Day 10 - Oktoberfest

We set an alarm again for this morning. Not too early, only 8:30. I just don't want to sleep in too much with so much to do in not much time! Plus I thought I heard Roman and Corinna, so I hopped up. But...must of been the people above us because they were still asleep!

We felt much better this morning (slept pretty well), but still had sore throats and nasal stuff. So we chugged more fizzy things and took another multi vitamin. We had to be feeling top notch today to take on the 7 million people in Munich for Oktoberfest!

It was another overcast day, but not too chilly. We showered before Roman and Corinna got up, since there is only one bathroom. I literally held my breathe before I plugged in my hair dryer. Really didn't want to blow anything! Surprisingly, it worked. But only for a couple minutes. I think it overheats or something. I finished up with Corinna's and all was good.

Roman got up while we were finishing getting ready, and went to the bakery for some fresh croissants and bread. Then he made scrambled eggs and bacon, got out juice and fresh jam and yogurt...oh it was just delicious! Really hit the spot and we were feeling great.

Corinna slept in (she wasn't feeling well), so Roman took us down to the little shop by his house to look for the traditional German Oktoberfest outfits: dirndl (for me) and lederhosen (for Matt). They were much more expensive, but much higher quality than the ones down by the airport. They were really nice!

Roman talked to a lady working there about what size I was, and then she pointed to the rack for me.  I had a hard time deciding what ones to take with me to the dressing room - they all looked so fun!

Meanwhile, Roman took Matt downstairs to the guys stuff and left me to fend for myself, haha. I found three or four that I really liked, and waited in line for a dressing room. The store was packed! I couldn't believe it how many people were in there on a Saturday morning - already half way through Oktoberfest.

While I was trying on my dress (I ended up buying the first one I tried on, even though it was super tight), Roman negotiated a really good deal for Matt. For 200 Euros, he got leather shoes, long socks, leather lederhosen, and a shirt! For 170 euros, I got a dress, shirt, and necklace. We got matching blue ones, and they are awesome!! Can't wait to wear them for Halloween! (Just need Christa to do some braided up-do with my hair like everyone has over here...)

As soon as we got home, we put them on and took some pictures. We just couldn't stop laughing. They're so hilarious! (I wanted to get a short one, but went with the traditional longer one.)

Corinna still wasn't feeling well, so she stayed home and planned on meeting us out later for Oktoberfest. We set out to see the city of Munich...in our Oktoberfest outfits! We walked down to the train station and headed for central station. We actually bought a group pass train ticket for the day, since Roman was with us. I better not have to pay to pee today since I paid for a train ticket! ;)

Waiting on the train...

It was about 15 minutes in to town, and lots of other people on the train were dressed up, too. I think our outfits were the best. ;)

When we got off the train, it was nuts. SO many people. And we weren't even at Oktoberfest. We were just in downtown Munich. We walked around and saw some churches, a park, an opera house...just lots of giant old gorgeous buildings. One even had a Glockenspiel!

We tried to get in to The Hofbrauhaus, which is one of the most famous beer halls, but it was insane. The lines were so big you could hardly even get close to the building. Matt and Roman had both been in there before anyways, so we didn't try it. It was just too much.  (I wish I would of gotten a picture of the crowd trying to get in to it though!)

One of Matt's friends is a big fan of one of Germany's soccer teams, so we stopped in a souvenir shop to look at jerseys. They were very expensive, just like everything else during Oktoberfest. I'm sure they jack the prices up on any and every thing for these couple of weeks. I did buy a Deutschland tshirt, and Matt bought a couple tshirts for his brother and roommate. My family is going to be sorely disappointed when I get home. On top of not having room to bring anything back, I wouldn't be able to afford it anyways! (Sorry, Christa, no cool tshirts!) Oh, and Matt also bought a German hat - the old school traditional one. It completes his already amazing outfit. We look so ridiculous!

Trying on Matt's hat...and holding his beer.

We found a little shop on the side of the street with not much line, so we ducked in and ordered lunch: leberkaese. It was some sort of pork and mustard on bread. I went to a deli next door and ordered a slice of cheese for mine, and it was actually really good! The boys had beer, too, of course.

We quickly stopped for some strawberry gelato (for me) before walking around some more. It started to sprinkle, so we walked in to a little Australia pub, but it was literally too packed to move in. And it was so hot! (Roman said there were too many Brits in there anyways.) So we found a little tent outside to sit under and the boys chugged another beer. Literally chugged, because by the time it came, it was time to go meet Corinna and head to Oktoberfest. It was still sprinkling, and getting cold!

The subway was nuts!  Seriously.  NUTS.  We barely even made it on! And it got even crazier when we go off near the actual Oktoberfest. BUT...it was full-on raining by that point. :( About half the people were so drunk they didn't care they were soaking wet, and the other half were just pissed off, haha.

The beyond crowded subway

So, Oktoberfest is actually just a giant drunken fair. Like rides and stuff - think a state fair times 100. But the difference is the giant beer tents they have set up around the edges. GIANT. And you have to reserve a spot like 6 months in advance to get in. Woops. We didn't know that one! And Romans only been once before. (We did look inside one and it was just a giant tent with giant tables of people squished in drinking beer out of giant mugs.)

(The view through a window in to one of the beer tents...)

 So...we sat under a little overhang and ate foot long sausages and watched the drunks. One guy standing next to us even puked right there and then just kept drinking like nothing ever happened. (Hardly any pics, which sucks, but it was raining so hard I didn't want to get my camera out!)

(our view while huddled under an overhang)

We were all so cold and so wet. We tried to wait it out, but we just gave in after about an hour. Poor choice of shoes on my part again today. Those stupid Toms flats aren't good in snow OR rain. They were just squishing with every step I took. The hat Matt bought and the three tshirts did come in handy though. He wore his hat, and each of us used a tshirt draped over our heads as an umbrella. (They were SOAKED by the time we were done with them.) It was just such a mess. I mean, I'm glad we went and I'm glad I've seen it. But Oktoberfest, or what I saw of it, is really just a giant drunk fest. And if you know me, you know that's really not my thing.


Forcing a smile in the rain before leaving Oktoberfest

We decided to leave, and maybe try and find a bar downtown to have a drink at. But by the time we even made it to the subway, we were so cold and wet and tired of dealing with the people that we decided to just go home to warm up.

Ooohhh the subway. What a mess. It was so packed we could hardly even make it off the escalator to the platform. It was solid shoulder to shoulder drunk people yelling and singing. There was security all over the place, and a guy on the intercom just yelling in German who knows what. It took two trains to even get on, and it was a mad dash of shoving to get on that one. One lady next to Roman and Corinna was eating chicken out of a bag, and she was so drunk she tried to eat the bones! And a drunk mom of two young boys (who were with her) was next to Matt and I. She was so drunk she literally couldn't even stand up. Her husband was physically holding her slunched over body up, and at one point, she tried to take her shirt off. It really was sad. Those poor boys were embarrassed.

We eventually made it to the stop for Roman and Corinna's apartment, and after being hot from the train, had to walk in the cold rain again back to their apartment (tshirts draped over heads). If we don't get sick from this, it will be a miracle.

As soon as we got back, I dried off and put on tights, socks, boots, a sweater and a scarf...just to sit in the kitchen and sip hot tea. I was so freezing!

We didn't stay at the apartment too long. We went out to get Indian food. Somehow, Roman drove by the place three times before we found a parking spot. It was hilarious. And when we got in, there was a long wait. We weren't in the mood to wait, so back to the car and off to an Italian place. Thankfully, no line there. It was a nice little place. I had tomato soup and shared a pizza with Matt. We both really enjoyed hanging out with Roman and Corinna again, just relaxing and sipping wine. It was another good night, after a rough day, haha.

Back at the house, we had to start packing up to figure out how our new purchases were going to fit in our bags! OH - I forgot - we tried to check in for our flight on-line this morning, and somehow, our seats aren't together!! NOT happy about having to sit apart for a 10 hour flight. It's a full flight, but I'm really hoping somehow we can work something out in the morning...

Anyways, it's already 10:30pm and we aren't packed up, so I'll cut this off here. Will be back home in KC tomorrow (Sunday) night!

(I leave you with a picture that always makes me sad:  when the dirty underwear bag is full and the clean underwear bag is almost empty.  Time to go home. :( )