Oktoberfest

hey all....its been a while since I've updated. I'm still adjusting my sleep schedule from last weekend at Oktoberfest. What an amazing weekend! The pictures came out great on fb. The day after I got back (tuesday), my roommates and I woke up at 4:30 to stand outside the student union to wait for tickets. What tickets you might ask?? Tickets for the Tallinn Sea Battle, which is 2-day party cruise with 3000 students from all over Scandinavia. I was first in line, after shivering for 3 hours outside in the cold with my friends, lol. The cruise includes a half day in Stockholm and a half day in Tallinn, Estonia. Okay, here's Oktoberfest highlights, in random order...

- Saturday was a full day at the legendary tents. We woke up early and waited outside in the pouring rain with umbrellas dripping on us for 45 minutes before we finally got in. There was a lot of anticipation, and a lot of pushing and shoving once the doors opened up. If it wasn't for the huge security guards yelling at the crowd in German, then there probably would have been a mini-riot.

- Beers were €10 a piece, and were a L in size. I had 4 on saturday, and was really drunk. Once the german band got on stage, the songs/chants/mayhem really started. Near the beginning, we had 4 young german dudes wearing Lederhosen sharing our table. We thought they were cool at first, but after they got wasted off of 1 beer, they turned into assholes (aka Deutschbags). They kept stomping everywhere, and even pushed off all the dishes on the table and tried to break it. We all looked at each other like "what the hell?!" Eventually they wandered away and were replaced by some Aussies and a couple of cool, old guys.

- Favorite German song to sing along to is "ein prosit" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR8VmCDdt5o&feature=related

- What surprised me the most was that Oktoberfest is a huge carnival. There are 8-10 huge beer tents, but outside of those there are all sorts of rides/rollercoasters/games/places to buy bratwursts (had a .5 meter one that was amazing!). I also went on the Olympic Rollercoaster with my aussie friend, which had 5 loops/olympic rings. Best rollercoaster ride ever.

-A group of Mexicans put together the trip, and drove the vans down. Sleeping was very uncomfortable in these vans, and probalby only slept 2 hours each way. Also, we got lost a couple of times, and had a van separate from the rest more than once. The only suggestion I had for this trip was that there was more organization, and more accountability for those who made us late for things. I like to be fast-paced and do everything, especially if I'm only there for 2 full days....the Mexican's kind of lolly-gagged a little bit. BUT that's my only criticism.

-Saturday night we just hung out in the tents, and came up with a new drinking game called "Wunderbeer." You basically just yell WUNDERBEER and tap people's mugs, and whoever you touch, they have to drink. Simple games are the best, in my opinion.

-German girls were really sexy in their lederhosen, but the majority of them did not speak good english, lol. My 2 years of German in high school wasn't enough, lol. Still fun to look at.

-The autobahn wasn't how I pictured it in my head. I thought it would be wider, with ferrari's and porsche's doing 250 km/hr. The road was just like I-95 with 3 lanes...with people driving a little faster than usual. Oh well, it was still pretty cool to be on it, and it's another thing to check off the list. :)

- This year was the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest, but there were no signs or anything whatsoever saying that.....Tradition, I guess.

-Saturday was the only day that I went to the beer tents. I wanted an all-around trip, so when we got there mid-day friday, I went to see the BMW museum. The architecture for the BMW buildings was amazing, and there were a couple of cool things to see inside (it was another thing to check off the list, probably will never go back). Friday night we went on a beer challenge, which was basically a tour to many places to drink in the city...where we learned "ein prosit." Then on Sunday we went on a 3-hour walking tour of the city, and what a beautiful city it is. I'm glad my camera died after I took the cool pictures, and not before. :) I've seen two spectacular cities on my Eurotrip....Stockholm and Munich. What's next?