Das Ist Oktoberfest!

Holy moley.

These are the only words I can describe of our weekend in Salzburg/Munich. A very happy birthday for Mike, indeed. It didn't really sink in that we were going there. My only focus for the day was just to get onto the plane. We took the Easybus to the airport, which was quite an experience of its own. The driver was horrible and kept stopping short. After about 20 minutes of this I was feeling a bit queasy...so I just went to sleep (solver of all my problems...except staying awake in class...just kidding Mom). The flight and going through customs we uneventful. So we were in Salzburg. Woot! Now what???

It took us about half an hour to figure out how to get to our hostel. The ticket stand was just absolutely ridiculous. It was in German! The audacity of those Austrians. The airport was pretty much shutting down so no one could help us so we just hopped on the next bus and paid there. We had a transfer but had to wait about 20 minutes so we went exploring. Led by our growling stomachs we happened upon a pub/food stand. Again the Austrians strike again by putting their menu not in English. But at least this stand was kind enough to put comical pictures next to some of the choices. So we had a choice of smiling hamburgers or cowboy hotdogs. Decisions decisions. Mike went up to the window and had decided on the hamburger looking meal. He asked for a "Ruck Zuck" as the menu stated. Think of how you would pronounce that. Well, you're probably wrong because it sounds like "rook zook." The workers got a big laugh out of Mike's faux pax (what's that term in German?). It turned out to be a very delicious grilled chicken sandwich. All I cared about was that they weren't stingy with the chili powder. Mmm mmm.

Our hostel (actually a hotel but it was mainly for students) was in a pretty nice part of town. Very quaint and very scenic. It was only a 10 minute walk from down town. We crashed there then hit up the free breakfast. They had a pretty good spread of cereal, cold cuts, and an awesome swirl pound cake. I filled up my 1 quart size airline bag with some granola for the day and we headed out for the unknown.

Salzburg is a beautiful town. One of the best I've seen in Europe so far. What I loved so much about our day was that we had absolutely no plans. We had a map of the town and just walked around. We first ran into the New Town. One of the most memorable things was Mirabell Gardens. There was a palace there (huge) but the garden was out of this world. There were statues everywhere and the flower scheme was beautiful. We also found a little garden with all these gnome statues of these guys with some pretty silly impressions.

We walked around a bit further, slowly making our way to the Old Town to see the big man's house, Mozart! I remember going there once in high school and it was pretty cool. It was different this time but I think just getting there was the best part. Walking along the river is just gorgeous. I can't even describe it. It was the most beautiful day out, you could see the Alps off in the distance and the town is so rustic and quaint. You can feel the ages and history that has happened here. Mozart's house was OK, not phenomenal but a must see for all musicians. I did get to see some of the original instruments he used to play and compose with. Other than that there wasn't much else to see. We knew from the minute we crossed the river we HAD to get up to the fortress.

We headed in that direction and ran into a street market at the base of the mountain. There was giant tent up and street performers and a carinval. It was pretty sweet. Andrew, Mike and I slurged on some giant pretzels. I got a chocolate and jam pretzel, Mike an apple pretzet and Andrew rocked out with the poppey seed. Interesting how I always remember the specifics of food. A brass quartet started playing outside (all in lederhosen...YES!). Mike went up the Euphonium player because he wasn't playing a Euphonium. Mike asked what it was but the man didn't speak much English. After some confusion the guy said "Baritone?" Which just set me off laughing. But I know have it on good authority that it actually was a Baryton. An austrian version of the Euph. So Mike played it a bit after trying to wash down bits of pretzel still in his mouth. Yet we would not be swayed from our quest.

The fortress was just a looming figure over the city and there was no way our day would end without getting up there. It was quite a hike though. There's a mini rail train that takes people up but being the ever frugal and cheap college kids that we are we decided to walk it. Well, severals stops and 20 minutes later we ascended to our goal. The sheer size of it....there is nothing to compare it. We took a tour inside and learned a lot about its history and that of the town. I won't bore you with the details but if you're a history nut--as I am--I highly suggest looking it up.

After coming down we stopped at the giant tent because we heard brass bands playing inside. It was great inside there. People were eating, drinking and having a good time. We sat down and had a half pint of beer. Then I saw the most miraculous thing...a giant liter mug of beer. Ahh. I immediately ordered one and my cohorts quickly behind me. Prost, as they say, and away we drank. We enjoyed the bands, the beer and the rest of the beer. Well, after such an exhausting day we decided to find our other hostel. But Mike had it in his head to try out the shooting game. I, always being the rational one, thought that wasn't such a great idea. But it was Mike's birthday after all so we indulged him. He was a pretty bad shot considering all the beer and schnapps we had (did I forget to mention the schnapps). I gave it a shot and fared much better. Thank you Rifle merit badge.

On to the next and most important day. OKTOBERFEST!!! We met our other friend, Margaret, who is studying in Linz, Austria early in the morning to catch a train to Munich. The train ride was fantastic. There's no other way to travel in Europle like the train. Seeing the countryside is a great experience. We finally made it Munich, we were very excited and we had no idea where were going. Solution: follow the gian crowd. Oktoberfest just opened up like a beautiful landscape over a hill. It was massive. The place was like a giant amusment park with many giant beer tents. It was the first day so nothing was happening in the morning except trying to find a seat. We did find one in a tent and were just waiting for noon...when the Lord Mayor has the honor of tapping the first keg and letting the debauchery that is Oktoberfest ensue. I'll gloss over the day as it was pretty glossy for me.

It was a great time. A couple set backs but nothing matters because we were actually there! By the afternoon we ended up sitting outside with a buch of Bavarians not much older than us. They were really cool and very welcoming. We sat with them all day and got to know each other. They taught me some German and we had intense discussions about why the people next to us were such jerks, which they were but whatever. I wish I could tell you more about the time but it's just an experience you have to live for yourself. I would highly encourage anyone to check it out. It's so easy to get there and you just show and have a good time. We made it back to Salzburg pretty late that night all in one piece. We all went to bed very happy (because it was awesome and no one got sick!) that night. The next morning we caught our plane back to London and I swear it all felt like a dream. I do have the pictures to prove it...which I promise I will figure out how to post some on this blog.

I'm trying to best to catch up but I'm just getting out there collecting material to put up on the blog. Thanks for following my travels and check back soon. My goal...tomorrow night about my internship or stonehenge. Until then.

PROST!!