If there is one advice of mine that you should follow it is to go to Munich and go to Oktoberfest. As soon as we got to Munich, I fell in love with the city. It is beautiful. It is a mixture of old architecture and new. After another bus ride, only 8 hours this time, my friend Rachel and I went out to explore. We ended up at a costume shop and bought dirndl's, the traditional outfit for women, for Oktoberfest, which I also recommend. Definitely makes the experience. We spent the entire day wondering around, checking out the shops and all the old historical buildings. There was this huge walking strip that no cars could go down. It was full of shops and restaurants and churches on either side and vendors in the walkway. We walked that to the end and then decided to keep exploring. We came upon this beautiful castle when deciding to turn around.
We ended up getting lost on our way back and just decided to stop and get something to eat at a random restaurant. Best decision ever! It was a cute and cozy little pub. The menu of course was all in German. We ended up pointing to a random dish and hoped for the best. We also got our first German beer here. The food that we ordered was delicious.
After we eventually found our way back, we went on Frankie's Bike Tour, which I also recommend doing. We road bikes all around town and learned the history behind all the buildings we saw earlier. At the end of the tour, they took us to the Beer Garden. Rachel and I ended up splitting a curry sausage that was also amazing and of course had a beer. On our bike tour we also got to see the Munich surfers. There is a stream that runs through this huge park, which a nude park during the warm months. In this one part of the stream, people can surf.
The next day was Oktoberfest time. A group of us went to the fair grounds at 7 am and stood in line till 9 am. Finally, we got into the tent at 9 but didn't end up getting served beer until 1. After that it just went downhill from there, or uphill depending on the way you look at it! Since it was opening ceremony, the mayor tapped the keg at noon and that is when the beer was served. Our server was a beast! It was an older lady that could carry 12 steins full of beer at a time. She would come around to each table and drop them off. For any of you wondering, the stein holds 1 liter of beer which is equivalent to 3 beers. However, in Germany the alcohol content level in beer is higher, therefore it was equivalent to 4 American beers. Sam had 3.5 liters of beer, you do the math!
I'll give you a picture of what the fair grounds looked like. There are tons of tents throughout the whole ground area. I am talking about tents that can hold thousands of people. We were in the Hofbrau tent and it held almost 7,000 people. Inside the tents are picnic tables that are literally right next to each other. You have to climb on the tables if you wanted to go walk around. The tables were in the middle and along the outer edges were vendors that you could get food from. In the tent we were in, there was an upstairs. The upstairs was the reserved areas. There are 14 of these tents, all selling different beers. Throughout the fair grounds were different food vendors and games and rides, just like any other fair. We were in the tent from 9 am to 9 pm. Rachel and I decided to go walk around and check the grounds out. We ended up riding the Farris wheel and swing ride. The swing ride not only swung us around but also went up, probably as high as the Farris wheel. After 3.5 liters of beer it was a blast! Luckily we found our way back to the hostel and I ended up passing out in my dirndl and boots still on. Personally, I do not know how people can handle a whole weekend, let alone three weeks there.
Here is a little history behind Oktoberfest. The first Oktoberfest was held in the year 1810 in honor of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig's marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festivities began on October 12, 1810 and ended on October 17th with a horse race. The events were eventually moved to September. By moving the festivities up, it allowed for better weather conditions. Because the September nights were warmer, the visitors were able to enjoy the gardens outside the tents and the stroll over "die Wiesen" or the fields much longer without feeling chilly.
The next day was a more serious matter. A group of us took a train ride to Dachau in order to see the concentration camp. It was a very humbling experience. I wish we had had more time to actually let it all sink in. Definitely another must if you ever go to Munich.
Overall, I would go back to Munich in a heartbeat, and not just for Oktoberfest either. It was by far the best weekend that I have had since I have been abroad!
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