Kelly Meets Munich

This past weekend I was off to Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest and my first weekend out of Greece since I arrived here in August. I planned my trip to Munich over five months ago, so to say I was excited for it would be an understatement! Friday morning myself and 14 other students from my program set out for Munich bright and early on a 6am flight. While getting up at 3:30am was not exactly something I was thrilled to do, we arrived in Munich at 8am so I had the whole day to explore. Upon landing in Munich, I immediately felt in my element as Germany's weather was very comparable to Minnesota. While Athens doesn't have a traditional fall,  autumn was in full swing in Munich. The air was crisp, the leaves were changing, the fields of corn were gold and there were pumpkin patches on what seemed like every corner. This is the first year of my life that I haven't experienced a traditional Minnesota fall and I had no idea how much I missed it until I found myself tearing up when I heard the crunch of the leaves beneath my feet as I walked the streets of Munich. 

In addition to the beautiful fall weather, Munich as a city is gorgeous. The streets were lined with classic vernacular style buildings and cobblestone streets that were immaculately clean. In contrast to Athens, Munich was peaceful and quiet. While I love Athens, it was so nice to be in a city where people don't yell so often and personal space is recognized. Sadly, Munich's beauty put me in such a trance that I never actually took any pictures... I guess I can just use that as an excuse to go back!

While I did go to central Munich to pick up my dirndl, I cannot pretend as though I did a lot of sightseeing as I spent most of my time at the Oktoberfest grounds. I've put a lot of thought into how to describe Oktoberfest and the best way I can think to describe it is to compare it to the Minnesota state fair. Oktoberfest not only has beer halls but rides and lots of food vendors. There is also a hill called pass out hill where you can go to take a nap in the afternoon when you've had too much to drink (or, if you're like me, you take a nap on the hill not because you're drunk but just because you really love to take naps.) I spent both Friday and Saturday in the Hofbrau tent, a huge tent that fits over 6,000 people inside and 3,000 in the beer garden. It was a blast. The beers were large and delicious and the company I was with made the experience even better. 

 In my dirndl with a stein full of beer. My German ancestors would be proud.

 The Hofbrau beer tent and my 6,000 closest friends. 

When I wasn't in the beer halls, you could find me at Munich All-Inclusive Campsite in a very luxurious tent! All jokes aside, tenting it at Oktoberfest was actually a great experience. I stayed with other Bennies and Johnnies and we had a great time. Our campsite was filled with other college students studying abroad, so I got to meet tons of awesome people. My campsite also had all you can drink beer and sangria, which was both wonderful and terrible all at the same time. 

Also, everyone talks about how amazing the beer is at Oktoberfest but no one mentions the food! German food is very underrated. I think eating was my favorite part of the weekend. Friday I ate a pretzel that was bigger than my head. I had german bratwurst, schnitzel and a sugar pretzel. It was a carb-lovers heaven. Even if you don't like beer, I highly recommend visiting Oktoberfest just to eat your weight in Oktoberfest food.

This is what pure joy looks like. 

While Friday and Saturday was full of fun, Sunday things turned more serious as I decided to spend my last day in Germany at Dachau concentration camp just north of Munich. Dachau was the second largest concentration camp (the first largest was Aschwitz) and I had heard from others that had been to Munich that it was a must-see destination. It's been almost two days since I visited Dachau and I still don't think I can put into words what it felt like to walk through the concentration camp. In a way, the experience was overwhelming. It didn't seem real. How could people be treated so inhumanely? How could something this horrific have actually happened? I can't wrap my head around it. It's one thing to read about the Holocaust in a history book, it's another thing to walk in the footsteps of its victims. As I walked through the gas chambers, my heart filled with grief. The claw marks of those who were murdered in the chambers were still visible on the walls. The moment where the horror really struck me is when I walked into a room on the side of the crematorium no one else was around.  When I entered the room, it was completely empty with the exception of a single plaque on the wall that said "This room was used for storage of the dead before they were cremated." I instantly became nauseous. Here I was, all alone, standing in a room thats sole purpose was the storage of these innocent individuals who had been murdered. That was not what I had been expecting I would find. While my trip to Dachau was definitely depressing, I also think it was an important thing to experience, especially after the recent events in South Carolina. Everyone in the world deserves basic human rights and a little love. Sometimes in our race for wealth and prosperity I think we lose sight of what's important. We are all equal. We are all humans. There is nothing more important than looking out for each other. 

I don't really want to end my blog post on a such depressing note, so I think I will round this out by saying it really was an amazing weekend in Munich. I didn't get to see as much of the city as I would've liked to and I would love to go back someday. Oktoberfest was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am so glad that I decided to go and experience it to the fullest. Munich, I'll be back!