As your probably well aware, I am not a beer drinker. I do enjoy a nice glass of vino out on the veranda or a bright, fruity cocktail by the ocean. But, beer? No way. Every single sip of beer that has ever been swallowed by me has always been followed by a very strong gag. So, naturally I did not think I would be able to get the full Oktoberfest experience. I mean when I went to the Guiness Factory in Dublin, I surely did not get the full experience. Yes, I learned how to pour the perfect pint of beer, but when it came to actually drinking that so called "perfect pint" I failed miserably. But, Oktoberfest is a once and a lifetime experience...especially when you actually get to go to Munich, Germany to celebrate it. I decided to have an open mind. I just new that the land of beer would have a type of beer that I could at least tolerate. Now, that you have a little background let me tell you about my first experience in Germany and at Oktoberfest!!
I went with a group of very good friends. Katie, Anna, and Kaitlin are all have husbands in Chosen Company. They are all also from the good ole state of North Carolina. Because we had waaaaay too much stuff we had to take two cars. Woops! So, on Wednesday we were off to Germany. It took about 4 hours to get there. At first we were pretty frustrated because the place we had booked had falsely advertised a few things that they did not actually have. But, the actual little house we stayed in was nice and had a beautiful view of the mountains. Oh! I forgot to mention that. We stayed in Garmisch, which is a magical looking place. There is nothing like the appearances of the houses in Germany. We grabbed a late night meal which included Weiner Snitchel, fries, and apple strudel. German food is comfort food. If we were stationed in Germany I would probably be as big as a house. This night was the night I was introduced to the Radler. This is a beer that is mixed with some sort of lemon drink. It should also win some sort of medal because it is the ONLY beer I have EVER drank more than a sip. Thomas would have been proud. Hahahaha!!! The restaurant was filled with German music. It was such a fantastic atmosphere! I had decided that Germany was the most magical place on Earth. :)
The next day was the big day! It was off to the festival of beer. Oktoberfest was so close, but we had one more thing to do before hopping the train to Munich. We had to buy dirndls! For those of you who don't know, a dirndl is the traditional German dress you see the German ladies wearing. We literally tried on these dresses and then wore them out of the store. The lady that worked there made sure that our bows were tied in the right direction. If you wear your bow the wrong way then you are screaming out that you are single! So, we had to switch our bows so we would be labeled as married. Of course, we soon realized once arriving into one of the beer tents that the men do not look at the bows. There was so much hootin and hollering. We must've been looking real cute in our dirndls. Ha! Another thing I noticed was the German men are extremely tall. A random German patted me on the head as he walked by. My friend Katie had brought her one year old, Carson, to Oktoberfest with us. He's only one and he has already been to Oktoberfest more times than me. He went last year too at the ripe age of 2 months. :) Everyone wanted to carry Carson. Italians, Germans, etc. etc. He was quite the celebrity, but then again, he always is. The beer tents were filled with beer (obviously), half chickens, and giant pretzels. Like I said before, Germany is land of the comfort food. The music played loud, people danced on tables, beer mugs were clanged together, and everyone was dressed in their best lederhosens and dirndls. The atmosphere was so much fun. Katie dragged me onto some fair ride. I squeezed her hand and screamed the entire time. But, it was soooo much fun. We ended up not getting into another beer tent and then got rained on, but we found another good place to eat where we made more friends and my friend Anna stood on a chair and drank her beer like a true German lady. ;) We missed our trainstop on the way back to Garmich because the door on the train wouldn't open!!! We ended up have to take a cab from the next stop. We looked like homeless people waiting for the cab. We were wet and wrapped up in scarves..seriously we looked homeless. Oktoberfest was definitely interesting...we met some nice people and some weird people, but all in all, we had a blast!!! It's an experience I will remember forever.
The next day we had a spa day at the Eidelweiss hotel. It's for the military. We all got the massage and facial package. It was a full day of pampering for us! It was nice and relaxing. We ended our long day of relaxation with dinner at this amazing restaurant. Snitchel and spazle were on the menu. It was amazing!!! Spazle are these little noodle things...I dont know they are so good, especially with cheese. When they have cheese they are like the BEST mac & cheese you have ever had. Kraft's got nothing on the Germans!!
On our last day we took a hike around Lake Eibsee. Most beautiful lake EVER!!! The mountains that surrounded it were rocky and the water was this amazing shade of teal and dark blue. After this, we had one last meal in Germany. Mmm, mine was goulash and more spatzle!!! Super delicious!!!
We loaded into the car and made our way back home...to Italy. It was an amazing experience and a fun journey to have with such great friends. I am truly blessed. Guten Tag!!!!!
