I spent this past weekend in Munich, Germany. Why? One simple answer. Oktoberfest! Never in my life did the thought occur to me that one day I would go to Oktoberfest. But let me tell ya folks- it was AMAZING! I am going back someday. You can count on that!
Our trip to Munich started early on Friday morning. I, along with three of my roommates and some other members of my program, got on a bus at 7:30am and headed out of town. This was possibly the best travelling bus ride I have ever had. Granted the only comparisons I have are the Greyhound I took to Ellensburg and the bus I took from Salem to Portland, neither of which were that great. This bus was comfortable, had leg room, gave you free coffee and tea, AND played movies. And the movie selection was FANTASTIC! I was going to listen to my own music and sleep the way there, but I looked up at the screen shortly after leaving Prague and what do I see? Some slow motion grinding in a sepia tone. That's right people- they were showing Dirty Dancing! I, of course, took the opportunity to watch one of my all time favorite movies. After watching Patrick and Jennifer I thought, "Ok, now it would make me day if they showed Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights right now." I knew this was wishful thinking so I put my iPod back in and was contemplating sleeping again. As I was talking to Hailey who was sitting across the aisle from me, she asked me if I knew what movie they were showing. I looked to the screen as the film was starting and knew I recognized it but just couldn't quite put my finger on it. Then after a few more minutes I realized exactly what movie it was. Not Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, but Mamma Mia! I was ecstatic! Another one of my favorites! By the time that movie had ended and they started showing another movie I decided that the three hours of sleep I had the night before would not be adequate for the weekend ahead so I decided to skip the third movie and sleep. It wasn't a musical anyways so it couldn't have been that good.
Once we got into Munich we had to go find where we were staying and drop our bags off. There was glitch number one. We were staying with some girl we had found on CouchSurfing and she had called us to let us know that she had left to go to Oktoberfest so we wouldn't be able to get into her apartment. Although she did tell us we would be able to store our bags, for free, at a hostel down the street. We weren't so sure about this plan so we decided to go with our friends to their CouchSurfing apartment and drop our stuff there. That was glitch number two. After going on a mini journey to find this place we decided it was too far out of our way to keep it there so we went to the hostel. And then came glitch number three. The hostel told us we couldn't keep our stuff there since we weren't guests at the hostel. However they did tell us that if we went back to the Metro station we would be able to keep our bags there. So that is what we did.
After dropping our bags we met up with our friends and wandered about the city. We didn't really have a 
map or any ideas of what there was to see so it was alot of wandering down streets and guessing what things might be. But still, the parts of Munich we did see were quite nice. We found a small pub where we had dinner. Afterwards we found a gelato stand and got some dessert. I love ice cream a bit too much. We then all went our separate ways and headed home. My roommates and I went to grab our bags and got onto the tram to find our apartment. We started talking to people on the tram and then realized we had missed our stop. But the guys we had been talking to told us about this hostel they were staying at and said we should come hang out. So we did. The "hostel" was really a giant tent with about 160 bunk beds set up. Next to that tent was a slightly smaller one that was empty. And then there was a big field for people to pitch tents at. We decided to see if they had room since it would be cheaper than where we would be staying and it turned out they had a little bit of room in the smaller empty tent. So they gave each of us a sleeping mat (that was rainbow colored) and a few thick blankets and we joined the group of people sleeping on the floor! It was very fun and everyone at this place was extremely nice.
map or any ideas of what there was to see so it was alot of wandering down streets and guessing what things might be. But still, the parts of Munich we did see were quite nice. We found a small pub where we had dinner. Afterwards we found a gelato stand and got some dessert. I love ice cream a bit too much. We then all went our separate ways and headed home. My roommates and I went to grab our bags and got onto the tram to find our apartment. We started talking to people on the tram and then realized we had missed our stop. But the guys we had been talking to told us about this hostel they were staying at and said we should come hang out. So we did. The "hostel" was really a giant tent with about 160 bunk beds set up. Next to that tent was a slightly smaller one that was empty. And then there was a big field for people to pitch tents at. We decided to see if they had room since it would be cheaper than where we would be staying and it turned out they had a little bit of room in the smaller empty tent. So they gave each of us a sleeping mat (that was rainbow colored) and a few thick blankets and we joined the group of people sleeping on the floor! It was very fun and everyone at this place was extremely nice.We got up early on Saturday and headed to Oktoberfest. We ended up meeting this mom and her two daughters while we were in line to get into the Hofbräu Tent. The mom ended up getting all seven of us in through a kitchen door and then we found a table full of Italians 
that let us all squeeze in with them. We were set! They had just started serving the first steins of beer at at 9.30am we were served ours! We had an amazing time standing and dancing on the tables and benches, making friends with people that had come from all over, and drinking beer! I really loved it. The most memorable moment for me came in the afternoon. At about noon we went to see a few friends that were on the upper level of the tent. Shortly after going up there the security gaurds were clearing out the entire section and not allowing anyone to go downstairs. We all had to go outside. We then were put back into a line to get back in. We begged the gaurds to let us in since our purses were all at the table with the other people in our program but they refused to believe us. After a little while of waiting in line I had to pee. I thought I would try to hold it until
I got inside so I didn't lose my spot in line but it got to an urgency level. So I got out of line and found the restroom in the Hofbräu beer garden. As in all women's restrooms there was a line that was extremely long. So I decided to go find another one. This meant I would have to leave the Hofbräu altogether and would likely have to fight to get back inside the beergarden alone. This was not acceptable since my purse was still inside the tent. So I went to a security gaurd and explained my situation and he let me out to use the restroom. Well I couldn't find the women's room and I was about to die so I ran into the men's room. This consisted of 4 long rows of urinals. And not individual ones. They resembled a metal industrial sink, but lower to the ground and stretching for a few meters. So I decided to pop a squat at the urinal and hope that the place didn't fill up. I had a few guests come and go as I was there. Most made comments in other languages but one spoke English and simply said "Well that is a solution." And that it was. I went back to the friendly security gaurd and he let me slip back in and I was left to fight my way into the tent. I decided to go try to find another entrance which is when I found another nice security gaurd who spoke English and I explained to him that my purse, wallet, ID, passport, and everything I had was inside the tent and I had been kicked out. He asked nothing more and let me in through a kitchen door. So I was reunited with my friends and my belongings! The rest of Oktoberfest was spent hanging out with people, attempting to sing the German drinking songs that were playing, and making friends. It was an awesome giant party!
that let us all squeeze in with them. We were set! They had just started serving the first steins of beer at at 9.30am we were served ours! We had an amazing time standing and dancing on the tables and benches, making friends with people that had come from all over, and drinking beer! I really loved it. The most memorable moment for me came in the afternoon. At about noon we went to see a few friends that were on the upper level of the tent. Shortly after going up there the security gaurds were clearing out the entire section and not allowing anyone to go downstairs. We all had to go outside. We then were put back into a line to get back in. We begged the gaurds to let us in since our purses were all at the table with the other people in our program but they refused to believe us. After a little while of waiting in line I had to pee. I thought I would try to hold it until
I got inside so I didn't lose my spot in line but it got to an urgency level. So I got out of line and found the restroom in the Hofbräu beer garden. As in all women's restrooms there was a line that was extremely long. So I decided to go find another one. This meant I would have to leave the Hofbräu altogether and would likely have to fight to get back inside the beergarden alone. This was not acceptable since my purse was still inside the tent. So I went to a security gaurd and explained my situation and he let me out to use the restroom. Well I couldn't find the women's room and I was about to die so I ran into the men's room. This consisted of 4 long rows of urinals. And not individual ones. They resembled a metal industrial sink, but lower to the ground and stretching for a few meters. So I decided to pop a squat at the urinal and hope that the place didn't fill up. I had a few guests come and go as I was there. Most made comments in other languages but one spoke English and simply said "Well that is a solution." And that it was. I went back to the friendly security gaurd and he let me slip back in and I was left to fight my way into the tent. I decided to go try to find another entrance which is when I found another nice security gaurd who spoke English and I explained to him that my purse, wallet, ID, passport, and everything I had was inside the tent and I had been kicked out. He asked nothing more and let me in through a kitchen door. So I was reunited with my friends and my belongings! The rest of Oktoberfest was spent hanging out with people, attempting to sing the German drinking songs that were playing, and making friends. It was an awesome giant party!We took an overnight bus back to Prague that night and got back to our apartment around 6am on Sunday. It gave us plenty of time to recover and relax and get ready for the week ahead!
hah. you happened to leave out the pop a squat part when we skyped.
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