Now.
How many of you
understand the title?
Not many I would think.
Well, Wiesn is the
same thing as
Oktoberfest.
Oktoberfest.
Its just what the
Germans call it.
...
So, if the Germans
don't call it Oktoberfest,
where did it get that
funky spelling and who
started calling it that?
oh well.
I guess I'll have to go
back and ask
some Germans.
So, Oktoberfest.
It was a blast.
Let's just say,
it wasn't what i was expecting.
I didn't even like beer.
which made me wonder why
in the world i was on
that overnight 8 hour
bus ride to begin with.
but it was too late at that
point, because we
were already well into
the Alps of Austria
at that point.
On the glorious first morning
of Oktoberfest,
my roommates and i trekked through
streets covered with lederhosen.
and dirndls.
we made a typical rookie mistake:
DO NOT WATCH THE PARADE.
while the horses and outfits were nice,
by the time it was over
we were stuck with standing
instead of sitting at the
beer gardens.
these things really fill up quickly.
and the people don't move.
they literally sit there and
drink all day long.
so if you miss your chance
to grab a seat,
you might not get one.
so. rule 1:
first thing you do is
go to a beer tent and
get yourself a table.
by the way,
they are not really tents.
more like giant temporary gymnasiums
of beer and music and singing.
So, saturday was spent
walking, and walking,
and a little more walking.
we ended up heading to the center
because we couldn't get
into a beer hall.
so we found ourselves a nice
little, random, mexican restaurant
in Munich just in time for happy
hour.
i got a pina colada.
and nachos.
which was amazing
after weeks of pasta.
Now, since we learned
our lesson the first day,
on Sunday we went straight
into a beer house, Augustiner,
and found ourselves a table
near three guys in german hats.
After about 15 minutes of
just sitting next to them
talking while they played
cards, they invited us to join.
Lance, Ash, and Jordan.
the first two were kiwis,
from New Zealand,
the last was born in Scotland
but lived in New Zealand.
They were highly entertaining
and kept the table lively.
soon enough Ora, from Israel,
joined our group.
And with her came Steven from Munich,
a local who explained to me
what all the German meant
and that taking a stein from the
beer hall was perfectly normal.
So, we sat in that beer hall
from 9:30 till 2:20.
Talking, laughing,
singing, playing cards,
talking to the old German
talking to the old German
men behind us,
and drinking.
Turns out German beer
is pretty good.
Oh, and the giant pretzels.
those were amazing.
After 5 hours of merriment,
we had to go or risk being late
for our bus home at 3.
We bid farewell to our new
fairly drunk friends
and headed off into the chaos
that is Wiesn.
After buying nuts, a bratwurst, and
a glass boot,
we made our way through the
crowd and met up with our group.
We reached the bus by 3:20,
where we proceeded to wait.
and wait.
and wait.
and yes, wait some more.
There were some members of our
group that had decided to
drink so much that they couldn't
remember they had to leave
or weren't coherent enough
to be able to tell time.
the groups leaders found them and
brought them back to the bus.
we left at 5.
let's just say the sentiments
on the bus towards those 5 girls
were not good.
Having slept the entire way to
Germany, I decided to
Germany, I decided to
make myself stay up on the way back.
And it was worth it.
The Alps were beautiful.
the landscape of germany, austria,
and northern italy was
breathtaking.
there were even
random castles dotting the scenery
as we worked our way south.
At the early hour of 1:30
we arrived in Firenze.
tired, in need of showers,
with still a walk from the bus stop
across the city,
past the Duomo,
to our home.
So, i returned to italy with four
things from the 200th Wiesn
in Germany:
an experience at Dachau worth a thousand words.
a lovely burgundy/cranberry Bavarian hat.
a stein from Augustiners.
and a new appreciation for Beer.
i think my father will rather like the last one. :]
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