Recovery in Munich

WeiBwurst cooking on the stove (Eaten with sweet mustard, they taste a lot better than they look)
Day 3: Sunday 25 - Got up late. Was treated to a traditional Bavarian breakfast with the crew, which consisted of WeiBwurst (a type of sausage I think?), pretzels with 3 cheese dip, aaaand coffee. Lots of it. So necessary.

We looked at the copious amounts of photos taken the day before, then biked around Munich. I did laundry (woohoo!), and bought my ticket to Venice for Tuesday (direct, six and a half hours, easiest train ticket yet!) In the afternoon, we went to the English Gardens, met up with some friends for traditional German food (pork leg, liver, knudeln, mashed potatoes and Radler, then biked home in the freezing cold. Spent half an hour looking for my memory card from my camera (found it) then proceeded to lose it inside the computer. Found it again and watched a movie. A nice complement to the insanity that was yesterday.

München Rockt - Oktoberfest Round 2

Day 4: Monday 26 - Got up late (again). Lazy morning watching Modern Family. Did some trip planning, booked hostels for Venice and Rome, and got ready for Oktoberfest round 2. Had a quick dinner and got going around 5:30 pm. Played some games--got to shoot a rifle--spoiler alert: I didn't hit the target once.
Went to the big beer tents this time and it was PACKED. No free tables anywhere. But the craziest party I've ever seen. Imagine 10,000 people dancing on the tables to oldies and classic rock (summer of 69? how is that Oktoberfest?) straight out of a movie. Totally different from my experience on Saturday, which was really relaxed and casual. This was straight up epic.
Dancing on the tables with ten thousand of my closest friends
We waited at one table for a while but it was clear they weren't leaving anytime soon, so we tried another tent and gradually edged out the other patrons until we had control. We danced and drank the night away (I only fell once, according to photos, so now I know where the bruises on my knee are from).
Alex and I right before the epic fall
Met some cool Brits, some drunk girl that decided it was a great idea to wear heels to oktoberfest (seriously, come on--you're standing on a bench that's like a balance beam! no wonder you're falling every fifteen seconds...just take them off!). We went out after the tents closed, got a kebab, then danced some more--quite hilarious being at a bar in our dirndls and lederhosen, when no one else is dressed up, but we were too (ahem...sober?) to worry about it.
Had quite the surprise when I woke up the next morning and saw we had taken over 150 pictures that night--I have no idea how my camera survived Oktoberfest round 2, but somehow it did, and I had my own Hangover moment going through those photos (Asian ladyboy not included, all fingers intact, so not to worry).

Visiting Chris was fantastic--I haven't seen him in so long, and he was the BEST host (He made me sandwiches to take on the train to Italy, how amazing is that?!), took good care of me, and I can't thank him enough for letting me stay with him! Me and Chris at Oktoberfest 2011 Now I'm jet setting through 3 countries in one day (Germany, Austria, Italy) to arrive in Venice later this afternoon. München Rockt 2011!

Oktoberfest 2011: Die Wiesn!

Day 2: Sat Sept 24 - Die Wiesn! Number one on your list of Oktoberfest Don'ts: Going out drinking the night before. I was hurting a bit this morning, since we woke up at 7:30 am in time to get ready for Oktoberfest--if you want a table you have to be there by 9 am! When we were walking we already saw lines of people outside the tents--they won't be getting in for hours! Silly tourists. Tanya and I got our picture taken by many of these tourists, so we must look legit. That made me feel better about my 65 Euro Dirndl purchase!

We got to the Wiesn, paid 3 euros (vs. the tents which are free but full of tourists and just sloppy--where we were was more traditional) and got some tables outside. Since we got there at about 9 am, we got coffee to start, and unpacked our picnic supplies--they actually let you bring your own food to this part, since they don't start serving food there until much later. It filled up quick, but we held our tables all day long. The weather was incredible--I actually got a sunburn, it was so hot out! Amazing! My shades came in handy and were passed around to just about everyone in attendance. So did my camera--we took more than 750 photos...

About 25 friends from my summers in Switzerland came from all over Germany to be here, which was great. I saw my girls that I lived with this summer in India (Franzi and Izy, my little sisters!), along with some other friends I haven't seen in YEARS. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better day!

In this area, beer is served in huge stone mugs, which is the traditional way. I had an epiphany after these arrived about bier steins (Stein means 'stone' in German, who'da thought?). Everyone starts off with a Radler, however, which is half beer, half lemonade (sounds gross, but is super refreshing). There were Lederhosen EVERYWHERE--so glad I bought a dirndl, i would've been the only girl without one. It was really funny, from the moment I arrived in Munich, these costumes were everywhere--I mean, it's expected to see them on the Wiesn, but it's somehow hilarious to see some guy just standing on the subway platform in his lederhosen, or in line at the grocery store.
Franzi and I at Die Wiesn (pronounced Dee Veezen for all you Anglophiles) We stayed on the Wiesn from 9 am til 12 midnight--15 hours of Oktoberfest. The toilets were surprisingly good for a public event--kept clean and were a lot nicer than the outhouses I was expecting. (Just thought it's worth mentioning since usually you feel like you've contracted several diseases after using the facilities.)

Oktoberfest is actually a huge carnival--amusement park rides and games everywhere, food stands, etc. It was great fun to walk through all the stalls, see all the traditional food being made (hint: there's a lot of things ending in 'wurst'), and check out the rides. Somehow having everyone dressed up makes everything more fun--it's like Halloween, except everyone is going as the same thing, and every age group is represented--there are six year olds in lederhosen and sixty year olds wearing dirndls.

Such a cool sense of community here--I was saying to my friends, in Canada, because we're so multicultural, we'll have a small Oktoberfest in Kitchener, and a small Chinese New Year, and Caribana, etc. etc. But we never really have huge festivals where EVERYONE in the country is participating. I found that really great to see. It's also the mentality behind the event--the fact that it's a drinking festival--not serving beer in accompaniment to something, but actually as the main activity--that makes it so great.
So part way through our epic outdoor Beer Olympics, our waiter decided to inform us we couldn't bring food in anymore. We suspect this is because he wanted to make more money--if we couldn't bring it in, we'd have to buy it--from him. Our friend Alex, who was the food President of the afternoon, went and talked to the chef, who said it was fine, and relayed this to our waiter. He then begrudgingly allowed our picnic to continue. Shenanigans.

After the tents were closing though, I smoothed things over with Halil (our waiter's name, as it turns out) and even convinced him to join in a few photos. He promised me 4 free beer MaBs if I come back on Monday, so I fully plan on collecting! That's 40 Euros!
Halil (Back row, 2nd from right) as you can tell, is thrilled to be a part of our group
We went on the ferris wheel at the end and what a great way to see the entire Oktoberfest site. Lights twinkling, everybody happy with what a great day we've just had, it was incredible. One of the highlights of my trip for sure.

Welcome to Munich

Day 1: Fri 23rd - Leaving Paris!!!!!!!!! On a 7 am train to Munich (can you tell I can't wait to get outta there?!). My friend Chris picked me up at the station, met our other friends Simon and Lukas (brothers) in the subway, and went to Chris' dorm where we all were staying. He's studying electrical engineering in Munich. I've known all these guys since I was about 3 years old so it's really great to see them all together. First thing we did was go shopping for my Dirndl, which is the traditional outfit all the girls wear to the Oktoberfest. (Note: dirndls are not short--if you buy one that Americans would wear on halloween, you'll look like a slutty tourist! And Germans will look at you with disdain. Good thing I had some local perspective!) I found one in the first shop we went into, how lucky is that? The whole thing cost me a whopping 65 Euros, but considering they normally start at minimum 100, I got a pretty good deal. And I did not come here to stand out (and be a slutty tourist), I came to jump headfirst into the GERMAN Oktoberfest experience! So it was a necessary purchase.

After trying Laberkase (a traditional Bavarian food, but don't ask, you're better off not knowing what's in it) we went to Johannes (Simon and Lukas' brother) and his wife Julia's to celebrate her birthday. We had cake and champagne, then went to a restaurant with a big group of people including Meenakshi, Markus and Tanya, (all of which I also know since childhood) and had some drinks. Okay a lot of drinks. The new hot drink in Germany right now is an Apfelspritz (I think that's what it's called?) which is Apple juice, white wine, and soda I believe. Whatever it is, it's delicious. Tomorrow is the big day...I'm so excited.

Germanwings? More like Germanstinks

Berlin Day 5/Austria Day 1 - Tues 28th

Germanwings airline, you are the bane of my existence.

First of all, I always cut it a bit close when I leave for a flight, because, well, look who we're talking about (I'm always on time, everyone else is just so early!) And if there's one thing I hate more than being late, it's being early and having to sit around. Plus, judging from my initial flight experience on this trip, you tend to get rushed through like a VIP if you have a flight to catch. Winning.

My flight leaves at 16:05, so check-in cuts off at 15:35. I get from the subway to the bus that'll take me to the airport at 15:13...so I decide to take a taxi to the airport, as I don't have 10 minutes to spare. The taxi was a good sport and sped heavily to get me there in good time, although he dropped me off at terminal A. Germanwings flies out of Terminal D. Of course. How do i know this? Only because I went to A, B, and C first, carrying 80 lbs of my life on my back and going through 2 separate security checks before someone clued in that I wasn't on that flight...makes me feel very safe. 

I arrive at the proper check-in desk at 15:36 (naturally), flushed, sweaty, and panicking that I was too late to make my flight. Budget airlines are not nice when you miss planes...I would be out about 180 Euros...and luckily the passenger in front of me was being such a douche. (seriously...he walks away from the desk, looks at his assigned seat, then cuts in front of me again and is like "why did you give me something so far back? I want to sit close to the front of the plane. -- "I didn't have anything closer by a window." -- "well you should've told me, then I'd have the option to choose...very unprofessional that you didn't tell me until my pass was already printed, I'd like the other seat, THANKS.") After that display, the attendant was enthralled by my Canadian charm (I'm sure this is what happened) and allowed me to check in, as well as not pay extra for my carry-on (which was well over the 8kg limit--told you, I'm gonna come back with gymnast's arms!)

When I went through Germanwing security, I had to take all of my makeup and "liquids" out of my bag...which the lady so garishly assisted me with. She insisted that all liquids need to be contained in ONE 1L plastic bag "next time"...and forced me to repack my entire handbag that I had so carefully stacked before leaving the house this morning. 

I showed her the plastic freezer bag that is definitely 1L in Canada...and she was like "no, that's like 5L. unacceptable." SERIOUSLY LADY, I packed what I packed, where I packed it, for a reason. My blush will crack and my makeup kit, while having a plastic window, has fabric on the other 3 sides and will not be spill-proof, whereas my PLASTIC FREEZER BAG with a seal, will do just fine. Hence why I packed it that way. UGH.

Not to mention that I've flown with this packing configuration twice already, on different BUDGET airlines, so don't try to tell me that's why your rules are different. They just defy logic.

Whatever. I obviously had time at the gate to repack my entire bag in the middle of the airport, which I did with relish, in full view of the security checkpoint I just went through.

On the plane now, I fly Berlin > Koln, transfer planes, then Koln > Vienna. Fingers crossed my bag makes it the entire way, but with Germanwings I am fully expecting it not to, and if it does, BONUS! 

Once I get to the hostel, I'm meeting Jamie and his friend John, and hopefully we will try Wiener-schnitzel tonight! I've been looking forwards to this for like a week. I JUST clued in that it literally means "schnitzel from Wien (German for Vienna)"...this is much like my discovery of last summer, that Clamato juice contains clams.

Other activities I have in mind for Vienna are a bike tour, seeing the Lippazaner horses training, the Opera, and maybe a day-trip to Salzburg. I wouldn't say no to an alpine hot tub either.

Live update: another thing to hate about Germanwings: you order a drink (just a coffee, nothing crazy) and they don't tell you it's not free until you already have it and then owe them 2.50! SHENANIGANS.

On a more pleasant note, check out Bon Iver's newest album. I downloaded it before I left Berlin and am very impressed; I loved his first album and it seems he's done it again. Very easy listening. Sort of like Damien Rice, Javier Dunn, that sort of thing.

Live update 2: One thing I will give Germany, is that their airport food is way better than Canada's. I found it annoying that there were no fast-food places anywhere except in the touristy areas (no coffee to go on the corner, no subway, nothing! They want you to sit!), but the flip-side is that they have fresh grilled foccacia sandwiches for 2.80 in the airport. Score.

Live update 3: Landed in Vienna. On the express train to the city...16 mins, 10 Euros. Funny though, I just walked out of the airport. No stamp, no customs, nothing. Are we sure Austria is a real country? Now I have no proof I was ever here...makes me a bit uneasy, but I wasn't about to ask questions. Luckily, my bag made it, and I managed to read a text from Jamie that said they were at the hostel already (before my phone locked me out because I'm not in Germany anymore and will have to buy a new SIM card if I want to use it).