Oktoberfest

(9/18/2010)  Oktoberfest

 Saturday was the opening day of Oktoberfest and since this was also our first free weekend a bunch of us decided to go.   We took the train from Salzburg to Munich.  Most of us were really tired on the train ride there.  It was also Jordan’s birthday the night before so some were more tired than others.  Jordan feel asleep on the train and he was holding a piece of bread in his hands, he looked the way a little boy would cling onto his teddy bear while he was asleep.  Jamie, Melanie, Katie Van Dyke, Martina and Christina were all wearing their Dirndls and Jonathan had on his Lederhose.  They looked so cute and blended in with all the other Germans there. 

When we got there the first thing we all did was eat.  My mom recommended trying the Würst and Semmel with mustard.  I don’t like mustard but I figured since I was at Oktoberfest I should at least try it.  Well I still don’t like mustard, but that Würst was super good.  It was the most delicious Würst that I’ve ever had.  Oktoberfest was super crowded so it took us a while to make it up to the top of this big hill.  At the top you got a great view of the whole festival and all the rides.  There were just throngs and throngs of people everywhere.  My next stop was the giant ferris wheel.  I went with Pat, Christina, and Becca.  The ferris wheel is the biggest ferris wheel in the whole world.  From the top you could see an amazing view of Munich.  After that we spent some time wandering around before we met up with the rest of the group again.  The next ride that I went on was the giant swings.  I’m not afraid of heights at all, but the swings were actually a little scary.  They took you up really high and then you just hung there and swung around.  We also got a really great view of the city from the swings. 

People hadn’t been lucky enough to find a spot in a Biergarten so they went to a bar down the street for a drink.  It wasn’t too interesting there so I decided to just walk around by myself.  I thought I could explore the city of Munich for a while, but it turns out there’s really nothing that interesting that’s in the same neighborhood (I did go into a church though).  When I was done exploring, I decided to get some more food at Oktoberfest because I was still really craving another Würst and Semmel.  As I was waiting in line for my Würst, I saw a lot of people eating this sandwitch looking called Hax und Semmel.  So I decided to order that instead, I think I was some type of chicken, but still not as good as the Würst.  When I was done eating I met up with the group again.  Jamie, Mia, and I took a bathroom stop before heading back into Oktoberfest.  When I walked out of the bathroom Mia and Jamie were just having a casual conversation with two German men.  Apparently Mia said they came up to her and started talking about her shoes and they kissed the ground.  One of the guys was from Bavaria and the other was his German neighbor.  The Bavarian taught us how to says “cheers” in Bavarian and German.  He told us about his apartments and how he lives.  He would always say things like, “in Bavaria we say this, and in German its like this, then in English do you say it this way?”  In the middle of our conversation a crazy Frenchman came up to us and handed Erin a tooth flosser.  Jamie immediately took it from her and proclaimed her love for flossing.  Before we left the Bavarian sang us the Bavarian national anthem and then we had to sing him the Pledge of Allegiance.  As weird as it sounds, it was really fun talking to strangers.  I thought we had a really funny conversation with them. 

I didn’t really feel like staying at Oktoberfest any longer because I was getting quite tired.  So Sarah, Becca, Katelyn, Maria, and I took the train home.  I wish I had stayed though.  Jamie told me they finally got seats at a Biergarten because they danced on the tables and when the police whistle at them to sit down, other people had to scoot out of the way to make room for them (you can only get served in the beer tents if you have a seat).  It sounded like they had a fun night and Jamie said they got to talk to more strangers.  Overall I’d say Oktoberfest was pretty fun.  But now I understand why locals say it’s something you only need to do once; it’s just so crowded there and the rides are really expensive.  My only regret about the day is that I didn’t get a shirt, I guess I thought I’d save my money for other things.  One side note, it was really funny to see all the Germans walking around wearing their heart-cookie necklaces, apparently it’s a big things at German festivals.  (I liked the one that said “Opa ist der Beste.”