Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany

The week after my departure from Cologne was filled with registration and paperwork for the University. However, at this point in time I was still living in Cologne, therefore I was waking up early every day to commute to Bonn to start my day of standing in lines, dealing with bureaucrats, running back and forth between buildings, and the like. It was such a hassle! I wasn't the only one though, because virtually every foreign student in Germany goes through a long, drawn-out process of the same paperwork too. We struggled together. Come Thursday of that week, I was considered done with everything and could finally enjoy what little time I had left before classes started four days later. Luckily for me, I had already planned out my celebration.

My friend, Alan, was going through the same process I was, but in Munich. Early on, once we had learned about the details of our future cities, we had planned to spend a weekend down in Munich, where of course we would check out Oktoberfest, and then maybe do some hiking the next day. Generally speaking, the most expensive part of attending Oktoberfest is the accommodation. Luckily, I was able to crash at Alan's place in my sleeping bag free of charge. Check!  All I needed to do was book my transportation there and back, pack a bag, and withdraw some Oktoberfest money from the bank and all would be good. Thursday around noon, after finishing off a tasty bowl of coconut-curry soup and a heaping bowl of pesto pasta (from the cafe I mentioned in an earlier post), I headed out to Munich. I once again booked my ride with the carpooling website, where the prices were four times cheaper than the train (and the rides were the same amount of time). This gave me a great opportunity to meet some new people, practice my German, and just see the countryside from the Autobahn. I had a blast. The ride started out a bit slowly, but with time came an hour-and-a-half long conversation in German. All of the passengers were quite receptive to my learning of the language, and all offered tips and corrections. After learning of my interests and hobbies, I received suggestions for future hiking destinations within the country. I can't wait to check those out. The ride ended up lasting 2 more hours than expected due to traffic (which we should have expected), making for a grand total of 7 hours in the car! I finished off one of the books I brought, Lord of the Flies, and started another. I also listened to quite a bit of music. We rolled into Munich at 9 pm, and I met Alan shortly after.

The next day, Friday, which also happened to be Germany's national holiday, we woke up and cooked a nice, hearty, Mexican breakfast. We left the apartment at 9:30 am, not really knowing exactly where to go to find Oktoberfest, but as the saying goes "FOLLOW THE LEDERHOSEN!"

Alright, that's not an actual saying, but I think it should be.

We found Oktoberfest in due time and went to find a beer tent to occupy for the rest of the day. That was at 10 am, one hour after the opening, and there was nowhere to sit inside! We searched thoroughly, but finally came to the conclusion that we were going to have to part ways with this specific tent (for those unaware, each brewery, or brand, has their own tent which can hold ~600+ people) and search elsewhere. As we walked back out, we discovered the outside patio--same structure as inside, just not as many people. We had our picking at tables, so we sat down at an unoccupied table and ordered two maß (pronounced 'mass': A one liter quantity of beer at 6% alcohol, costing a total of 10 euro). That was at 10:17 am, but it was 5 o'clock somewhere, so no worries. Within 30 minutes of us sitting down, we were greeted by a group of Germans, our age, who were looking for a place to sit. We ended up chatting with them for the next 3 hours! I made friends with Annka, who will soon be down in Australia doing a 3 month exchange program.

Annka, in a dirndl, and myself, sporting a pair of lederhosen

We ate some delicious German food, including pretzels, potatoes, and some heavenly chicken. The whole day was just fantastic. We talked a lot and laughed a lot, and you can't ask for much more than that. There are, of course, more stories to tell! Everything went well and I'm glad I was able to participate in one of the biggest cultural experiences in the world!

The next day we woke up early to catch a train that was heading down south near the border of Austria. We had carefully planned out the day's events two nights prior and would be heading down to Neuschwanstein, one of the most famous castles in all of Germany, to do some sightseeing and hiking. It's a big tourist destination, and actually has a connection to Walt Disney and Disney World. I encourage you to check that out on Google. We caught the train and settled in for the 2 hour ride. The seats were scarce, so I ended up sitting next to an elderly woman, but we got to talking and didn't stop for the next hour. I prefaced my monologue with "having living in Cologne for two months" at which point, very bluntly, she told me Cologne was not so pretty as Munich! She told me she had lived in Munich for the last 60 years and found it to be quite cleaner than Cologne (I'll tip my hat to that one). We talked about a variety of subjects, and it was just nice to talk to somebody with a different viewpoint. I hopped on the connecting train to Füssen and parted ways with her.

When Alan and I hopped on the new train we found a four person section unoccupied, so we took up residence. Another guy came and sat across from us and I, assuming he could speak German, asked him a question. He responded in English that he didn't speak any German, so we got to talking in English. Turns out he's from Colorado and is doing an exchange year here for academic and religious reasons. Within a few minutes of meeting him, he stuck out his left hand and said "I noticed your Eagle Scout ring, I'm an Eagle Scout too." After that, the conversation went strong for the next hour or so, talking about Louisiana and Colorado, hiking, Europe, and everything in between. Austin had plans to meet some of his other friends in Füssen, but wasn't able to get into contact with them, so he tagged along with us. We ended up hiking through the woods to the castle and spent the better part of 5 hours talking, hiking, and later, eating at a local restaurant.

View of the castle, left, nestled in the landscape of southern Germany

Alpine trail towards the castle, where Fall has already taken effect

Within 30 minutes of hiking from the base of the hill, we had made our way to the photo-op: Marienbrücke. This is the classic shot of the castle, situated on a bridge above a huge ravine overlooking the castle.

Neuschwanstein

Austin, Alan, and I hiked up a pig trail to get a better view of the castle, at which point we were looking down onto the castle and took some pretty memorable pictures. Good times. We hiked back down to grab something to eat. Afterwards, we parted ways with Austin and made our way back to Munich.

I left Munich the next morning by carpool. The ride lasted 8 hours (+3 hours for traffic delays), so once again I got some reading done, listened to some new music, and held conversation for about 2-3 hours. I rolled into Bonn at 8 pm, ready to start my first day of classes at the University only 12 hours later.

My weekend in Munich has been the best experience of my time in Germany so far. I was able to experience a different side of German culture, meet some new people, have delicious food and beer, and really just spend the whole time relaxing. When I set off for my year-abroad, I wanted to make sure that I experienced the right things and lived in the moment. Between Oktoberfest and Neuschwanstein, I can definitely say that my trip to Munich underlines everything that I wanted in a year-abroad in Germany. To that, I'll drink!

"Prost!"