It was 4am on Saturday morning as I rolled out of bed, preparing for about a 7 hour train ride down to Munich. Five friends and I were going down to Oktoberfest for the day and then catching the 5pm train back to Gießen. I was already mentally preparing for a long day but had no real idea what the weekend would entail.
I hurriedly got dressed and gathered my things. I had to meet my friends at 4:30am in front of my building. No time for breakfast. I walked out the front doors into the dark morning and a blast of cool, fresh air hit my sleepy face. From somewhere in front of me I heard this weird singing. I quickly steer away from that and phoned my friend to see where she was.
Finally, we all met and took a taxi to the train station. We were using a weekend deal called Schönes Wochenende. It allowed 5 people to travel all weekend for just 37 euro. Our train was to leave at 5:25am but we would only be on that train for 30min before we had to catch the next one so sleeping was not really an option.
We caught the next train without any problems and I tried to doze off a bit on this one. With each train we took the sky got lighter and lighter and I began to feel more awake. It was probably also due to the fact that the train was quickly filling up with more and more people heading to Oktoberfest. Some of them had already started their drinking marathon, needless to say the train was not quiet and the line for the bathroom was immense.
Reaching Munich around noon, we all really had to use the bathroom! There was no way we could use it on the trains. So the four other girls and I rushed down stairs to the train station bathroom. Wow, what an experience! There was a line there as well, although a more bearable one. It cost ,80 cents to use the bathroom. Ridiculous! Also, there was a man in charge of the line to make the bathroom process go smoothly. This must have gone to his head because he was shouting at us like we were five-years-old! It was quite hilarious. And then, I couldn't believe my own eyes. He went down the row of bathroom stalls, banging on the doors and shouting, "Schnell! Schnell!" I felt like I was in a movie!
After that bathroom escapade we left the train station and headed toward Oktoberfest. It was easy to find the way. We just had to follow the men in lederhosen and the women wearing dirndl. Finally we arrived and saw overhead a Willkommen zum Oktoberfest. My friend Ania and I decided the first thing we had to do was buy a hat! There were so many crazy ones! I bought one that looked like a yodeler hat you would wear in the mountains. I think I'll give it to Dad when I come home. Anyways, we walked around a bit and just observed the people. As can be expected there were plenty of drunk people roaming around. While I waited for four of my friends who wanted to go on a crazy, head-spinning ride, I saw a man in lederhosen and got a picture with him! It was so fun! Then we bought some delicious candied hazelnuts. I felt like I was eating Christmas.
We decided that since we were at Oktoberfest, we might as well have a beer so we found the nearest outdoor bar. You could only order a beer if you were sitting down and although there were many tables there were no seats anywhere. Finally we squeezed onto a bench with some people from New Zealand and the United States. We each ordered a liter of beer (the only size they had!). It cost almost 10 euros! After we all got our beers we decided to find a new table because the people we were sitting with were a bit...odd.
We walked around and when we saw another open spot we asked the people there if we could sit. They welcomed us gladly! They were from Italy. So we spent the rest of the afternoon with our new Italian friends! They were so fun and crazy and kept singing songs in Italian. They were astonished that I and my friend Andy were from the United States and kept asking us our names over and over again. Spending the last few hours with them was definitely the highlight of Oktoberfest! I am now friends with them on Facebook and have an invitation to come to Italy anytime I want! I just may take them up on that.
We had to leave our Italian friends in order to catch the 5pm train back to Gießen. We made it in good time and settled ourselves on the first train, in the back of our minds knowing that we had about 4 four more to catch. We were worn out from our day and so were the others heading back to wherever home was. There were people in lederhosen and dirndls fast asleep in almost every seat.
On the second train we ran into three friends from Gießen! They were also coming back from Oktoberfest. It was so nice to see them and we shared stories of our impression of Munich and everything else that we experienced. After another train we finally reached Frankfurt only to find that the last train to Gießen had already departed! We had missed it by 20min. The next one didn't leave until 5:15am so we would have to spend the night in the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. We contemplated on what we should do. We could try to spend the night in McDonalds, sleep in the station, or take a night tour of the city. I had never seen Frankfurt and for some reason was wide awake. Most of us agreed with the last option so off we went. We walked past the Frankfurt Börse at 2am and then on to St. Bartholomäus Cathedral. We crossed a beautiful, lit-up bridge over the Main River and saw the skyline of the city at night. Then my friend Michelle said to me,
"Hey, so we were thinking of going to Cologne tomorrow. We have the Schönes Wochenende ticket so we might as well use it." At first I was skeptical thinking, I just want to go home sleep, eat, and shower! But then I realized I was in Germany on an adventure and I better make the most of it! I was going to Cologne!
When we were finally worn out we returned to the train station around 4:30am and deided to sit out the rest of the nigh there. Our train to Cologne was leaving around the same time the 5:15am train to Gießen was.
While we were waiting the bakeries in the train station began to prepare for the day. One in particular looked good with fresh croissants and schokobrötchen (my favorite!). We were practically pressing our faces against the class as if willing the shop to open early. The man looked up at us, smiled, but didn't open shop!
Our train arrived before we could buy any bakery but we decided to just buy some in the next station. It would take us about 4 hours and a couple trains to reach Cologne. Sure enough at the next station we found an open bakery. We bought coffee and bread, waiting for our next train. I had only a light jacket on and was very, very cold! I decided when I got to Cologne I would buy a warmer sweater. We caught the next train and I dozed on and off until finally our stop arrived.
I luckily found a shop at the train station that was open, usually on Sunday stores are closed. I bought a warm fleece and now felt ready for whatever Cologne had to offer. However, I was not prepared for what I saw leaving the train station. There, directly in front of us loomed Der Kölner Dom (The Cologne Cathedral)! It was awe-inspiring and breathtaking all at once. I have never seen such a large, ornate building before. It was a Sunday and so the bells were ringing and if I closed my eyes I could imagine how it must of been years ago without the people in modern dress and cameras walking around. A time when it was just a church and not a tourist attraction. Anyways, because it WAS a tourist attraction we were able to by tickets for just 2,50 euros and see the cathedral's museum with artifacts from the bishops who had served the church. We saw the extravagant, decadent robes and jewelry they had worn. There were also the shrines of saints and even a display that claimed it contained a splinter of the Cross. We were also able to climb the steeples of the cathedral. I don't even want to remember how it felt to climb so many stairs after a sleepless night and having only bread to eat that day. And I thought climbing Bunker Hill was a challenge! However, the view from the Cathedral was worth it! You could see the gargoyles perched on the roof up close and in the distance the Rhine River and so many modern buildings with the steeples of old churches poking through.
After climbing back down we looked for a place to have lunch contemplating if we should stop in Bonn before heading back to Gießen. Bonn was the old German capital until it was moved to Berlin in 1990. We found a nice little cafe and I order a small Italian pizza and some coffee. Hot, "real" food felt so good in my stomach after almost two days of random bakery and a snchitzel sandwhich at Oktoberfest. After eating we decided it would be better to take a direct train back to Gießen and that we would visit Bonn another day. Exhausted on the train ride home we slept until we reached the Gießen train station. I truly felt like I was home. Finally a shower and a real bed, not an uncomfortable train! However, this adventure made me hungry for more and I plan to go on many before I return home! Spontaneous, crazy adventures....here I come!
