My first week has ended, and I could not believe how many different classes I had attended. I decided to reward myself by going to Oktoberfest in Munich this weekend, and it was a blur of culture and relief seeing familiar faces. I met up with other Rollins students and we got stayed at an Airbnb, and as soon as we got there we got a beer (when in Rome) and strolled the famous English garden. The streets and gardens were filled with men in lederhosen and women in girndles. Not going to lie, it’s a good look and there’s a reason it’s still okay to wear them, besides tradition of course. Every shop had mannequins dressed similarly and decked out in beer and pretzel decorations. Everyone was extremely friendly, and locals were eager to help us. On Saturday we woke up around 8 and got to the tents around 8:30 in order to get a table inside. We luckily got one in the Hofbrau tent and enjoyed pretzels, and our giant liter beers. No one was safe from spilt beer after yelling “Prost!” And clinking our steins together in great haste, or watching different people jump on top of their table and chug an entire liter while everyone cheered. The biggest challenge was to go to the bathroom, and it was incredible all of the beer the servers could carry. We left the tent after 4 hours and walked around the festival and bought different German dishes and made our way to the Ferris wheel. By late afternoon most people looked like zombies, and it became a game with my friend and I to get to the other side of the festival by running and dodging between everyone. We got back to our apartment, and napped for 4 hours before getting up the courage to go out again, this time to a Greek restaurant right below us with few customers and to go over how everyone’s day went. The next morning we ventured around the city and saw the famous glockenspiel ring at 11 and visited some churches. The city is huge and filled with hidden gems and monuments surrounding its history and growth. The entire weekend felt like a dream, and was a great experience to visit the city. I hope to go back in a few months when there aren’t so many tourists. I could see myself working there next semester, since it is such an easy town to navigate and the public transportation is efficient and cheap. I left Sunday exhausted and full still from the day before. Munich ✔️🍻
