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Published: October 2nd 2007
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Yes, I survived!
I'm back in Milan after an absolutely ridiculous weekend in Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest. Mamma mia I don't even know where to start. I guess I'll start from the beginning...
We had been trying to figure out plans for Oktoberfest for a while, but hotels and hostels had been booked for months and months in advance. So with the knowledge that Michelle's friend from Villanova has a hostel night for Friday night that she said we could just pile into, we decided to book train tickets. We bought our ticket there for Friday afternoon at 3, but after returning to Stazione Centrale and checking many times they would not allow us to book our return ticket, saying there was a problem with the international computer server. So they told us to wait and do it in Germany, so we didn't worry about it.We got on the train on Friday, each with only a purse containing our money, passports, and the essentials (which may or may not have included a toothbrush or a change of underwear), wearing a couple layers of clothes (and, grudgingly, a fanny pack for some people) and carrying a bag of snacks. After
a 7 hour train ride in which about 20 kids from my program all hung out in the train bar/snack car, we arrived in Munich at 10 pm.
When we got out at the station, we tried to go get our return tickets and were informed that the server still was not working and we had to try back tomorrow.So we walked out of the German train station to find that our cell phones did not work (read: could not call any of the people we had hoped to stay with). So we walked up and down the streets of Munich asking if there were any hotel rooms available, but they were all soo expensive even for a 2 person room (where we would sneak in 4 other people and sleep on the floor if need be). We were starting to think we were going to have to sleep on a park bench when finally we found a hotel that was veryyy reasonably priced for a 2-person apartment room (apartment = EASILY fit 6 and was attached to the side of the hotel so people could come in without having to pass through the front desk... perfetto!). AND we
got free breakfast! Sweeeet.
We woke up the next morning at 7:30 to get our day started, and we began by going to the train station for our return ticket (including when we tried in Milan, this was probably our 6th attempt). We were then informed that there was a TRANSPORTATION STRIKE FOR ALL OF ITALY ON SUNDAY. The earliest train we could get was MONDAY MORNING, getting into Milan at 3:30 pm, which was awful because Monday was our first day of real classes. Oh and they charged us 100 euro each for it. At this point I actually cried.
We decided the only thing we could do at that point was to actually go to Oktoberfest and drink away our frustration. So we got to the fair ground, which was like a grown-up amusement park: lots of rides and about 10 different beer tents. Even though it was 9:30 AM, there was still a huuuge line outside the best beer tent, Paulaner. And by line I mean crowd, because Europe doesn't DO lines. So luckily Michelle, Katie and I squuuueeeezed through the crowd (and I mean squeezed, I felt like I was being put through an
cheers!
My friends in the HofBrau tent olive press... and the fact that the first analogy I thought of was an olive press just goes to show how much time I've spent in Italy) and were literally one of the last 4 people to be let into the tent. So we squeezed into a table with a couple guys from Switzerland and a bunch of rowdy Italians, and a beermaid promptly came to our service. We sat in the same spot on that bench (except for waiting in the 20 minute line for the bathroom or standing on the bench to dance to the (only American) songs that the band played) from 10 AM to 6 pm straight. We had many liters of beer, a pretzel bigger than my head and a little roast chicken. Also, I managed to snag a beer stein. Yayy! It was quite an accomplishment because Michelle tried to steal one and as we were leaving the tent, a security guard saw it and pulled her aside by her neck. Those Germans are crazy!
The tents were craaazy - thousands upon thousands of people, singing drinking songs and banging their steins together and swaying arm in arm. If you put your head
loving our steins
Michelle, Katie and me down on the table for more than a few minutes or threw up, the police came and kicked you out. They LOVED singing "Heyy, heyy baby... OOH AHH... I wanna knowww, would you be my girll" and had a ridiculous dance to it, and they all knew the words to very random American songs (John Denver's "Country Rose" and "I'm Loving Angels Instead" were played constantly), interspersed with traditional German drinking songs. The next day we went to the train station in the morning, refusing to accept that we couldn't leave until Modnay. We managed to find a train ticket for 11:45 pm that night, to Bologna, where we could try to get a train to Milan earlyy that morning. Then we were off to Oktoberfest again. This time we finaaally met up with my friends Adrienne and Steph. Since it was Sunday it was a little easier to get into tents, so we went into the HofBrau tent and had a really fun time for the rest of the afternoon. That night we went back to the train station and waited around for our train. We finally got onto our train around midnight and found that we had a
sleeper car - basically a really awkward car with triple bunkbeds (6 total) that feel like the floor anyway and a pretty sketchy pillow, and you have to try to go to sleep while the train is speeding and swaying. So we basically gave up trying to sleep and instead chatted with the many other American students who were studying abroad in Italy and were stranded at Oktoberfest.
We arrived in Verona (aka Romeo and Juliette's town) at 5:30 AM (we had decided to get off there instead of at Bologna) and took a 6:10 train to Milan. When I finally arrived at my apartment at 8:30 AM, I desperately needed a shower, to brush my teeth and to finally get some sleep (it had been 3 days since I had done either of the first two). To my not-so-pleasant surprise, one of my roommates had already showered and one was in the shower, meaning there would not be any more hot water for a couple hours. When she got out of the shower, I just could not even stand it anymore (I had been wearing the same clothes, day and night, for 3 days, through beer spills and
the girls at our table
seriously everyone was wearing these outfits. we were so jealous! people smoking around me and dirty trains etc.) and I just took a cold shower. Then because I had class a couple hours later, I just gave up the idea of going to bed until that night.
So here I am, one day and 11 hours of sleep later - with an aawful cold, maaany euro lighter, and still falling asleep in class. And although I am still pissed at Italy for being so ridiculous with their strikes, and I hate the German people (they're so mean!) and the language (my friend summed it up so well by saying "you don't speak German WITH someone, you speak German AT someone"), I would definitely say it was worth it. Definitely the experience of a lifetime!
Love always,
Jenna
P.S. If you read all that, my thanks and my congratulations. It was a long one!
P.P.S. As usual, Michelle's blog (about the same things I experienced!) is way better than mine. So if you want a second opinion of the weekend, read hers: http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Munich/blog-207328.html
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Dad
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Laid Back Weekend
JenJen, It sounds like you had quite the laid back weekend. On the one hand, you're having an awesome time. On the other hand, as you told me, we could all be part of someone's computer program and not realy be real! Coming to see you in 8 days! Yeah! DadDad