Germany: a land of beauty, beer, and brezel

This past weekend, I ventured over to Bavaria for a once-in-a-lifetime experience of going to Oktoberfest. The weekend was amazing, and I was so lucky to spend it with my good buddy Ela.

It started off a little crazy cuz I had to book it out of my 12:30 class to make a train at Gare de l'Est at 1:09. Luckily, I scouted out the place the day before, so I made the train with about 4 minutes to spare. That train to Stuttgart was pretty uneventful until we just suddenly stopped on the tracks right about when we were supposed to get off. Now, I had a connection to Munich that they booked me on leaving in 12 minutes, so I was sort of freaking out. The announcer came on and consistently tried to say what was happening since a ton of these people were going to Munich, but since his French was really fast and his English was muffled and pretty rough, I had no idea what the problem was. I gathered as much that they would hold the other train for us for about 20 minutes, so when we finally pulled into the station I ran like the wind down to the platform. Literally, I squished myself into a random car and the doors closed behind me. I was sooooo lucky, but I feel bad for all the old people needing to make that connection who we left behind. No way any of them ran that fast. :(

On the bright side, I was on the train and trying to move down an aisle when a girl my age turned to me and tried to ask me something in German. I told her I didn't understand and she let out a sigh of relief cuz she was American. We spent the whole rest of the train together and she was so awesome! I made a new friend who's studying in Paris! Hopefully we'll meet up sometime here now that we're back.

Anyway, eventually got to Munich Hbf (even though we first got off at Munich-Pasing--apparently still not Munich) and I got myself on a suburban line which took me to Rosenheim where Ela picked me up. What a lovely reunion! It's so nice to see a piece of home in Germany. :) She took me to a lovely Bavarian dinner of käsespätzle (basically macaroni and cheese with fried onions on top) and schnitzel which was so satisfying after that long train ride.

The next morning we got up early and dressed in our dirndls for OKTOBERFEST! We had to leave extra early to hopefully get a table in a tent but alas, they were packed already when we got there (and it was raining which apparently doesn't deter people from wanting to drink still). Through some magic from Ela's friend Anna, we eventually worked our was into a smaller tent and got a table! It was so charming and adorable with the Bavarian musicians playing softly on the second level overlooking the tables. There, we all got our beers, pretzels, and a plate of assorted German specialties mostly consisting of pork. Mmmmmm.....I was in heaven.

Once the rain cleared up, we walked around and explored because besides a humongous beer fest, Oktoberfest is also a rather large carnival. Though, with rides costing upwards of 7 euros, I opted to watch. We briefly explored Munich before heading home for dinner where Ela's mom made us the most delicious meal. It was so nice to be in such a comfy and welcoming home! Truthfully, it got me homesick for my own family, but it was nice nonetheless. Ela and I crossed the border into Austria (check!) to go to a bar/hangout spot called Manhattan that evening with her friends, but since the day started to early we called it a night rather soon and headed home to sleep.

For my last day, Ela's dad and little sister took us to the "Bavarian Sea" which is a huge lake in Chiemsee with very large islands and cute towns nearby to explore. We went to Herrenchiemsee (Man Island) where King Ludwig II built his own version of the palace at Versailles. It was quite stunning though a bit funny because after awhile Ludwig went broke and some rooms are completely unfinished. I mean, grand hallways are gilded and adorned with fine details while others are totally and completely bare with basic wooden floors and walls of purely exposed brick. It was pretty funny looking.

But the area was truly stunning, and I was so happy to get to explore some of the countryside. Bavaria is really an absolutely beautiful place what with the Alps , the lush green friends, and all the picturesque German houses. I was sad to head back to Paris, but alas classes begin this week so I had to go. I took an overnight train (most uncomfortable sleep ever--go for the couchettes if you ever are in the same situation) and eventually made it back to the City for my week. So far so good, though today's first class at the Sorbonne was a little overwhelming. Hopefully it will turn out ok--I'm taking one about the Middle East and one about Media and Communications between the US and France. Ehhhhh, I need to find some French friends to share notes with.

Til next time!