Oktoberfest

When people think of Germany, Oktoberfest is probably one of the first things that comes to mind. It is a part of German heritage that makes Germany famous. That is one of the reasons I am so glad I got to go. It was another part of German heritage that I got to experience, and experiencing German culture was my whole reason for coming here. I actually believe that the first Oktoberfest was a wedding reception for King Ludwig. He was the king of a part of southern Germany. On Saturday, my host parents took me and Ivanna(she is an exchange student from Ecuador) to my older host sister´s house near Munich. We then took the train into Munich. We saw the city hall of Munich. It is so beautiful, and it has an artpiece on it of little people that dance every time the bell rings. We got to go to an outdoor market called Virtualmarkt. ( I think that is what it is called) At the market, we ate Bavarian pretzels with some kind of cheese dip. Yum! We got to see some famous churches in Munich and Maximillianstraße, which is kind of like 5th avenue in New York City. We tried to buy a dirndl to wear to Oktoberfest the next day, but the cheapest ones we could find were 100 euros. We also got to try beer flavored ice cream from a famous ice cream place in Munich. The first half of the ice cream cone tasted good, and then the second half kind of tasted disgusting. I think just normal beer tastes better.  We tried to eat dinner at Hofbrauhaus, but it was way to crowded. The Hard Rock Cafe right across from it was way to crowded too, so we ended up going back to my host sister´s house to have pizza. The pizza place was called the Orange Octopus. I thought that was funny.

The next day was Oktoberfest. We got to the festival at 10:30 in the morning, and actually managed to get a place in the Hofbrauhaus beer tent. The beer didn´t even taste that much like beer because it was mixed with lemonade or something. The beer tent was so pretty, though. The ceilings had artwork on them and plants hanging from them. It was funny to see all the people chugging beer that early in the morning, and it was a lot of people. I had German sausage for lunch. I love German food! There were so many people at Oktoberfest that you had to walk shoulder to shoulder. There were lots of rides, food, and games. It is like the Buckwheat festival in my town except much bigger, and instead of being focused around buchwheat cakes, it is focused around beer. It was also funny to see all of the people wearing traditional German clothes. I think all the clothes are so beautiful, though. That is why I tried to buy one, but they were too expensive. Ivanna and I rode this rollercoaster with about five or six loops in it. It was amazing. One of the most fun things I have ever done. The whole way I was screaming and then laughing and then screaming again. Ivanna said my face was hilarious. I want to do it again! We rode some other rides too, but nothing compared to that rollercoaster. We bought some cool Oktoberfest souvenirs and then headed home. The next day my host parents told me that 6 million people attended Oktoberfest this year, and that 7 million liters of beer were consumed. At first I thought my host dad said 70 million. I was like holy crap, but 7 million is still a lot. I am so glad my host parents took me. They are the best. I love Munich.

In one of my earlier posts, I said I went to a little festival in Nödlingen. That was wrong. It was Nördlingen.