It was Thursday night when Matt and I set out to pick up the car
rental. I had a mixed feeling of excitement and nervousness. Driving on the
highway didn't bother me, but driving in Lyon already looked pretty
intimidating.
In Lyon you can pretty much do whatever you want, and the roads
make no sense.
When I first pulled out of the rental place I immediately lost all
senses of direction. We managed to make it to the school to pick up the rest of
the crew, but we were already an hour late.
With a quick stop at the dorm to pick up the food and booze we
headed off to Geneva. I was very keen on leaving Thursday night, and found a
place to crash on Couch Surfing. The house was in Burgdorf, just outside of
Berne, Switzerland.
By the time we made it to Burgdorf it was 2:30 in the morning.
After driving around a little bit more we finally found the house, but we were
not sure if they would still let us stay. I ringed the bell and Marc came right
down and let us in.
His place was amazing, and we had a few beers and talked about Europe
before we went to bed. We were up at 8 am that morning, and some of us were
slightly hung over. Not me, I'm to awesome and don't have time for hangovers.
The drive through switzerland was amazing, and very soon we were
at the Austrian border, and then in Germany.
Mom, you might want to stop reading now, because this is where we
get on the autobahn.
The autobahn is not what I expected. It was a narrow two lane
highway, with buses going 90K on one side, and BMW's going 200 on the other.
Our little four cylinder did us well, but I didn't push it past 170.
When we arrived in Munich I was disappointed to find out the phone
map was no longer working, and we didn't have a regular map. We drove around a
little bit more before going into a hotel where they printed us off a google
map. We ended up going the wrong way anyway, and asked a mailman for help. We
eventually found the campground, which was exploding with people. There were
tents absolutely everywhere, and people were paying 100 Euros a night! Everyone
there was from either Australia, or North America. I even met some people from
Calgary! After hearing nothing but French for one month it was really weird to
understand people again. I also had an eerie sense about the camp ground, and
didn't feel very safe.
Matt had reserved a trailer for us, and told the owner that we
would be there at 12 noon. We showed up around 2:30 pm. We decided to start
walking around and see what we could find. We were walking down the road, when
we saw a trailer that looked very similar to the one in the picture. We looked
inside, and then went in. Right there on the table were five wristbands, and a
key. We found the trailer!
After settling in and having some well deserved beverages, we
wondered what to do with the rest of the night. I elected to go into the city,
and after meeting up with a cool Australian named Paul, we did just that.
Munich is an incredible city. Paul knew about a good beer hall
right in the town square. Coming up the escalator I was completely blown back,
the square looked incredible at night.
We eventually found the beer hall, which was also very impressive,
and went right in. I was happy to find that you don't pay cover at Oktoberfest!
We found a spot outside and ordered our first beers. The maidens
carry about ten at a time!
After a beer, and a very big pretzel, we decided to explore the
beer hall. Paul and I also ordered a second beer, which was a good decision. We
walked up to the top floor, and again I was blown away. It room was so big, and
everyone was drinking the same beer, and eating chicken. There was also a
German band playing traditional songs! It's really hard to describe, so just
take a look at the pictures.
We stumbled back to the train station, caught the bus, and passed
out in the camper. The plan was to wake up at 5am and head to the grounds. We
wanted to hit up the Hofbrau (HB) tent. It is the original Oktoberfest tent,
and the most popular, and we were going on a Saturday.
When we woke up, I felt exactly the same as I had before I went to
bed. Matt and I attempted to make eggs, which turned out great for us, but not
the two girls who stayed behind. They had to clean it all up, but whatever.
When we arrived at the tent there was already a line at 5:30 am. The tent
opened at 9 so I spent the following couple of hours talking to Americans and
taking selfies in the crowd. I couldn’t believe how packed the crowd became. I
tried lifting my feet up to see if the people around could support me, but I
almost pulled a little Mexican girl down with me.
9 finally came and the doors opened up. To say it was a stampede
is an understatement. I have never seen so many people charge through a door in
my life.
With a tent that holds over four thousand people, one would guess
that the service might be slow, but it’s the complete contrary. The second we
found a table a beer maiden asked us if we wanted drinks. I tried to pace
myself with the first one. We took lots of pictures and explored the area a
little. Soon the German band started and that’s when things really started
going!
One tradition in the tents is standing on your table and chugging
your beer. Mind you these beers at over 6% and come by the liter. If you manage
to chug the whole thing, everyone cheers, but if you fall short, everyone in
the whole tent boos you for about ten seconds, and just in case you were
wondering, yes four thousand people can boo very loud.
We made lots of friends in the tent. There was also an Italian
bachelor party at our table. You can imagine how crazy that became.
Around the afternoon I started to get very tired and hungry, and
wanted to see the rest of the grounds. Stumbling out I found a stand selling
half a roast chicken and tore it apart. It was so good I went back and ordered
a second. Looking back, I can tell you it was not an attractive sight.
Exploring Munich for a bit I started to get really tired and
headed back to the campsite. Along the way I met some equally inebriated
American girls, and some interesting Germans.
We ended up taking the wrong bus, so we had to walk the rest of
the way. When we finally got back everyone started to nap, but I remembered
that I was in Munich, so I decided to keep drinking with my German friends. I
made even more friends, and this was the night I met the people from Calgary.
Around midnight I finally decided to call it a night and headed to bed.
The next morning I was woken up by the others, and was still very
tired. I wasn’t hung-over at all, because I’m cool like that, but I still felt
exhausted. We had to wait for the owner of the trailer to come and inspect it,
so we had some breakfast and waited. I would have rather slept and skipped
breakfast. Matt wanted a turn on the autobahn, so I gave him the keys when it
was time to go. After getting lost again, we finally found the highway and were
off. The autobahn is great, but there was construction everywhere going back,
so we were delayed for probably over two hours.
We took a stop in a lovely Austrian town called Bregenz for coffee
and food. After a little exploration we were on the road again, and it was my
turn to drive. It wasn’t long into the Swiss border though that I started to
feel very tired. I wasn't nodding off, but I knew that I was getting there. If
I had a little more sleep I could have made it, just saying.
When we finally arrived back in Lyon I was very relieved. The
drive was amazing, but I was ready for bed, and to drop the rental off before
7:30 am the next day.
I didn’t really sleep that night, and when my alarm went off I
didn’t think I was going to make it at first. I asked Matt to come with me because
I knew I would still need a navigator. Of course we got lost again, but at 7:29
I gave the keys back to the rental desk.
Writing this blog post now I am set to go to Stuttgart tomorrow,
and I still don’t think I have recovered from Munich. Such an incredible city,
and an even more incredible festival.
If any of you have the chance to go to Oktoberfest, you will never
regret it, unless of course something bad happens to you.
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