Last week was our first full week of travel- that means no classes, no homework, no seminars or workshops for 9 whole days!
Oktoberfest
On Friday afternoon Jess, Mike, and I took the bus at 4:00 pm to Bassano, where the closest train station is, to get our rail passes validated and catch the train to Padova, only to find that the next train to Padova was actually a 2 hour bus ride. Our reason for going to Padova was that the overnight train to Munich was leaving from that station at 11:28 pm, but we figured we would go early to look around a little bit. I had not considered that most things would be closed at 6pm and that it would be too dark to really do any sightseeing. Plus, the area around the train station was not the nicest part of town. Actually, it reminded me a lot of Chinatown in New York.
About an hour later the rest of the group taking the overnight train showed up and we walked around together, a group of about 15 American students each lugging a week’s worth of luggage ambling around the streets of Padova at night. We must have been a sight. We got some really good Chinese food for dinner (everyone was sick of pasta at this point, and like I said, it was like Chinatown), and stopped at a cafe to wait out the remaining two hours before we went up to the platform to wait for the train.
waiting for the train
Because I booked my reservation only a week before I left for Italy, the only cabins left were the six-person couchettes or the first class, single person sleepers. Well because I also did not know anyone at this point, rather than take my chances with 5 strangers I went for the single room (Thanks Dad ). It was custom. I had a whole cabin to myself, with a bathroom and a shower and there was a German lady who showed me to my cabin, and then woke me up in the morning (at 5:45!) and brought me one of those little airline breakfasts and a coffee. There was a couple in the cabin next door from New Hampshire who were very nice, they were also headed for Oktoberfest and they offered to share some of their wine with me.
We arrived in Munich bright and early at 6:30 in the morning, and after a quick shower and coffee i hopped off the train much more awake than my friends in the 6 person couchettes, who were still groggy. I shared some of my breakfast with them , to be nice
We checked into our hostel, then went back to the train station to meet up with the students that had taken a chartered bus all the way from Paderno to Munich overnight. I don’t think they got much sleep either.
The first thing we did was walk around the city a bit, and we found a beautiful church in the middle of one of the squares. Every other shop on the street was selling Lederhosen and Dirndls, which, to my surprise, ALL of the germans were wearing. Some even came in groups wearing matching costumes. Hordes and hordes of Germans in lederhosen.
That afternoon we took a tour of Dachau, a concentration camp on the outskirts of Munich. Apparently Dachau was the “model”concentration camp that they used as a guide for all of the other camps. It’s were they trained the officers, tried out different kinds of toxic gas, and they even had a “school of torture”. Our guide was really good, he was from Ireland and really gave us a good idea of how terrible things were there. On the ride back we asked him about good places to go in Munich, and he suggested Olympia park where they held the Olympics some time in the seventies, I believe.
Following his advice, that’s where we headed for the afternoon. The first place we stopped in the park (or it might have been right outside of the park) was the BMW Welt and BMW Museum. Oh Em Gee. I don’t even like cars, but I still thought this place was really cool. The Welt was like a showroom/interactive museum where you can look at the cars and sit in them, and it had kiosks and exhibits where you could drive a virtual car and see what innovations they were coming up with for the future. Cool stuff. We only went into the lobby of the actual museum (you had to pay to go in) but just in the lobby there were these really nice, antique looking cars, and then in the next room was a futuristic concept car. This thing was so cool.
After the BMW Welt/Museum we walked over to the park itself and went up into this big space needle looking thing in the middle of the park.The view from up there was incredible– you could see all of Munich and the surrounding countryside, all the way to the huge Alps way in the distance. We were there right at sunset as well, which made it that much more beautiful.
From the top of the space needle
The next day was the big day: Oktoberfest. We had a reservation from 12-5 in the Hofbrau-Festzelt tent, which is the biggest tent in the whole place. We’re talking massive. And this tent is mostly full of Americans and Italians, and some Germans too just because they’re everywhere.
The inside of the Hofbrau tent
Oktoberfest itself is like a gigantic carnival with rides and games, and with these huge beer tents all around. Our reservations came with vouchers for two liters of beer and half a chicken each, and we got to sit in the tent for five hours and listen to the band (all dressed in lederhosen as well) play the same three songs over and over again. Two of the songs were in German, during one of which you were supposed to raise your mug and toast. They played this one after almost every song. The third song that they played the whole time was the one that goes “Heeeee-eeeeey Baby! I wanna kno-oo-ow, if you’ll be my girl”. Of course, all of the Americans loved that one (and danced to it every time, too). My friend Jess actually bought a dirndl and wore it to the tent. She looked so cute in it!
The band in the Hofbrou tent
Next up, Prague!
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