy, John and I left for Bavaria on Thursday night taking a nine-hour bus ride from Florence to Munich. Now this bus ride could have been more interesting if was taken during the day, instead though we went through the night. Leaving at 9pm and arriving at our Hotel at around 6 am. Ashley and I purchased the room in August and assumed we would be able to cut the cost by inviting our three friends to stay with us... Probably one of the most interesting sleeping arrangements I have ever done. Similar to sardines in a can, lined up against each other, if one person turned then everyone else had to also. It may have been worse than sleeping in a bathtub, which the room didn't have. I had called the hotel the day before letting them know that we would be arriving early on Friday as opposed to arriving on Thursday, which we paid for. The hotel then gave our larger room away because we never called ahead of time to let them know that we would be late. Well I have the charge on my
Lets GO!Lets GO!Lets GO!

First getting into Munich.
cell phone bill to prove that I did in fact call and talk to someone for a whole 3 minutes. Anyways, Ashley and her friends got dressed much quicker than Molly and I, so they left and we finished getting ready to start our major day of tasting beers. Meeting up with John and Daisy at the entrance to the tents, we started at around 10 am in the Hippodrom tent. Now being the novices that we were it did not occur to us that it would be at all difficult to get into a tent at 10 am. They had just opened at that point. We were however sorely disappointed when we found out that the tent was filled to capacity and that no one else could get inside. Walking around for a bit completely overwhelmed by the amount of people and the fact that we know absolutely no German, our group headed towards the beer-garden located on the side of the tent. Basically set up for the people who could not get into a tent but still wanted to drink the local brew like ourselves. Starting a new trend the four of us sat at a deserted beer-garden
The TentsThe TentsThe Tents

One of the entrances to Oktoberfest.
praying that we were doing this whole Oktoberfest thing correct. Ordering a round first, which is cheaper than paying per beer by the way, we all just sat and soaked up the atmosphere. More people started to arrive about half an hour later along with the rain, luckily there was a covered area in the beer-garden. Slowly making friends with the Italian and German guys that sat down next to us, we began to unwind and enjoy the experience of not understanding what everyone was saying but still understanding them at the same time. It was surreal being in Munich with so many different people from all over Europe and the States.

Around stein number three I became my usual self, not my shy reserved Kelli that likes to read when bored but a person who likes standing on benches yelling "PROST!” I honestly do not know what was going on, maybe it was the delicious amber ale or maybe it was being in Germany where people can actually say my last name correctly, but I truly enjoyed sitting on that bench all day, and not once got bored. Daisy is probably the funniest person to watch when she
Tradition valuesTradition valuesTradition values

Some of the traditional Bavarian outfits, which everyone seemed to be wearing.
is enjoying a stein. Everything that she says can be taken a completely different way, which Molly would point out to her. Singing German football songs and attempting to speak German using my handy dandy German language book, we were able to make the entire table laugh with random phrases that were phonically written out. Things like "Can I breast-feed here?" or "Are you handicap?" or a variety of other things not suitable to be written on the Internet.

Sometime around 3 pm Molly, Daisy and our new German friends left to go on the carnival style rides outside of the tent area. Leaving John and I to make friends with some guys from Amsterdam, who I later stayed out with after everyone had left around 8 pm. Everything around this time is a little fuzzy because well I was at the tents from 10 am and had not stopped the arrival of steins. Some of the pictures that Molly took are interesting and sum up my day pretty well. The only bummer about the whole weekend was that after everyone left (which in retrospect I should have left with them (not that I didn't enjoy myself with the
#1#1#1

First beer of the day. At 10:30 am.
Amsterdam boys)), someone had stolen everything out of my purse. Including my wallet, which had all of my money, passport, credit cards and various other ids. Also my new camera and sunglasses, value wise it came out to about $1000 worth of stuff. The good news was that everything was replaceable, but at the time when I realized it was missing at 2 am, it felt like the end of the world.

Side note: About four days after coming home from Munich, Molly got an email saying that this guy had found my wallet and its contents minus my cash, and had turned it into the American Consulate. Okay, amazing but I still am baffled that this person contacted Molly instead of me. I don't think that I had any email addresses in my wallet, but I guess I must have had Molly's or else they never would have been able to contact anyone. I have already replaced everything including getting a new passport with a picture that looks like a mug shot of me in prison. Any who...


End of day one.

Saturday, we started our day off at 8 am, leaving our hotel at 9 am. Now at this point I wanted to die because, a) I was hung over.
b) I had absolutely no money and had to rely on Molly completely.
c) I had eaten nothing solid in about 24 hours.
d) I had gotten home at 3 am.
Now usually at school we have a recovery period where a person does nothing but sit on the couch and order pizza. Not so in Germany, we were at Oktoberfest and if we didn't get to the tent SUPER early we would never get inside. Okay cool I completely understand but at least let me eat a danish before we commence with the drinking. The main reason we had to be there early was because it was the day that our spandex made its debut. A random shopping trip to American Apparel, I found an inspiring pair of red lamé spandex pants from which I added a fanny pack and red lamé headband to complete the look. Molly had a similar outfit in gold, while Daisy had purple and John wore highlighter yellow. Walking down the street was weird because not only was everyone staring at us (which we expected), they were laughing
Double dose.Double dose.Double dose.

Daisy and Molly enjoying the German brew.
at us (which we should have expected).

So we arrived at the tents way before they were even open, along with half of Germany. I did not expect to see so many people and the fact that they had arrived even earlier than our group was baffling. The worst part was that even though we were there early, we still did not get into a tent. Molly, Daisy and John all rushed inside as soon as the doors opened, but being the novices that we were did not stand on a table fast enough to secure a spot. While this running of the bulls was going on, I was nursing my head over a terrible cup of coffee and something that may have at one point resembled bread. It was interesting to watch the procession of people trying to get inside, because not only were people running everywhere, they were literally running over people, crushing them just outside the doors. So instead of taking our places at a table inside, we sat outside the Hippodrom in the beer-garden at the same table we were at the night before again.

Saturday was somewhat more eventful than the day before,
#2#2#2

Notice Molly's face.
mostly because I actually can recall the entire day. Spending the first half of the day at the tents, making plenty of friends, who also wanted their pictures taken with us because of our spandex creations. Singing a terrible rendition of the German football song and getting everyone around us to join in as well. The second half was spent in the actual carnival part of Oktoberfest, which had all the rides that would be found at the county fairs in Washington. Walking around the park, I got a better understanding of how a famous person must feel like. Getting stopped every few minutes and asked to have our picture taken, I was rather sick of it by the end of the day and glad to be in "normal" clothing the next day.

I will not write more about Saturday, because it would just be too redundant.

End of day two.

Sunday, Molly and I spent the day figuring out the S-Baum (I think I am completely spelling that wrong) in order to go to Dachau. This was the most upsetting thing I have ever seen in my life. You can learn about something in school, but
PROST!PROST!PROST!

The way Germans say cheers.
to actually go and see the concentration camp is an experience I will never forget. Walking around the site and seeing that it was so barren and empty, just imagining thousands of people suck in a hellhole and being killed for their beliefs, makes me appreciate life so much more. The site is not very large at all, so Molly and I were able to walk around the place in a few hours. We did not take any pictures of Dachau because Molly and I felt that nothing could capture the emotions of the space and the heartbreak that so many people must feel knowing that one of their relatives died there.

I realize that Dachau is a terribly sad note to end this amazing weekend with, but it has so much significance that I feel it is the best place for it.




Additional photos below
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Red featherRed feather
Red feather

Trying to show my German roots.
CrowdedCrowded
Crowded

Just a few of the people that were at the tents on Friday.
Ear splitting fun.Ear splitting fun.
Ear splitting fun.

John attacking me.
Inner beauty.Inner beauty.
Inner beauty.

A look inside the Hippodrom tent.
Outer beauty.Outer beauty.
Outer beauty.

The view outside the Hippodrom.
Day two Day two
Day two

Spandex pants and German beer girls what could be better.


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