Let's start at the beginning. Brittany and I decided to go through this company called Bus2Alps, a student travel agency. They had a deal where they would pick you up from the airport, supply accommodations for two nights, and then take you back to the airport. Now, by accommodations, I mean camping. Yes, that's right. Brittany and I, and our new friend Elyse, camped for 2 nights in Germany. They supplied us with a 3 person tent (understatement), sleeping bags, mattresses (yoga pads), dinner for one night, and breakfast both mornings (however we woke up before the crazy Australians that were making our breakfast so we didn't really get any food for breakfast). Yes, the camp was run by these crazy, insane Australians who own a company called StokeTravel. Let's just say they ran around without shoes on in 50 degree weather, drank constantly, and sang karaoke till 2am. Was it cold? Very. As advice, the Ausies told us to drink lots and spoon with a stranger. "That'll warm you up!" There were showers and toilets, so we weren't completely roughing it, however most of the toilets didn't have lights and the water was cold.
On Saturday morning, we woke up at 6:30am and got ready to go to Oktoberfest! The reason we had to get there so early was because the tents open at 8:30 and they start serving beer at 9am. By the time we caught the bus, transferred to the S-Bahn and arrived at Oktoberfest, it was around 8:15. We went to the Hofbrau tent because it is the most well-known of all the tents. By the time we found it, people were already entering. We sprinted around the tent, found an entrance and ran to a table. And that's where it began....
We were seated by a group of Brazilians. Insane Brazilians I should say. They started chanting, dancing on their tables, waving their flag, and cheering. In the meantime, the British group across the tent started doing the same. Being located in the middle, we joined both of them in with both of them :) When the beermaids started serving the beer, the tent went crazy!!!!!! Everyone was cheering, prosting, and yelling. The beer steins hold 1 liter of beer. AND the beer brewed for Oktoberfest is stronger than any other beer brewed. Let's just say I had three steins and I was set for the day! The band started playing around 11am. I was shocked when they started playing American songs, such as "Hey Baby." It brought me back to my high school days. Although their version was a little different/a lot more fun. After you sing, "Hey, hey Baby," you say "Oh Ah" haha.
We then randomly ran into one of Brittany's friends from college and hung out with him and his Spanish speaking friends for a while. Yes, Brittany, like always, found someone to practice her Spanish with. Around 3pm, we were done drinking and took a nap on "Blackout hill," which is located behind all the beer tents. It is quite a sight to see. Just image thousands of drunken people passed out on a hill....you see it? Quite funny. I slept till around 8pm and then made my way back to the campsite to listen to the Ausies sing "Wasn't me" by Shaggy until 2am. At some point between 3 and 8, Brittany and I somehow got separated. But no need to worry...my German is wundibar...did I spell that right? Brittany's adventure needs another blog...
The next morning, we woke up around 7am to do it all over again! This time we went to a different tent and ended up running into some of our Barcelona friends! What are the chances?? Again, they started serving beer at 9am. I still don't know how I was able to drink beer that early in the morning. But what was more impressive was the people who would stand on their table and chug their entire stein. I have never seen anyone drink beer as fast as some of these people. This one German drank his entire stein in about 10 seconds. It was amazing. Once a person finishes the whole tent cheers! It's so much fun. Also, I bought a half chicken, cooked of course. It was the best chicken I have ever had in my entire life. The skin was crispy, but not fried, and the inside was all white, hot and steamy meat. Wow, I would go back just for that!Now, the one catch about drinking on Sunday was that we had to catch our bus back to the airport at 3pm and our plane back to Barcelona at 7pm. This was quite an interesting experience. We let the beer tent at 2, bought a souvenir mug, and headed to the metro. We arrived back at the campsite just as the bus was about to leave. We threw all our stuff in our bags and ran to the bus. We made it just in time :)
Things we lost/broke at Oktoberfest:
- Elyse
- Earrings
- Brittany's contacts
- Brittany's flip flops
- My purse
Don't worry, Elyse found her way back to Barcelona the next day.
Things we learned at Oktoberfest:
1) German transportation is free, unless you get caught...then it's 30 euro
2) Everything is more fun when you're wearing glasses
3) Dodging projectile vomit is not Brittany's greatest skill
4) Bathroom floors in beer tents are bad places to take naps
5) Camping is painful
6) Brittany need to stop accepting marriage proposals from random spaniards
7) I love half chickens
8) Drinking a gallon of beer in the morning before flying home makes the flight so much more fun
9) There is such a thing as spicy water
10) Hand sanitizer does not come in powder form.
11) No matter where we go, Brittany will always find someone to practice your Spanish with
12) Brittany thinks everyone has a British accent
13) ...in my glasses
14) It wasn't me, HA
On the agenda for this week:
- The Fray concert tonight
- Aunt Debbie and Jennifer come on Friday :)
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