Oh Oktoberfest, how amazing you are.
I left Radom Friday afternoon to catch a 3:30 train to Warsaw, then onto Munich. It started off rough, as my train leaving Radom was almost half an hour late, minimizing the time I had to make my connection to Munich. Oh dear. It worked out though. I ran around the Warsaw station frantically and was able to get on my train and buy my ticket there. I had a sleeper car all to myself. So I read, and had an early night - to sleep by 8:30pm, to wake up at 8am the next morning. Fabulous. I needed the rest for the big day ahead!
(Sad point #1 - Heather gave me a Philippa Gregory book to read on the train. I got 100 pages in. I think it slipped out of my purse, as it didn't make it back to Radom with me and is nowhere to be found!)
Ok. So the plan was to meet Jodi at the Munich train station Saturday morning when my train got in (9am), as she was arriving around 6:30am, from Berlin. I waited and waited and started to worry. I decided to get her paged to the information booth, and still no Jodi. So around 10am, I checked my email, to find that she was coming later. *phew!* That meant that she was ok! Meanwhile, I had been trying to get a hold of Martin, but my calls weren't going through to him and he wasn't responding to my texts messages. Well, looks like I'm heading to Oktoberfest solo...I'll just make friends there! It must be noted that most people at the train station were decked out in hats and dirndls and lederhosen. Everyone looked fabulous.
I took tram 17 to "The Tent" (my hostel booked for the night) to drop my stuff before heading out festing. I was chatting with some Aussies on our way and who do I run into? MARTIN! (And his friends.) They were just leaving The Tent! Perfect timing! So they waited for me to drop my stuff. (Side note: my reservation number at the hostel was 1991...so I proudly announce this at reception and the guy working responds with "is that the year you were born?" Oh dear. He said I'm fresh-faced. Haha) Off we go to fest...!
Arriving at the big welcome sign was SOOOOO exciting. There was so much spirit in the air! There are stalls upon stalls of souvenirs and food. Rides are in full swing. Beer halls are scattered amongst the stalls. The smells are wonderful - beer nuts and sausage and schnitzel, oh my! Music and good cheer fill my ears. We venture into Armbrustschutzen, where the picnic benches are filled with people eating, drinking, and being very merry. We could not find a place to sit, so we walked around, then tried our luck elsewhere. We found seats (there were five of us - me, Martin, and 3 of his friends. They are all living in Bonn, teaching English) outside of the Schottenhamel tent, with some young (just out of high school) German boys. They were good fun. Get this - I got IDed before they served me beer!! And they didn't ID the young boys!!! What is up with this?? I know, I'll appreciate it when I'm older. But really? I got IDed at Oktoberfest! haha Anyways, we got our one liter steins. The weather was sunny and perfect. I went on a schnitzel run before my second. There was lots of singing and people on tables. We all ordered a third, but I couldn't do it. We decided to move on (late afternoon now) but stop for a bathroom break first. This is where I get confused - I think I may have fallen asleep on the toilet for a little? And then I woke up to vomit...hmmm. So when I got out from the bathroom I couldn't find any of the people I was with, not knowing how much time had passed. So I wandered (saw the young German boys again) but decided to head back to The Tent. I had two sausages and some beer nuts on my way. I got back to The Tent around 7pm, saw Martin asleep on the floor, and decided to have a nap myself! As I was waking up around 9:30pm, I see Jodi walking towards me!!! These things always work out. So I'm chatting with her and we're catching up, and I have to leave to go be sick again. Was my body rejecting Oktoberfest??? Am I that lame?? Martin woke up and so the three of us headed to the camp fire at our hostel, and chatted with the various people there (who come from all over the world). Then we headed to bed around 1am, for me to get up a few hours later, and catch my 6:20am train back to Radom. I made it to the station with plenty of time to spare, and the information booth told me the ticket wickets would open at 6am. So I waited, and waited, and realized they weren't opening. So I went to one of the machines, which requires multiple steps when you're taking such a journey...then there were 6 printouts I had to wait for, and it's about 6:18am at this point. I made a run for my train and got there just in time. Excellent. I spent the day napping and lesson planning for my Monday classes. The train was late getting to Warsaw, and I still had to get my connecting ticket to Radom. So I stand in line for my ticket, thinking I had enough cash. Oops, those are Euros and not Polish zloty. They aren't taking my Visa. Ok. Go find an ATM. Found one. It doesn't recognize my cards. Ok. Go find another ATM. Perfect, it works. Go back and get my ticket. Grab a chicken kebab, get to my train with one minute to spare. Man, I'm good. Got into Radom at 9pm, which was the correct time. A very exhausting, jam-packed, fun-filled weekend. And lesson planning til midnight to follow.
Sad point #2 - I bought some postcards at Oktoberfest but they must have fallen out of my bag (I think in my locker at The Tent) so no postcards to send. I guess I'll just have to go back some other time...
Pictures to come! A truly amazing experience. I was so thrilled to be there!!
I left Radom Friday afternoon to catch a 3:30 train to Warsaw, then onto Munich. It started off rough, as my train leaving Radom was almost half an hour late, minimizing the time I had to make my connection to Munich. Oh dear. It worked out though. I ran around the Warsaw station frantically and was able to get on my train and buy my ticket there. I had a sleeper car all to myself. So I read, and had an early night - to sleep by 8:30pm, to wake up at 8am the next morning. Fabulous. I needed the rest for the big day ahead!
(Sad point #1 - Heather gave me a Philippa Gregory book to read on the train. I got 100 pages in. I think it slipped out of my purse, as it didn't make it back to Radom with me and is nowhere to be found!)
Ok. So the plan was to meet Jodi at the Munich train station Saturday morning when my train got in (9am), as she was arriving around 6:30am, from Berlin. I waited and waited and started to worry. I decided to get her paged to the information booth, and still no Jodi. So around 10am, I checked my email, to find that she was coming later. *phew!* That meant that she was ok! Meanwhile, I had been trying to get a hold of Martin, but my calls weren't going through to him and he wasn't responding to my texts messages. Well, looks like I'm heading to Oktoberfest solo...I'll just make friends there! It must be noted that most people at the train station were decked out in hats and dirndls and lederhosen. Everyone looked fabulous.
I took tram 17 to "The Tent" (my hostel booked for the night) to drop my stuff before heading out festing. I was chatting with some Aussies on our way and who do I run into? MARTIN! (And his friends.) They were just leaving The Tent! Perfect timing! So they waited for me to drop my stuff. (Side note: my reservation number at the hostel was 1991...so I proudly announce this at reception and the guy working responds with "is that the year you were born?" Oh dear. He said I'm fresh-faced. Haha) Off we go to fest...!
Arriving at the big welcome sign was SOOOOO exciting. There was so much spirit in the air! There are stalls upon stalls of souvenirs and food. Rides are in full swing. Beer halls are scattered amongst the stalls. The smells are wonderful - beer nuts and sausage and schnitzel, oh my! Music and good cheer fill my ears. We venture into Armbrustschutzen, where the picnic benches are filled with people eating, drinking, and being very merry. We could not find a place to sit, so we walked around, then tried our luck elsewhere. We found seats (there were five of us - me, Martin, and 3 of his friends. They are all living in Bonn, teaching English) outside of the Schottenhamel tent, with some young (just out of high school) German boys. They were good fun. Get this - I got IDed before they served me beer!! And they didn't ID the young boys!!! What is up with this?? I know, I'll appreciate it when I'm older. But really? I got IDed at Oktoberfest! haha Anyways, we got our one liter steins. The weather was sunny and perfect. I went on a schnitzel run before my second. There was lots of singing and people on tables. We all ordered a third, but I couldn't do it. We decided to move on (late afternoon now) but stop for a bathroom break first. This is where I get confused - I think I may have fallen asleep on the toilet for a little? And then I woke up to vomit...hmmm. So when I got out from the bathroom I couldn't find any of the people I was with, not knowing how much time had passed. So I wandered (saw the young German boys again) but decided to head back to The Tent. I had two sausages and some beer nuts on my way. I got back to The Tent around 7pm, saw Martin asleep on the floor, and decided to have a nap myself! As I was waking up around 9:30pm, I see Jodi walking towards me!!! These things always work out. So I'm chatting with her and we're catching up, and I have to leave to go be sick again. Was my body rejecting Oktoberfest??? Am I that lame?? Martin woke up and so the three of us headed to the camp fire at our hostel, and chatted with the various people there (who come from all over the world). Then we headed to bed around 1am, for me to get up a few hours later, and catch my 6:20am train back to Radom. I made it to the station with plenty of time to spare, and the information booth told me the ticket wickets would open at 6am. So I waited, and waited, and realized they weren't opening. So I went to one of the machines, which requires multiple steps when you're taking such a journey...then there were 6 printouts I had to wait for, and it's about 6:18am at this point. I made a run for my train and got there just in time. Excellent. I spent the day napping and lesson planning for my Monday classes. The train was late getting to Warsaw, and I still had to get my connecting ticket to Radom. So I stand in line for my ticket, thinking I had enough cash. Oops, those are Euros and not Polish zloty. They aren't taking my Visa. Ok. Go find an ATM. Found one. It doesn't recognize my cards. Ok. Go find another ATM. Perfect, it works. Go back and get my ticket. Grab a chicken kebab, get to my train with one minute to spare. Man, I'm good. Got into Radom at 9pm, which was the correct time. A very exhausting, jam-packed, fun-filled weekend. And lesson planning til midnight to follow.
Sad point #2 - I bought some postcards at Oktoberfest but they must have fallen out of my bag (I think in my locker at The Tent) so no postcards to send. I guess I'll just have to go back some other time...
Pictures to come! A truly amazing experience. I was so thrilled to be there!!
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