A Week of Madness.

I haven't blogged in a week so of course you know this will be a bit lengthy, but entertaining to say the least.

Tuesday, September 24th, was the last day of the St. Ruperts festival. A group of us went down by the river to watch them shoot fireworks over the fortress. Although they only lasted not even 10 minutes, it was beautiful. We thought we were going to head back afterwards but we decided to see if the festival was still going on and luckily it was. Straight to the beer tent we went! People were singing, dancing on tables, cheering, etc. This definitely had me ready and excited for Oktoberfest.

Wednesday, September 25th, we took a field trip to an Open Air Museum to learn about the daily routines of Salzburg farmers.. It was about 45 minutes away and we got to see more of the country side of Austria! Good thing it was a beautiful day.

Thursday, September 26th, we had our midterm for our German class. Can't believe I am halfway done with my 1st blocks of class, but thank goodness. German and I don't really mix....it's just a bunch of gibberish to me. Haha. After our midterm, our professor took us to this market across the river that happens every thursday. You can get everything from fresh vegetables, fruit, fish, bread, cheese, flowers, anything! After we had this assignment to do that he gave us, I went right to a cheese stand. I LOVE CHEESE. I bought some kind of cheddar cheese with chili flakes in it...sooooo good. (Mom, you would die for all this cheese, I took a picture just for you. Haha) Later that night we went out to this pub by our school because it was Guiness nights and they had free gifts. We all got some Guiness and I was given a Guiness iPhone case! We met a group of people sitting next to us from all over the USA because they were in a studying abroad program also. They told us some good bars a couple blocks away so we decided we would check them out. First we went to this other Irish Pub and there was karaoke going on in the back. So funny! Then we went 2 doors down to this place called the Sega Bar and this is now our spot. It was a bar/club looking place, not very big but lots of people and cheap drinks so that is always a good sign. (shots for 1.50 Euro!) We were right up by the bar and I started telling the bartender what songs to put on. Soon enough, I was basically DJing this bar and it was awesome! The bartenders then gave me and my friends a round of free shots. Also, (mom and dad, you're going to love this part) my roommate and I danced on the bar for a little. It was too funny. Definitely going back to that place.

Friday, September 27th, we were on a quest to find our friend a dirndl for Oktoberfest. After hours of shopping and being exhausted, we finally found one. The 4 of us that live in the dorm all hung out in mine and Sams (my roommate) room that night and watched Beerfest to prepare ourselves for our big day on.......

Saturday, September 28th, Oktoberfest. Woke up at 6:15am and got ready (dirndl on and all). Left the dorms to catch a bus at 7:15am. Met up with everyone in the program and caught a train to Munich, Germany at 8:09am. 2 hour train ride and we were finally there. The train station was PACKED and we were still a 10 minute walk from the actual festival. Everyone was in their traditional German attire (tracht) and I was starting to get really excited. WE MADE IT! Everyone separated for the most part but I was in a group of 5 that then dwindled down to 4. We waited about 5 minutes and made it inside our first tent. Damn, what a crazy scene. Little did we know, you had to have a table or reserve one in order to get beer so we were in a situation. But no worries, we planned and figured it out. I went up to a random table and asked them if I could sit there just for a minute to order drinks, pay, and leave. 5 liters of beer for 5 people and we were on our way, walking aimlessly around the tent but having so much fun! A liter of beer by noon and it was time for some lunch. We all left the tent (stupid idea) and got ourselves some sandwiches. Now we wanted to go back inside a different tent, not knowing how insane it was already to get in. We waited at 1 tent for 20 minutes but the guard said it was closed and they weren't letting anyone in for another 4 hours. Then we walked to a tent that was further away and decided to wait. An hour/ hour and a half later, we FINALLY got in. We weren't actually inside the tent, but we were inside the square for that tent where there was beer so that was all we needed. Now to find a table. We made a bunch of friends for this reason. People from Ireland, Hawaii, California, Austria, Germany, etc. We tried getting inside the actual tent but it was closed, unless you had reservations or knew someone in side...so basically we had no luck. Outside was still fun and we stayed in the area of this tent until we left at around 10pm. Oktoberfest was a success! Then the dreaded 2 hour train ride home with drunken loud German-speaking men. Funny photos and videos to say the least.