Thursday:
First things first, I packed everything for my three-night weekend away in my Longchamps tote. I am notorious in my family for overpacking and this time, I fit everything in one small tote! Mom would have been so proud!
Anyway, my flight was in the evening so I took the RhônExpress train from the Part-Dieu train station to the Lyon airport - super easy and convenient. No one checked my ID coming into the Lyon airport or boarding the plane to Munich. Not one person! It took barely 20 minutes for me to get from the train, through security, and to the gate. I don't think international travel has ever been so easy - thank you EU. I arrived at the gate just a few minutes before boarding began, but it didn't look like there was much "foitzefum" (not sure if that's how you spell it, but it's a word Matt says that's Yiddish for chaos). I didn't even hear an announcement that we were boarding, or for "premier" flyer to get in line. All of a sudden the gate doors just opened and everyone got in line. Easy peasy, no fuss.
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| The beautiful sunset on my way into the airport |
An hour later, I was in Munich! Me and everyone's dad... I swear 75% of the people I saw at the airport were men my dad's age, with the same suits and small, rolly carry-ons. As I was waiting for Sara's flight to land, I began to notice the change in company. Between 10 and 11, a huge influx of young men and women started filling up the baggage claim area -- everyone was headed to Oktoberfest!
Sara arrived a little after 11 and it was miraculously easy to find each other -- thank god. It took us a while to figure out how to get to our hotel, but eventually we found the right train that took us to the right bus. The bus dropped us off near the hotel around 1am, but it was PITCH black and extremely foggy so it took us 20 minutes or so wandering around in the night before we found it! It was a modest, clean place, which was all that really mattered -- we fell asleep within minutes!
Friday:
Early Friday morning, we woke up in order to shower and get breakfast before we meant to meet Shelly at the campsite. We packed our things and got on the train again to the central station, Hauptbahnhof München. There, we had some pastries and coffee before buying our dirndls! Everyone at the station was in the festival spirit, dressed up and pregaming the event with beers at 8:30am. We finally made it to the campsite where we were staying for the weekend a little after 10 (an hour later than anticipated), where Shelly found us right away! We all changed right away and headed to the festival grounds around 11.
Sara arrived a little after 11 and it was miraculously easy to find each other -- thank god. It took us a while to figure out how to get to our hotel, but eventually we found the right train that took us to the right bus. The bus dropped us off near the hotel around 1am, but it was PITCH black and extremely foggy so it took us 20 minutes or so wandering around in the night before we found it! It was a modest, clean place, which was all that really mattered -- we fell asleep within minutes!
Friday:
Early Friday morning, we woke up in order to shower and get breakfast before we meant to meet Shelly at the campsite. We packed our things and got on the train again to the central station, Hauptbahnhof München. There, we had some pastries and coffee before buying our dirndls! Everyone at the station was in the festival spirit, dressed up and pregaming the event with beers at 8:30am. We finally made it to the campsite where we were staying for the weekend a little after 10 (an hour later than anticipated), where Shelly found us right away! We all changed right away and headed to the festival grounds around 11.
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| Breakfast at the train station / Sara taking one for the team upon arrival |
HOLY MOLY! It was so much more "festival" and carnival-like than I anticipated. There were food and souvenir stands, rides, and beer tents covering every inch of the park. The majority of the crowd was dressed up, which was extremely fun. We headed to the lion tent right away (as per recommendation of Shelly's friend) and waited in front to get in -- it took us almost an hour! They have an odd system... But by 1 we were sitting outside in the sunshine enjoying our first steins! A little after, we got into the tent itself -- one of the most fun experiences I've ever had! We met a group of great Australian guys who were traveling Europe and ended up spending most of our time in the tent with them. They were great company, on top of the incredible atmosphere indoors. By the time it was 6, we were extremely tired and hungry so we grabbed some food before taking the train back to the campsite!
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| Main entrance of the festival |
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| The lion tent we spent most of the day at |
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| Prost!!! |
And the fun continued...the open bar was running all day so after we changed into warmer clothes we headed out to the communal tented area. It was so nice meeting different types of people from all around the world, many Americans, some British, lots of Australians, a few Swiss... Everyone was so friendly! However, after a long day, I headed to bed around 10!
Saturday:
The whole plan was to leave early so we could get into Hofbräuhaus, one of the biggest tents. Sara and I were up a little before 7 and got ready to leave with Shelly and her friends soon after. Around 8:30, we were waiting to get into Hofbräu. It was MADNESS. People were pushed up each other, trying to force their way forward. Shelly, her friends, and I made our way to the upstairs level but we lost Sara and another friend! So we decided to leave and try to go to the downstairs level to find them (which is supposed to be pretty tough since it was very crowded) - we got in within seconds!
There, we meandered the various pathways between tables trying to see if we could spot them. No luck, instead we met some friendly guys who were staying at the same camp as us, 2 of which were from California. After 20 minutes, I turned my phone off airplane mode to see if she had texted me at all. Instead, I received a text from Lise! We ended up being in the same tent - I can't even explain the happiness I felt when I saw her stand on her bench and wave her hands around so I could find her. I thought I wouldn't be able to find her amidst the mayhem! Believe it or not, 10 minutes after I found Lise, Sara walked right by us and we were all reunited! It was so much fun, all of us there under the flying pig in Hofbräu!
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| The Flying Pig of Hofbrau |
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| Reunited! |
A little after 1, 4 and a half hours after we first arrived at the tent, we were tired and famished! We left the tent on a mission to find some good (and reasonably priced food). We stumbled upon a food stand selling schnitzel (perfect!) and then got some crepes. The weather was much cooler today than yesterday, gray skies and never got over 60 degrees.
From there, we reasoned that we needed coffee -- it was so cold! So we walked 15 minutes to a coffee shop near Lise's Airbnb and talked (dozed in and out of conversation) for an hour and a half. By then, it was almost 5 and everyone was so tired from the day's activities. However, our adventure wasn't over... We spent the next hour or so looking for Lise's friend who had the keys to their apartment. Unfortunately, we never ended up finding her but we were able to explore more of the festival grounds before Lise met up with another friend and Shelly, Sara, and I went home!
There, we had schnitzel (again) for dinner at the campsite. Around 9, the festivities started up again but we were pretty pooped. Instead, we sat on the edge of the tented area, drinking tea and talking amongst ourselves. People-watching this particular night was hilarious (and occasionally a bit scary) - people were very intoxicated, stumbling around and some even doing a laps around the campsite naked. (Side note, the naked lap was a result of spinning a wheel by the bar - the possibilities are so gross, I'm not even going to list them.)
Anyway, us three turned in early, bringing Shelly's sleeping bag and air mattress into our tent and trying to stay warm but squeezing against each other!
Sunday:
We woke up to another cold, cold morning. Sara left early to catch her plane so Shelly and I, and her friends from her program, spent the rest of the day together in Munich.
At 8:30am, we went with a group from the camp to Dachau to visit the concentration camp. This will forever be one of the most haunting experiences I have ever had. The permanent exhibition is in the old maintenance building and I was walked through it slowly reading the plaques and banners, it was chilling to know that where I stood had been where hundreds of thousands of innocent prisoners had been just 70 years earlier.
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| "Work Sets You Free" - main gate to the concentration camp |
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| The courtyard where roll-call was held twice a day |
In the exhibit, we read about personal accounts and general descriptions of people's experiences and daily lives at the concentration camp. It is so alarming to think that such horrible things had happened on the eerie, quiet grounds I was visiting - it seems surreal.
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| By the crematorium: Graves of Thousands Unknown |
I left the concentration camp emotionally drained; most people I think have a hard time connecting the place to the horrors that occurred here, it's hard to believe that those things really happened. But despite the unreality some feel, I felt so sick from picturing all the gruesome experiences everyone who walked through those front gates had here a long time ago.
After two hours at the camp, we took the train to Marienplatz for lunch and to explore the downtown center for a little while. However, we were all physically worn out from Oktoberfest and emotionally exhausted from the concentration camp that we ended our little tour early and went our separate ways - Shelly and her friends back to the camp and me to the airport.
Regardless of the fact that I am so exhausted (and now actually sick) from this past weekend, I had the most incredible time in Munich. I hope to go back again some day soon, to see more of the city itself. I miss it already - Munich, thank you for giving me one of the best weekends I have ever had.
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