What a weekend! Our first trip outside of Spain was to Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest. I now fully appreciate all the hype! It was the 200th anniversary of the event and I am so glad I got to experience it. We arrived in Munich, navigated the metro system, and arrived to a story-book like place. Munich is absolutely beautiful and I don't think any of us were expecting to love the city as much as we do now. The blonds in the group definitely felt more at home surrounded by the Germans and all of us enjoyed the actual fall weather and changing color leaves!
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| Munich, Germany |
After being in awe of this beautiful new place, we then decided to find our hostel. I really should not even refer to it as a hostel. We ended up staying in a giant tent with sheets as room dividers and had to pass outside to a trailer to use the bathroom! After much contemplation, the spoiled Americans decided to stick it out and make the best of it. We spent as little time as possible there and the fall weather turned into our worst nightmare as the tent didn't really have a heating system and the nights were more than a little chilly!
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| The "Hostel" |
On Friday night we found a delicious restaurant in Munich's city center, surrounded by outstanding cathedrals and other magnificent buildings. Here we had our first German beer and I had a typical German meal of steak and a baked potato! Following dinner we headed to the Hofbrauhaus, a very famous beer hall in Munich. I had a little Déjà vu when entering the hall thanks to Disney's Epcot and the night was truly wonderful. Here we had our first liter mug of beer and headed back to the "hostel" to try and get some rest for the next day!
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| Hofbrauhaus |
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and headed to Oktoberfest! Oktoberfest consisted of large tents with huge tables that serve beer and various types of food. There are also carnival-like rides all around and many vendors throughout. We ended up at the Hofbrauhaus tent (the most popular!) and ended up getting a table with two British men living in Luxembourg! Here we drank our liter mugs of beer and experienced Oktoberfest to its fullest, including the many chants and cheers that the whole tent participated in. The Germans were in full traditional attire and the beermaids were able to carry about 8-10 mugs full of beer at once (we were all extremely impressed). Pretzels are a major part of the day, so I decided to try one and it was absolutely delicious!
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| Outside of the tent |
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| Inside the tent |
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The Pretzel!
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Saturday afternoon was spent reuniting with lots of other Loyola students studying in various countries (including my former roommate, Aly), going on one of the many rides, and taking a nap at the hostel! Saturday night we went back to the beautiful city center for dinner and found another famous bar to spend a a few hours at. We called it an early night since we had an early plane to catch Sunday morning. I am glad to be back in my room in Alcalá but it was truly a fantastic weekend!
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| "The Rocket" |
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