Oktoberfest - four days of fun!

Hallo alle!

Unfortunately not from Deutschland as I'm now back in London, but for the last four days I've been camping and had no internet and very limited ability to charge anything. 

So basically, I've had an absolutely incredible time over the last four days! And here's how this post is going to work. I'm going to put subheadings for each of the days, and write about each day underneath...

SATURDAY
Got up at 3.25am (*vomit*) and walked/sprinted through the dodgy back streets of Hackney to the main road for 10 minutes. Here I waited for a night bus to Paddington station. Unfortunately for me, I seem to have a sign on my head that attracts weirdos who always want to talk to me. A man came to the stop and started to talk to me. I gave one word answers and yawned my head off but he didn't get the message. He stared at me on the bus and I was so happy when he finally got off the bus. 

I changed at Paddington and boarded the first Heathrow Express at 5.10. Due to tube strikes which led to the night tube being postponed, that's what I had to do. 

Got my flight all OK and landed in Munich. The plan was to meet Ashlee, my friend I met in London, at the luggage area. But we soon both realised there were lots of those! Luckily we got on the wifi and found each other. 

Got the train into the city, and on the way came across a very cranky German woman. Little did she know that when she was ranting in German "stupid tourists, I wish they would stop coming to Bavaria and go to north Germany" that I understood what she said. I was SO tempted to turn around in German and tell her I already have been thanks very much!!

We got off at Marienplatz. God Munich is beautiful. It really is one of my favourites I've been to, and this time was my third time. My first was in early Jan 2011, then Dec 2012 for Xmas and then now. We walked to the shopping street and found some shops to buy dirndls from. Dirndls are the traditional Bavarian dresses worn by local women, particularly during Oktoberfest time! You can get really cheap ones but they look crap and fall apart. Ashlee and I probably paid a bit too much but I loved ours. We each bought the first ones we tried on - Ashlee a green one with pink apron, me a pink/purple one with blue apron. Paid €116 all together including the blüse. Not too bad, lederhosen are more anyway!! I loved it because I tried a size on thinking about the weight I've put on this year. The shop assistant looked and went "no - we need smaller" - yay!!!

With our new outfits in hand, we got the train to the zoo station. This brought back memories as mum and I went there last time. We walked the 15 minutes to our campsite and checked in to our Busabout tour. Funny thing was that two guys from my Irish tour in July, Ben and Pat, were working for Busabout, and so was Adam who was a fellow passenger on my Greek islands tour last year. The world is a very small place!!

We checked in, settled into our tent and then got changed into our dirndls. Not many people had them yet but we figured we had paid enough and might as well get our money's worth! We got the shuttle into town for dinner where we were given a short orientation walk which ended in the Marienplatz. Ashlee and I had dinner with a few other people at the Augustiner restaurant. Ash and I shared a pork knuckle and drank radler - yummmmmm! 

Headed back and had a fairly early night as we had both had limited sleep the night before. Unfortunately for us some other people on our tour were clearly very well rested and were very loud. Jamie leant me his sleeping bag but I was quite cold throughout the night, never mind!!

SUNDAY
Here is where the real fun began! The whole reason we all came here - Oktoberfest! We got up and dressed (much easier second time around - we became pros at doing the zips!!). I have a new appreciation for women of the past who wore corsets. Wearing that all day was fun but sometimes tough. Makes you feel like a marionette! 

So, Oktoberfest. Why does it exist? Well on October 12, 1810 Crown Prince Ludwig (later king Ludwig I - not the one who built Neuschwanstein though) married princess Therese from Sachsen Hildburg-Hausen, and Bavaria had a big celebration. Everyone had such a fantastic time and it caught on, and still exists today! Although today we don't so much think about the wedding, we think about what Germany (especially Bavaria!) is famous for - beer! But the area Oktoberfest is on in is still called Theresienwiese (Therese's Fields). 

Oktoberfest is appropriately termed "Disneyland for adults". Disneyland was the best week of my life, so I would more say that Oktoberfest is a really really really good version of the Melbourne Show for adults. There are rides, yummy German food, fancy dress and most importantly - ginormous beer tents! All the famous breweries have a massive tent. We started our day in the Löwenbrau tent, as Busabout have contacts in there. We sat at the same table as the people from dinner Saturday - Blair and Jo (a couple travelling together), Maddie, Heather and two boys. Everyone from Australia except for Heather (Canadian). Pretty much sums up Busabout for Oktoberfest and this beer tent - Aussie invasion!!!

Dad - you would be very proud. I'm not much of a beer drinker, in fact I never drink beer. But on day one of Oktoberfest in a 10 hour period I consumed five (yes, five!) 1L steins of German beer. The key is pace, it's a marathon and not a sprint. We had lots of fun playing drinking games, singing, chatting and laughing. The band played and we all stood on our chairs and sang along. The funniest was when idiots tried to skull their steins. They either were successful and we all cheered, or failed and everyone booed. Either way security escorted them out, except for one guy who was so quick at it that he skulled four, and did it too quickly for security to spot him!!

After a few hours we went outside and enjoyed the sunshine. Ashlee, Blair, Heather and me went on a huge roller coaster. Can't actually believe I did that because at this stage I had consumed 3L of beer! It was fun though. 

We then went and sat in the Löwenbrau beer garden. Here we met some Chinese tourists, some Swiss tourists, and a German guy called Dominic who was distraught and bawling his eyes out. We took him under our wing and it turned out he was 18, his parents were getting a divorce and his friends had ditched him. We did all we could and then left him with first aid. He looked so much like my friend James!!!

We spent our evening in the Hoffbrau tent. Last year this gained a reputation for being very rowdy, so we didn't expect to get a table. But beer must make me better at German, because this trip I was so much more confident going up to people and speaking German. I went up to a group of guys dancing at a table and asked if we could join in German, then asked where they were from (Bern, Switzerland). They let us join and we had heaps of fun and had a great position! We sang and danced. Only downer was I slipped on the chair and cut my leg a little, but I'll survive. Fellow Busabout casualties included a guy "PROST"-ing so hard he shattered his stein and needed five stitches, a girl slipping, falling and her tooth going right through her lip, and a girl passing out and requiring lots of fluids in hospital. So I did pretty well, and I only fell because one of the Swiss guys kept moving it. Oh well!!

We somehow found our way back to the coach park which was a 20 minute walk from the Wiese (fields) and got the 10pm coach back. The rest is a bit fuzzy, and next thing I knew it was...

MONDAY
Didn't start off the greatest to be honest. Another night of hardly any sleep due to the cold, paired with a cold from Ashleigh from last week and too much beer saw me feeling very ill throughout the night. But I was ok! I hadn't lost anything the day before and nothing got dirty or anything, so no harm done. 

We took it slower and got ready more slowly, I even gave in and paid €1,80 for a shower. It was a great move. We then got the train to Oktoberfest with some of the others about 11am. I ran into Jess from my Irish tour at the station! 

We went to the Augustiner tent this time which was much more traditional and was mostly comprised of German speakers. Not as rowdy but I liked it better as it had a much more Bavarian feel! However my tummy just wasn't feeling it and I got halfway through my first stein before accepting defeat and giving it to Kym (he was on my Scottish and Irish tours). Ashlee and I decided to go into town instead. 

We got the train to the city and explored. Having visited before I was pretty easy going, the main thing stopping us was the cold. Christmas in 2012 honestly felt warmer than this. The icy wind and dresses weren't a good mix! But we pushed on. 

We went up the St Peters Church tower which I had done twice previously, this time you could see all the frivolity happening at Oktoberfest in the distance! Then we walked around the Marienplatz, the market out the back and the Odeonsplatz. After this we went back to Oktoberfest. 

We spent the afternoon ducking our heads into tents we hadn't seen. All had different colours and I'm glad we did! I bought some gingerbread and we just meandered and explored. Tried to find the others again but obviously no luck!

We got the 7pm bus back and scoffed down a kebab on the way. Then hung out with Jo, Blair and Tom and accompanied them to a restaurant for dinner. I had a kiddie ice cream and it was amazing!!

Had a fairly early night as on Monday I legitimately felt like I had been run over and bashed up. Cold + no deep sleep + too much beer = eek. But the non tired people came back about 12 yelling their heads off for ages, not impressed....

Despite this, I had the best sleep of the trip. I wore three layers on my bottom and five on my top, a scarf, hat and gloves. Unfortunately sleeping better meant that Ashlee snuck out at 6.30am without waking me so I didn't get to say 'bye. We won't cross paths again in Europe so I won't see her unless I go to Adelaide or she comes to Melbourne. :(

Got up, got ready and got the shuttle with Kym and the others at 9 into the city. The funny thing was the shuttle always dropped us outside Wombats City Hostel, the very place little 18 year old Claire stayed in 2011. It still looked exactly the same!! 

Kym and I said 'bye to the others and left our bags at the hotel he would be staying in. Kym is from Adelaide too and was on both my Irish and Scottish tours this summer, and ended up booking this one too!! He's really nice and easy to talk to, was also great having someone to talk footy to again. Speaking of, well done Nat Fyfe! And looks as if I'm supporting West Coast next week!

We then went on the new Europe free walking tour. The third time I have done one with them in Munich! Our guide was Tom and he was English and brilliant. We watched the glockenspiel at the Altes Rathaus built in 1908 and laughed at all the people filming it. The square was packed! The moving parts show the wedding that started Oktoberfest, jousting and dancers trying to ward off the plague (which hit Munich 28 times!). 

Tom re-explained to us what Oktoberfest is all about, and he made a very good point. He said Bavaria only became a kingdom in 1806 so it was all about defining their identity just four years afterwards. He said when most people think of Germany they think of a dark and sad past tarnished by a man whose name is not even worth mentioning who tried to eradicate a race of innocent people. But he thanked us for celebrating the part of German culture that is positive, happy and shows how amazing this country and the people in it are. He said the population of Munich is 1.4 million. During Oktoberfest, 6 million people (population of Sydney????) descend upon Munich. As well as this, a few weeks ago on the busiest day 70,000 refugees arrived here. There are lots of people and police around at the moment. 

Fun fact - so many Aussies lose their passports at Oktoberfest that our embassy has a tent in the grounds. Although, if you're stupid enough to take your passport with you you almost deserve to lose it if you ask me!!! 

The tour ended, Kym and I had a quick look in a church then went to the supermarket. I loaded up on apfel schorle (sparkling apple juice) and my favourite, Rittersport chocolate. May or may not have bought six blocks to ration until I'm home....

Went to his hotel and I repacked my bag then headed to the station. I felt horrid. When ordering my ticket my voice wouldn't work. I'm so full of cold and feel like I've been run over by a bus! There was a guy passed out on a platform in lederhosen that were too small though so at least I'm not doing as bad as him!!! Spent the entire 45 minute train ride typing this blog (just can't post til back in my flat) and then my voice wouldn't work at the airline desk either haha. 

Tonight I'm getting a flight back to London and then the tube. I had planned on working tmro but I'm going to take the day off and rest up so I'm ok for Thursday and Friday at school. Better to lie down for a whole day now and get better than make myself worse, even though I really could use the money!!!

But what a fantastic time I've had. I love Munich and am so pleased I've now seen it both during Christmas and Oktoberfest. Did make me nostalgic for Christmas with the family here but I had such a great time that I'm still happy :) but after hardly any sleep, cold and wet camping and lots of beer I'm excited about going "home" too!

Love to all
Claire
Xoxox

PS: Update as I'm posting the blog. Flight was fine until on the descent my ears hurt so much I nearly couldn't stand it and I now am pretty much deaf. Upon landing the police asked to see a guy on our plane - wonder what that was all about! Fairly sure the customs officer thought I was an alien. Couldn't hear any questions he asked me, and couldn't speak as my voice now completely doesn't exist. Thanks Ash, thanks a lot for this cold :( if I can't work Thursday I miss out on income so I had better be well after tmro....