Best weekend of my life just there...

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Im writing this one from London, there was no time in Germany for blogging - ok so there was a bit of time this afternoon, but I was in no state to be putting fingers to keys!! The entry would have been all 'OMG it was amazing" "OMG it was so cool" blah blah blah! following a bit of time for contemplation on our flight, a wee bit of sleep, some sleep & the fact that i have stopped shaking FINALLY I think i am in a much better place! haha

The sleeper train arrives, 2.5hrs late! what the heck?? how on earth is this possible? Did the train driver pull over for a wee kip on his way? no idea - anyway, we eventually make it to our hotel to meet everyone else! HOORAY! the excitement really starts to begin, then it is every so slightly drowned out by the fact that this lot are all fairly hung from the previous nights lear up down the road! typical! It does mean that we are just in time to jump in their showers though & head over the other side of Munich to Dachau & check out the concentration camp there! Wow, well worth the trip that really wasn't actually very far at all - we all hired the audio guides & made our ways around the area! There was just so much to take in and really no way we were ever going to fully comprehend the whole enormousness of it all but there were many moments when our jaws dropped listening to the horrors of what went on at these places! and Dachau isn't even one of the really bad ones - apparently their gas chamber was never used! Didn't make it any less airey though walking through there though! The crematorium was horrendous - they would hang people infront of the burners so they could just chuck them in once they were dead - i don't think ill give them points for their efficiency here!!!
Our first taste of sausage was had here at the Concentration Camp Cafe - hmm this isn't sounding ideal i know - but anyway it was delicious... now it must be time for a beer already?? Back in to town and it was Amazing Race styles as we ran through the city centre trying to find the Haufbrau House where Lou, Hursty & Trac were saving us a table - thank goodness today wasn't an elimination round - we all made it & had beers in our hands mere moments later! PERFECT!!! Then we sat down & appreciated the place - heck!! SOOOO many people, soooo many beers, soooo many pork knuckles - this place is like a fairytale! haha ok exaggeration but it is amazing - we have all agreed to have a quiet night seeing tomorrow is going to be so big, i have butterflies in my stomach cos im really not sure what to expect... 3 steins down & the butterflies are a utterly drowned & no one is even thinking about our 4:45am wake up calls! We're clearly not reknowned for our 'smart moves' and this wasn't our bestest one ever, but this place is great and with a HUGE line outside of people just trying to get in for a beer its hard to drag yourself off to bed just yet! We do do something smart on the way home though - a sit down at Maccas to enjoy our combos was a very smart move!!
So... the festival begins! Ok well actually it takes a while to begin - saturday feels like it was about 3 days long! CRAZY! 4:45AM the alarms go off! Everyone is up & dressed in their 'beerfest' attire & down at reception for our 5:30AM taxi's!! argh! madness! Girls are in a range of Beer Wench outfits & the boys in the Lederhosen get up - we look delightful! haha if it wasn't so early i prob would have gotten a group shot right now! Off to the Festival in 2 cabs - seemed alot easier than bussing & training at this hour - was a very smart move! 6:30AM and we are very much near the start of the line for the Haufbrau Beer Hall - dream result! the not so dream result is that the hall doesn't open till 9AM AND its starting to rain off & on!!! the start of the waiting begins! (perhaps not the start, we have clearly been waiting for this moment for at least9 months already!!) Around 8:40 they gratefully open the doors & the crowd sweeps in to the hall - mayhem! The team have nabbed a few tables & the place is just buzzing!! Now some more waiting - the first keg is tapped at 12PM! at least we are now dry AND we can sit down! delight!!
The first keg is tapped... MORE mayhem! Our beer wench is out & has served us within 30mins! Perhaps she is a bit stronger than she looks! 10 steins at a time - very very impressive!
That first stein went down pretty quick for everyone i think - and it stood up to all that anticipation - it was sooo worth it! And from there they just seemed to get better! Patz plan was 7 steins by 7pm... complete fail! i reckon i might have gotten close to 5 by the end of the night but its very hard to tell!
There is singing, there is dancing, there is stein swinging just like you would imagine!! The amount of times that you climb up to dance on your seat you really should have some kind of pulled muscles - it really is just one big party!
We learnt the words & actions to the songs as we went, generally we spent saturday just making noise & throwing our arms round but we all looked like dicks together! Now thats team work!!
It wasn't a late one by any means, all home & in bed around 10:30ish, mainly cos the halls close quite early which is definately a good thing i think! We had all fallen down from our seats & tables more than enough by the end of the evening, always a hilarious moment when it happened but some of us have the bruises as a clear record of how many times we each went down... im only counting one time AND Rudz tells me that i was utterly graceful & ended up with my beer positioned safely under my legs, not a drop spilt! obviously pure luck!!
Sunday was just as much fun as Saturday - we got to start a bit later though! We kinda pushed it a bit & weren't in a beer hall till 12:30 - it was purely good luck, nothing to do with any kind of management, that we ended up upstairs sitting near some almost locals with two tables for our group! Some pork knuckles & schnitzel was eaten then it was on to the singing & dancing after the band came upstairs to their tables! AMAZING! they were fabulous - & our almost locals seated nearby taught us the dance properly today - fair to say we were all pretty impressive at it! We may have made up our own words still though, one thing at a time!!
Around 6ish we got kicked off our tables cos they were previously reserved so it was off downstairs to jump in with anyone else that would take us! it was kinda like 'do you have room for me & some of my friends?' then turn up with 17 other people - hahaha somehow between about 4 tables that were already standing room only (on the stools!) the more than 18 of us at that stage all found a spot!!! It was actually amazing how well the group stayed together for two days in such a BUSY place!! An amazing amount of Kiwis & Aussies - was there actually anyone left in NZ for the world cup this weekend?? i swear half our country was at the Lowenbrau Hall yesterday!!!
Monday marked recovery & getting back to London! bit of a mission in our states but we exceeded my expectations! we all had flight upsets but have all made it home safe & sound tonight! phew!!
A seriously glorious weekend - i can not imagine doing that any better ever! Im not one to get sentimental but what a great group of mates we have - the whole weekend was hilarious & fun & ever so entertaining!! You guys all make me feel a little less retarded!!! hahaha
There is soo much more i could write, we were going to have an awards ceremony but my award was pretty crap so we moved on from that - drunkest was prob Patz prob both days - Hursty annihilated himself from thursday night right through to last night, i am not even sure how he is alive today!! Rudz looked after most of us by saturday night so it was her turn to be looked after on sunday, she did a very good effort for someone who doesn't drink beer but she is just too responsible & ended up being in charge of getting Verge & Jon home!! haha typical! A number of steins were broken - one over a girls head as Patz & another guy cheersed each other! that was a wee bit awkward and very very unfortunate but she dealt with it very well!!
Right full on day of sightseeing in London on tuesday with Ngaia as Tour Guide! then dinner at a Jamie Oliver restaurant with some of the crew i think! looking forward to it!!

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Comments

[kendyl]

fomos!
omg i have major MAJOR fomos reading this!! sounds like it really was the best weekend ever - stoaked u have put up the blog and photos already so i can get a taste of it!! so glad it went off without any mishaps! cant wait to get a full run down of everything! hope u have just as much fun in London Town and get to see sharky!!! viber me when u head to MAC! haha stay safe babe xx