Oktoberfest! Oh and Munich, I guess.

After a long stay in the quiet, reserved, and extremely classy city of Paris, I decided to take a more relaxed weekend detour.  So I decided to go to Munich, Germany to meet be with three of my friends, Alex, Smiley, and Kristi.  I definitely missed my train the first time and had to pay another 180€ to get there the at a later time, but I won't go into that.  Let's just say I was NOT a happy camper.  Though, it was Oktoberfest, so I knew it would be a lot of fun.  Me, Alex, and Kristi decided to book a room through Airbnb since most hostels were either booked, or so expensive people were paying with limbs, so we booked a room with two German college students about a 10 minute metro ride from the city center, Marienplatz.  

Our German roommates.  From left: Kristi, Alex, Markus, Me, Markus.  Markus is wearing traditional "Lederhosen" in preparation to go out to Oktoberfest. 

This was a good decision, since these guys were very, very fun.  The first night they taught us a typical German drinking game out in a park, which was a lot of fun.  Then the next morning Markus and Markus had made us some typical Bavarian white sausages with sweet mustard for breakfast.  Oh, and of course, beer.  They drink beer at every meal in Germany (which I’m not sure how I feel about.)  That day, my friend Smiley had booked us to go on a Sandman’s New Munich “Beer tour.”  So at 18:00 we all met up with other beer-tourists at the Starbucks right outside the Munchen Hauptbahnhof.  During this tour, we walked around Munich and learn some facts about the city, and of course had a few beers inside a couple of beer gardens.  This was a blast.  

Me and Kristi wielding "Oktoberfest" beers.  A stronger brew and in a 1L glass!  Kristi is wearing a traditional Dirndl outfit.  

Munich is a very cool city with lots of connection to the Third Reich and Hitler era.  My friend Smiley is actually working in a Museum where Hitler had once housed plundered art that he was saving for “HIS” art collection of the “BEST” artworks in the world.  Later that night, we hit up the beer tent in central Oktoberfest, which was again very fun.  We got to meet many Germans, and even met a couple of Delta pilots! 

The site of Oktoberfest.  Very packed, and almost appeared a glorified MN State fair!  Maybe this is the "Great German Get-together?"

We had planned to leave the next day, but we ended up enjoying Munich so much that we decided to extend our stay a few days.  So the next day we decided to do another Sandman’s New Munich tour of Dachau.  Once again meeting outside the Starbucks at Munich HBF, we departed for Dachau at 11:00 with our very knowledgeable tour guide.  This was a very sobering tour, but a very important one for every human to go on in my opinion.  I had been to Dachau about three years prior as well, but actually having a tour guide was incredible because she knew so much about Dachau and how the events unfolded.  One thing that surprised me most about Dachau is that for a good part of its functioning, it actually housed Germans who were “in opposition” to Hitler’s party.  That, I think, is a common misconception.  I will admit, I always thought that concentration camps were all about the Jewish population, but no; there was a lot more going on in concentration camps than I ever knew.  On that depressing note, it was time to leave Germany for Salzburg, Austria!

Un Mois à Paris!

So the adventure with our group from UW-River Falls ended quickly in Paris.  It seemed like before we even arrived in Paris, we were all saying our sobered goodbyes to each other.  These goodbyes were nothing less than fearful awakenings that we were now on our own.  This was both a good thing and a bad thing.  Carrying all my baggage through the Paris metro--which needless to say, is a crowded mess of smelly bodies-- was a whole task of it's own.  My backpack is very wide and deep, so trying to cram myself through the little box car-like doors was like playing real life Tetris.  My final destination?  A small cozy apartment in the north outskirts of Paris called Clichy.  I was to stay with a young couple at their apartment in Clichy for about three weeks.  I organized this through a website where people post empty rooms in their houses that they then rent out to make extra money.  When I arrived there (arriving at 20:00) Guillaume was waiting there to greet me.  He was a very nice, tall French man enthusiastic about showing me into his home.  He spoke very little English, and at this point, my French was extremely rusty as well.  So we walked up the five flights of stairs with my luggage--though he was kind enough to help me carry it-- and got into the flat.  The flat was a very small, cramped space.  I did not mind it at all, however, because this is what I intend on living in after I graduate and move to a city.  They were very concerned about whether or not I felt comfortable though.  Emilie got home from work at about 21:00.  She works late a lot.  She does something about working with adults and languages.  I didn't understand it, but it has allowed her to learn many, many languages including French, German, English, Spanish, and even Latin I believe.  She was very humble about it, but that is an incredible amount of languages to know, since I struggle to even know one other language!  I settled into the flat very quickly and easily.  

For the first couple of weeks, I spent my time familiarizing myself with Paris.  I spent much of my time attempting to act like a local, in order to get a local perspective on the city.  So, I would go to the grocery store and have small French conversations (or small interaction rather) with the clerks, ride the metro looking "bored" as our advisors told us to, and even sat and watched some old men play Botchi-ball in the Luxembourg Gardens.  These couple of weeks gave me much insight in what it meant to be a Parisian, and really appreciate the local culture.  

By the time I knew it, one of my friends from the group had come back up to Paris and we decided to travel together for the rest of the time, because both of our projects are semi-obscure and don't require a lot of tie down time.  

So, for the rest of the month in Paris, I stayed in a hostel called "St. Christopher's Inns."  They have hostels all over Europe, and from my experience, this hostel was the best one I have stayed at yet!  The staff is extremely friendly there, and it almost just feels like a college dorm.  Everyone is super friendly, and there is even a restaurant/bar on the first floor.  It is and incredible atmosphere.  After the employee’s shifts are over, I am pretty sure none of them even go home, they just wait and bum around until night, when the bar starts to fill up, and then they all just stay there and have some drinks and have fun like everyone else!  It’s one of the more bizarre things I have seen but entertaining nonetheless.  During my stay at St. Chris’ I have done everything from laundry at a Laundromat, gotten a haircut, toured the Eiffel Tower multiple times, and even went a top the Arc de Triomphe.  Paris is incredible and has definitely stolen my heart.  No matter what other countries I visit, there will always be a spot in my heart, reserved for Paris.