Rhine Valley to Munich! - Munich, Germany
Munich, Germany
Everyone is beginning to get into the routine of 7.15 breakfast, 7.45 bags to coach and 8am departure. Today more so than ever as everyone is excited with the anticipation of Oktoberfest but there are a number of activities first. A small walking tour and a bike tour of Munich, which was definitely one of my favourite parts. The bike tour showed us some important buildings in german history and a beautiful park, that is larger than Central Park in America. The highlight of the bike tour for me would have to have been the man made wave. We stopped to watch people surfing in the river. Everyone's excitement is now building knowing Oktoberfest is next on the days events. After making our way to the train station and purchasing tickets Oktoberfest was the next stop. We all got passed out our Oktoberfest maps on the bus and us Aussies received an extra document, one from the Australian embassy! Turns out we are the only country to have an embassy at Oktoberfest. The documents important details included emergency phone numbers, what to do if you loose your passport, they do not pay for ANY hotel, medical or legal fees and most importantly - stealing steins is a criminal offence. I would like to mention one stein was stolen and taken on the bus that I know of, and it will be housed in Rockhampton... However just not at my residence. There was a couple from Rocky on my bus and they managed to steal a stein! GO DANE & DANITA! Patrick, Grace, Stacey and I made our way into one of the beer tents. This wasn't easy though.. The first four places we tried were closed as they were at capacity, we decided we would try a beer garden and when the tent at the beer garden was still taking people Grace talked her way inside to the third security guard as the first two security guards wouldn't let us in as we weren't in costume, and the rest of us followed! We met some Germans, (as expected at the first day of Oktoberfest) and they nicely translated the German from the folk songs to us! We joined in where we could with the english songs we knew and the one german drinking song we had learnt on the bus! "Ein Prosit, ein Prosit, Der Gemütlichkeit, Ein Prosit, ein Prosit, Der Gemütlichkeit. OANS ZWOA DREI! G'SUFFA!" There was live music in the tent so naturally everyone was standing on the chairs dancing as dancing on tables is illegal. Oktoberfest wasn't short of drama though. One drunk guy at the table next to ours had managed to smash a stein and cut his hand open! That was pretty exciting! For someone who doesn't like beer I consumed a radler (or shandy as we call them back home) for my first stein and a normal beer for my second. After Oktoberfest we walked to the coach parking about 15 minutes from Oktoberfest. And caught the coach to our accommodation just out of Munich! The hour and a half bus trip was everyone's favourite part of the day I'm sure! The day song "wake me up" was blasted and dancing in the aisle was crazy! Having a bus full of drunk people had its down falls though! The first time we used the toilet on the bus and the last as we filled it up! We had a few sick ones on the bus though, those that skulked their last stein! But regardless it was a night that will never be forgotten for a few reasons the first being Corey jumped right out of his shell dancing up a storm and taking his shirt off, making that a tradition for every drunken bus ride for the rest of the trip! The bar at the accommodation was open at about 11pm when we got back and they kept it open until after 2.30 for us! I convinced the bar tender to let me make a beer! And I drank a few more radlers throughout the night!