Waking up in Oktoberfest!

The last stop on me and Smitty’s 2 week European adventure (her first trip to Europe!) was an 18-hour stint at Oktoberfest. We boarded the overnight train from Venice to Munich and woke up right in the thick of one of the biggest beer festivals in the world! A friend of Smitty’s decided to fly out and meet us so after finding each other at the train station, we stashed our stuff into a luggage locker and off we were! To be honest, I only remember Oktoberfest as a hazy, beer-infused festival of rides, rollercoasters, bumper cars and a crazy wander around a fun house resulting in a chipped tooth, someone laughing hysterically and basically peeing her pants (cough-cough::Smitty::cough-cough!) and whirling around a rotating tube with the inability to escape it. Ofcourse there were endless liters of beer, beer tents, polka music, bratwurst, bretzels (German pretzels!) and Smitty’s friend tearing apart a grilled chicken with his hands--Oktoberfest brings out the heathens in people! All-in-all we survived and after enjoying one last hazy beer outside the Paulaner tent we caught our overnight train from Munich to Amsterdam…aaaah home I thought. We were so glad we got to experience Oktoberfest (it’s THE Oktoberfest afterall!). A word to the wise, the crowds and commercial aspect of it all can be pretty overwhelming to some visitors—expensive, lots of security and over 1 million visitors every year will put a damper on any beermaids mood and patience! Despite those things though, the mentality of 'here's your beer, no go crazy and have fun!' basically summed up the atmosphere of the entire experience. I’ve heard the small local Oktoberfest parties in and around Germany are quite a sight to see too—less people, more originality and also way too much fun to be had.

If you’re looking to celebrate Oktoberfest in Munich this year…now is a great time to start planning! Ein bier bitte might be the only phrase you’ll need to know :)…oh and work on those arm muscles, those liters of beer are heavy!!

Tonight is the very last night of Smitty’s 3^rd trip to Amsterdam and I don’t want her to go! :( We just spent a weekend wandering around the cobblestoned streets of Prague, partying until the wee morning hours in Amsterdam and doing much of the same thing we did back home…only now along the canals of Amsterdam—enjoying 3-hour lunches, drinking at odd hours of the day (it’s 5 o’clock somewhere right?) and laughing at everything and nothing. As soon as I bid adieu to Smithers (we've still got one more night of fun though!), dry my lil teary eyes and catch up on some sleep, I’ll be back with some pics of Smitty does Europe Part 3! Now just counting down until Part 4 ;)…muahaha!