Probst!!!

This weekend was my first weekend away. Let's just say, WOW. I flew to Munich with two of my friends from the Marchutz program, Nick and O'Neil. We got to Munich about 830 and had to make our way to the city. None of us speaks german so that was kind of interesting trying to buy tickets for the train. But two very kind australian guys helped us out and we were on our way.

Once we got to the Haupbonhof, I parted ways with Nick and O'Neil to meet up wtih Monica and her friend Marcus. I decided to stay with Monica and her friends at this place called "the tent". It was much cheaper then the hostel I was staying at, but my forgetfulness made me pay for the hostel anyway. (Way to not cancel!) I was near the Haupbonhof when my minutes ran out on my phone so I was stuck using payphones, which are RIDICULOUSLY expensive, to try and get in contact with Monica. I had no idea where I was but she was pointing out certain land marks and said "The Erotic house"... in my view there wasn't one in sight.. so I walked a little ways to see if I was in the right place. BOOM, in front of me, "Erotic House". I knew I in the general vicinity so I walked back to the central station stop at the Haupbonhof and finally Monica and I connected!

We made our way back to "the tent" and went to sleep. The morning started verrryyyy early. We were up at 4:30 to shower and get ready for the day. Monica, Marcus and I all left around 6:00 to get to the Oktoberfest grounds. Their other friend, Tim, wouldn't wake up, so, he had to make this way over by himself later on. We got to the fairgrounds and so many Bavarians were dressed in their traditional lederhosen and dirndls. It was so early that the sun hadn't come up yet but once we exited the U-Bahn station it looked like we were in the tent because the sky was so cloud covered. It looked almost eerie, like we were entering another world.

Marcus' goal was the got to the Schottenhammel and be there on time to see the Mayor of Munich tap the first keg, kicking off the festivities. We waited in line for 4 hours and the tent had quickly filled and we were in a huge mosh of people. Finally, decided to just walk around. We saw the little parades of the keg floats coming in. It was kind of boring, but was cool to see. Some of Monica's group from Cologne found a table outside the Schottenhammel where we were earlier so we decided to make our way back and prepare ourselves for the craziest two days of our lives.

12:30 our first beers finally arrive. When i say, i mean, a HUGE fucking beer. (pardon my german). This was not a place for beginners. Spatel was the beer we were being served. These giant liter mugs for 8.80Eu a piece were absolutely WONDERFUL. The day continued to pass and so did the beers. By 2-3 o'clock, we were all getting kind of rowdy. I was happy to be with a group of people that were so cool and that we were able to connect. Momo always knows how to pick the good ones! :) So the frivolity ensued and so did the day.

The haze of the Spatel took effect but it was okay, we were at OKTOBERFEST!!! everywhere you went you could hear people alike singing "Auf Probst...Auf Probst" as loud as they could, to a final PROBST!!! then a drink of your beer. The Bavarian people were so much fun. I'm not sure where the hours of 5-8pm went but Monica's friend Tim and I got separated from everyone else. We decided to go on a ride because a fest isn't complete with out at least some rides! We picked the one that flipped us upside down, sprayed water, etc. (Good choice Tim). The ride completely rocked us. Not only were we drunk and on the ride but when we sat down, Tim's arm was still around me and the harnesses came to lock us in, with it still behind me. An uncomfortable way to spend 5 mins on a ride thats kicking the shit out of you. And shit kicked it did. The next morning I woke up with a huge bruise on my collar bone from where the harness had me positioned. Tim had similar features.

We continued to walk around the fair grounds for a good 3 hours trying to meet up with people. Everyone's phones were dead and we had no way of contacting them. We finally foundn Jaimin, another of Monica's friends. He was such a funny guy to be with at this point of the night. We decided it wasn't worth getting pissed that we coulnd't find anyone-- so we just went back to the Schottenhamel and had some more fun. I saw a reserved table with a few people sitting there and it looked pretty empty so I went over and asked these guys if it was okay if we sat with them. Good karma was with us because not only did we get to sit inside a tent, we got to sit at the reserved table. These people were so nice and loved hanging out with us for some reason. They tried so hard to get us to go to the club with them afterwards but Tim and I were overserved that point so we opted to just go back to the hostel.

On our way back to the hostel we took the 17, but got off at the wrong stop so instead of getting back on it, we thought it was a good idea to walk around and follow the tracks. This was another 3 hour adventure Tim and I had. We kind of dozed off waiting for the train and finally realized where we were and Tim led us back to the hostel. it was a brutal day, but it was serious fun.

In the morning we were happy to find Monica and Marcus curled up in their beds. and boy did we all have stories from the night before. Apparently EVERYONE was separted at some point and then ended up together on this big hill, where they watched all the drunks do stupid things. Man, I wish I could've seen that. Tim lost his wallet and his cell phone the previous night, either on the ride or somewhere inbetween. So we went back to the fair grounds to check it out. Hang overs were starting to set in, but for some reason we all still had the urge to drink. So drink we did.

We sat at a table with a bunch of Australians, who were so funny! Tim, Marcus, Monica and I all had a great time that afternoon. Singing songs, giving kisses, playing drinking games. Nothing but pure fun with some awesome people. On our way out, we hopped the wrong train to the Haupbonhof ended up in the wrong area and had to make our way there on a different route. We got the Haupbonhof, I said good bye to Monica and Tim walked me to the train because Monica ran to get a salami sandwich. I didn't have time to go back to the hostel to get my stuff, so, I left with Monica. Me, my purse and my waterbottle were on a train that didn't go directly TO the airport but around it. So, I missed my flight. I was so pissed that I cried almost the whole way to the airport.

There were these two nice Texan's who live in London and said that if my plane got rerouted there I could stay with them, which was nice, but in all reality I knew that I'd be sleeping in the airport. I got my plans and stuff changed, wasn't cheap, but had no other option. After i got that taken care of, I called Monica and they too missed their train back to Cologne. Kind of funny that it happened to the lot of us. I was hung over, tired, spelled like beer and pee (don't ask why), and all I wanted to do was get home and shower. I slept on some benches in the airport and made friends with the cleaning guy. My flight left for Marseille at 6:45 and i made it back to Aix with in hours.

Now i'm sitting here trying to upload photos from the weekend to facebook but it's not working. So i'm going to make a list of what I need to buy before I see monica again to get my stuff back....

Toothbrush, power adapter, hair brush... good thing I traveled light this trip!!!

More ridiculous stories to follow, I'm sure.

for now, PROBST and good night.