This past weekend we went to Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. I'm really lazy right now and not in 'paragraph/complete sentence mood.' Here's a rundown of our weekend:Note: these are approximate times. I don't remember looking at my watch except for Saturday morning for our first beer: 9:30am.
Thursday night
I called my grandparents to get some pointers. Grandma is German and Grandad was stationed in the Army there... where he met grandma in a bar when they were younger. She wasn't a grandma then. Ummm... cutest story ever. Anyway, Grandma was extremely excited and helped me with some of my non-existent German. She said I only needed to know hello, beer, thanks, and a few numbers. Sweet. I also got tips on what food to eat (everything of course) and some other German trivia. Grandad reminisced on going to Oktoberfest with his Army buddies... when he was 'single' he had to mention. He said it was a 'good time.' I'm willing to bet things got crazy.
Friday
7:30am - L picked the four of us up. The boys immediately covered her backseat with fur and dog stink.
8:00am - Dropped fur kids off at kennel and prayed they wouldn't maul any annoying chihuahuas or escape. High probability of both.
8:15am - On our way. Various conversation topics were covered, but most are unmentionable and/or inappropriate for this blog. There was an obscene amount of snacks consumed (bruschetta, chips, fruit, chocolate, pretzels, goldfish, water, etc.) and we also listened to German podcasts and learned roughly five words: hello, beer, cheers, saurerkraut, and thanks.
12:00pm - We reached the Austrian border and immediately inserted The Sound of Music soundtrack. Traffic was horrible, but bearable with music selection. We only drove through for about an hour, but we want to go back to Vienna or somewhere a little more fun.
1:30pm - German border! We obnoxiously said any and all German words we saw. Ausfarht (meaning exit) was a favorite of the group.... or just me. Immature.
Adam's response to Ausfahrt: "Wait. ausfahrt means exit?! When I went to training in Wildhaus we kept seeing these signs for Ausfahrt and thought it was some town. I thought wow, you can get to Ausfahrt from anywhere! Must be a big town."
Wow.
1:32pm - We realized we were on the AUTOBAHN!!!!! Aaaaaahhhhhh! 180km= roughly 108mph We would have gone faster if it wasn't for fear of tire loss or lift off. Although we were going that fast, we still got passed like we were riding mopeds. Actually, we may not have even been on the autobahn. It seemed like a Nascar race, but the occasional speed limit signs were questionable... and they didn't say 180.
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3:50pm - We decided that we definitely needed the German outfits. We wandered around our street, but no luck. Then the decision was made to find food and/or a bar... whichever appeared first. Bar it was. That was the first of many awkward German-English conversation. Weird. I would have given anything to use my French.
5:00pm - Met J at the hotel and headed downtown (via 'the underground') for festivities. There were thousands and thousands of people.
6:00pm - We purchased ridiculous (yet authentic) German wear. Some nice German ladies helped/demanded we try on certain colors. I was reprimanded when I put a short brown apron with a green dress.
"Zis lookz heedeous! No! You kan't do zis. I vil not leht yooo. Yooo gunna look zilly!
You wahr peenk, or bloo, or redz."
I wanted a brown apron. My shoes were brown. I was going to look silly either way. I spent 20 minutes (in the community dressing room seen below) trying to figure out a way to not make her mad and purchase the brown apron anyway. At one point I thought of just leaving money on the counter and walking out with it to avoid the second awkward conversation of the day. I decided to just 'man up' and be assertive. After all, I was the customer right? It all worked out and we became friends in the end, but she was not happy. 84 Euros for complete costume plus a shirt for Adam. Pretty good deal.
7:30pm - Dinner at Augustiner and our first ginormous liter beers of the trip. Prost!
9:00ish? - Hofbrahaus. Things got a little crazy. The Hofbrahaus is 400 years old (built in 1589 according to Wikipedia). This place was a frequent hang out spot for Mozart and... um Hitler. Super creepy right? Kinda wanted to throw up when I found that out. It's amazing that it's still standing. It's a ginormous building with an unbelievably efficient staff (except for the third floor when you get a beer girl who needs a nap or a smoke break). They have a crazy beer 'assembly line' that you can watch, pretzel girls, cookie sellers, and some uh-mazing food that comes out really fast. Nom nom nom. German food was a nice change of pace from our usual Swiss bread, cheese, cured meat, and chocolate meals.
I freaked out after seeing this sight below. Doesn't it look like there's blood on the table!? It was just wet, but you can imagine thinking your rubbing your arms and beer mug in blood. I may have caused a ridiculous scene. Also, looks like 'Ray Dog' made an appearance in 99'.
Pretzel time! They were so delicious. Also, we found a Kentucky shirt!!! Two guys sat down at our table with us (wait.... it gets weird)...
Guy 1: Mike - He's from Phoenix and now lives in Geneva. We have a new friend.
Guy 2: Paul (friend of Mike) - He's from Kentucky and still lives there.
Crazy.
If you are unfamiliar with our background then this will make no sense to you.
Two more guys came and sat with us. This time one was from Germany and the other from Philly. L is from Philly. Weird again.
I would be fired if I worked as a beer girl. Those things are heavy!!! This picture is creepy because the red-eye made my eyes look black... and gave me a dirty red streak in my hair. This is my 'strong' face.
2-3 beers each. Time to go back to the hotel. Early morning Saturday.
12:15am - Somehow my green German dress got ripped (running through the hallway holding it and catching it on a door handle), so I went to the front desk for a sewing kit. While down there being little Miss Suzy home maker, I met some Irish guys on a bachelor party outing. One had bruises and cuts all over himself. He said he got in a knife fight, but apparently he tried jumping from one table to the next.... and missed. Ouch. We talked about randomness (mostly Ireland and the US) while I sewed. I did successfully teach them how to tell if a girl is married or not before making any smooth comments/moves (look at the hand guys). We wound up seeing them in the elevator the next morning... looking rough.
Note to self: no table jumping. Better yet, just stay off of tables.
Day one = success. Goodnight.
Also, pretty big fan of the Haribo bears on the pillow. Adorable.
Oktoberfest 2011: Part 2 coming soon. :)
