OKTOBERFEST

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There's a reason that the title of this post is entirely in capital letters.

When you think of Oktoberfest, I'm sure you have an image in your mind. People hype it up. People get really excited about it. They travel from far away to go to it. Blah blah blah. You expect it to be this big party where everyone drinks and has a great time. But it's hyped. So you have expectations.

IT'S SO MUCH BETTER THAN ALL OF THAT.

Seriously. If you EVER get the chance to go to Oktoberfest in Munich, absolutely do it.

I'll start with the journey to get there because that is a story in itself. Buckle up. Prepare to be stressed. SO. Tiffany and Daniel found this amazing deal online where you take a night bus to Munich, go on a tour of the city, spend 12 hours in Munich total, and get a bus back to Budapest that night. All for 14,000 HUF, which equates to about...(whips out calculator) $62. So a bunch of CETP people made reservations online.

What is a reservation? Well, you might be thinking that a reservation is something that you make and then a spot is reserved for you. You obviously have to pay for that spot, but it will be reserved.

If that was your answer, you've never been to Hungary.

The Wednesday before this trip, I went to the travel office with a whole bunch of cash, ready to pay for a bunch of people who don't live in Budapest. I was told that all 9 buses were full. Then they told me they were going to try to get bigger buses to fit more people and would email me the next day. Next day. No email. I called. They still haven't heard. On FRIDAY (yes. the day of the trip) I emailed them and all of a sudden they had 2 seats. I told them to absolutely hold them for me, did my tutorial, and zoomed over to the office. The woman at the office had no idea what I was talking about. Of course. She calls her colleague and tells me to come back in 10 minutes. I went back. She told me to come back in 10 minutes. I went back. There were seats! I got seats for Darcy and me and went home because I had 5 hours to mentally and physically prepare myself for this trip. The company we went through is called Euro Travel Last Minute, by the way. The woman also told me that she was my tour guide and I shouldn't bring my passport because it was likely to get stolen. Ok...not bringing my passport to another country...cool.

I frantically texted Darcy to tell her to get ready to go to Germany. She showed up and we ate food and generally obsessed over Oktoberfest. BUT. Tiffany and Daniel had an issue. They had reserved and booked their trip for this weekend, BUT the agency had booked them for last weekend. So they didn't have seats on the bus, AND the company didn't want to give them their money back. That kind of put a damper on the whole thing.

SO. Darcy and I leave my flat to go to the bus. On the way, Darcy got caught by some inspectors having an expired transit pass. 4000 forint fine. We played dumb Americans, so the fine was actually cut in half. Normally it's 8000. Tiffany and Daniel showed up at the bus stop in case there were empty seats last minute. Kylie did the same because I wasn't able to get her a ticket. IT WORKED. IT WAS A MIRACLE. We all got on our respective buses, reclined our seats, and passed out.

9:30 am we get to Munich. It is dreary and raining. We had stopped at McDonald's for breakfast earlier in Germany. Us Americans decided to bypass the Munich tour and go straight for the beer. We got rejected from the first tent because some of us had backpacks. We got rejected from the second tent because it was reservations only. But the third tent was JUST right. (It's like the three bears, but three....beers.) The Hofbrau tent. After a lot of pushing and shoving, we bought some sort of pastry and were let into the tent. I don't really know how that works at all. But it happened. Basically, I was in shock at where I was until I got drunk. Don't judge me. It was Oktoberfest.

We spent the entire day in this tent. 10:30-7:30. We walked around, we met people, we drank a lot of beer, ate pretzels, and made a ton of friends. We had heard that it's impossible to get a beer at Oktoberfest if you're not sitting at a table. Myth. There are sitting tables and standing tables. And if you're standing kind of near a standing table, you will get beer. We met people from all over the world and made new friends. There was a whole thing where people would stand on top of a table and chug a liter of beer while everyone cheered them on. There was a band that played German cheers songs. At one point they played "Country Road." Let me tell you, there is nothing like an entire tent of drunk people singing "Country Road."

At 7:30 we left the tent and got bratwursts. Darcy and I lost Kylie but had to go to the bus. We got quick cappucinos and met up with everyone at the bus stop. Everyone was a mess, to say the least, but I guess that's what happens at Oktoberfest.

The bus ride home was uneventful. The seats still reclined, I slept the entire time, and we arrived back in Budapest in time to watch the sun rise. I went home and slept for 5 hours.

Moral of the story: Go to Oktoberfest.

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Comments

[mom]

blog text cut off?
your text seems to be cut off on the last 3 entries. can you check on your end? xox

[Diane]

What I love about your blog
1. Can't decide which picture I love more, the one with the Denmark friends or the one with the big beers. Have you seen Beerfest? Was it just like that? 2. It is so educational AND practical. The four steps before going to a foreign country (step 4 research the nightlife) will carry me through all my future foreign jaunts. 3. The number and variety of meats mentioned. I keep thinking, are we SURE this is Amy's daughter! Keep having an amazing time...and keep posting! Di

[roger]

The Daughter's Daughter
Enjoying the blogs and noting in each at least one episode of passing out; we are so proud! Salude.