We departed from Rome around 8:30pm last Thursday in a 52-seater coach bus that for some reason had significantly less leg room on the right side of it (guess which side I was on). We watched a few movies before it was generally decided that we would all try to sleep. Despite the lack of space, I slept a decent amount and by about 9:00 Friday morning, we were pulling in to the hostel.
After we arrived, there was a fairly quick turnaround where we changed, freshened up, and took advantage of the hostel's free breakfast before heading into the city center for an 11am bike tour. The hostel was a bit of a hike from the city center--6 stops by train--but it was actually really nice and more like a hotel than the dingy hostels I've stayed in before.
We arrived in the center and met our guides for the bike tour--there were so many of us that wanted to do this, they split us up into about 4 groups of 20. The tour started around the Hofbrauhaus and from there we went into the city, saw a few cool things that I can't remember anything about now (one of them was maybe a royal palace...and a church?), and then we rode into the English Gardens. This is a beautiful park in Munich named after its characteristic "English countryside" design. One of the most interesting things about it was there is a popular nude section of this park in which people (usually older gentlemen) can come and be their naked selves in broad daylight. I saw a lot of proud folks that day, including one man who was sitting with legs wide open in a straddle! It was hilarious and super interesting. Also of note--it's illegal in Munich to build an apartment complex that is not within a certain distance form a park (can't remember the specific distance now, but it was still worth mentioning). We continued through the English Garden to the Biergarten (or, beer garden, for all you anglos out there) where we stopped for some lunch and a beer. There were a lot of people there, and though it was kind of like cafeteria-style eating, the outdoor aspect (and the beer) made it incredibly awesome. On the way back to the city center, we stopped at a part of the river in Munich where the rapids provide a perfect place for surfers to come and hone their skills. It was so cool watching people just jump on to the rapids with their surf boards and have an awesome time!
Biking in a courtyard of the Royal Palace
The English Garden
Candid Camera in the nude area
Tower in the center of the Biergarten
There was actually a band playing on the
first level while we had lunch
Surfing in the river rapids
After the tour, we headed straight to Springfest which was halfway between the city center and our apartment. There were four main beer tents and the rest of the space was occupied by carnival rides and game tents. We started off with the notion of walking around for a bit, but ended up going straight into a beer tent and getting a round of steins (the giant mugs that hold 2 pints of beer). We were so excited to be among the Germans and having our beer, it was awesome! A live band started to play and we ordered another round. After a little while longer, we decided to move on to another tent (a risky move since it was about 6pm, and the tents just keep getting more crowded). We went to the "Hippodrom" tent, where we had to wait about 40 minutes to get in. Once we did, we were immediately served steins and we headed to the front of the tent where there was a great live band playing on a stage. The night almost seemed like a concert after that--the band was playing a mix of American pop rock and German folk songs (including a drinking song that was played about every 20 minutes and called for everyone to drink at once). It was such a great time and I met a lot of locals and people from all over Europe.
Welcome to the festival!
The first tent we went into, decorated in Bavarian blue and white
Our first round of steins
The circus-like Hippodrom
Carnival rides abound
The next morning, we were warned to get to the festival early so we arrived promptly at 10am. Perhaps for Oktoberfest, this would be good, but there wasn't too much happening when we got there. Only one tent was open, so after doing a few laps, we walked in and ordered a stein (BEER COUNT: 1*). We were sitting there for a few minutes when a man came over and started talking to us. He was sitting alone and heard us speaking english, so he joined our table for a bit while waiting for his friends. He lived just outside of Munich with his wife and two kids, and was really pleasant company for the hour that he stayed with us. It was interesting hearing about German culture from him (as well as how much crazier Oktoberfest is). After finishing our beers, my friend Paige and I decided to go on one of the carnival rides (a stupid decision, it was pretty lame), and then we went to the Hippodrom tent around 12 for another stein (BEER COUNT: 2). We really wanted to get to the Hofbrauhaus, so after spending a few hours at Hippodrom, we walked back to the train and headed to Hofbrau. It was packed when we got in, and was set up essentially just like a beer tent--rows of picnic table seating throughout. We ordered a stein (BEER COUNT: 3) and some food--I had the Hofbrau sausage with saurkraut and enjoyed the atmosphere of the famous beer house. We got some souvenirs at Hofbrau and then headed back to the festival.
(*This count is based on steins--pints count as 0.5)
One of the halls at Hofbrauhaus
Paige and I somewhere in Germany
Springfest was definitely getting wild when we got back, we struggled to get in to an open-top beer tent. We ordered 2 pints of wheat beer (BEER COUNT: 4) here before deciding to go back to Hippodrom. We waited in line at that tent for about an hour during which I got a pretzel and some dark chocolate covered strawberry kebabs. Once we got in, we were immediately handed a stein (BEER COUNT: 5), and basically repeated Friday night--same great band, same great songs, new people, and one more beer (BEER COUNT: 6). It was such a great time. The entire tent was singing, drinking and dancing--it was the coolest party ever. Around 11, Paige and I got pretzels to-go, and headed back to the hostel.
Standing at the back of the Hippodrom tent
Really enjoying the band at Hippodrom
We were feeling a bit groggy Sunday morning, but decided to join people from our travel group on an outing to the Dachau Concentration Camp about 20 minutes outside of Munich. This was an extremely humbling experience, to be sure. We kind of all broke off an walked through the site individually--it felt wrong to be talking about anything really, anyway. There was a main museum in one of the former buildings at Dachau that included quotes of first-hand experiences of life in the camp. The horrors that these people saw and lived through are unimaginable and brought tears to my eyes. The building at Dachau that affected me the most was the former crematorium. Here, thousands of people were burned, hanged, and gased. I walked past the incinerators, through the gas chamber disguised as a shower, and through the "holding rooms"--one for prisoners to undress in before they were gased, and another to hold corpses of those who had died at the camp. Despite the disturbing reality of Dachau, it is an extremely worthwhile visit.
Gated entry into Dachau
Main area where attendance was taken
This attendance included brutal humiliation
of prisoners and would often last for hours
The walls surrounding the camp
The prisoners had to dig 10 foot ditches between
2 sets of walls to stifle escape
Entry to the gas chamber
"Brausebad" translates to "shower room"
2 of 6 total incinerators
The grounds of Dachau were strangely calm
"Never Again" Memorial
After returning from the camp, we packed everything back onto the buses and left around 1pm for our long journey home. The ride back was significantly better--most everyone had their own row to sit in because a lot of people opted to fly back to Rome. Six movies and a dinner-stop later, we arrived back around 12:30am. Not too shabby.
I have by no means exhausted my tourism in Germany. Being there this weekend made me want to visit so many more places in that beautiful country, and it's one of the few places that I've visited this semester in which I can imagine myself living. The German language is a tough one, but I feel like I fell in love with that, with the people, and with the lifestyle and culture in Germany. Plus I just really enjoyed saying "danke".
Things to look forward to this week: My last week of classes, and a trip to Greece this coming weekend!
Thanks for reading,
Kasey Ann
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