This past weekend I went to Munich for Oktoberfest with a group of international students at the business University in Milan called Bocconi. We left on Friday night from the main castle in Milan and drove all night through Switzerland and Germany. We all had a rough sleep on the bus with crooked necks and stiff backs. We arrived in Munich around 6:30 am on Saturday morning, crusty eyed and, at least I was, cranky. We went on a search for a bakery to find breakfast and by 9:30 am we were in line to get into the first tent. It was a bright, gray day of white clouds and a bit chilly with scattered showers. Entrance into the festival is free I think we had our first beer a little before 11, after searching, pushing, and waiting in lines that were shaped more like mobs. We made friends with some Australians who sat down next to us with crazy, huge felt hats. In the early afternoon, we wandered around the festival for a while. The best way I can describe Oktoberfest is carnival meets frat party meets german costume party. It seemed like frat boy heaven. Beer beer beer, food, girls in drindles and men in leederhausen (sp??), beer, and carnival rides. The rides baffled me a little bit because combining spinning, upside rides and roller coasters with a bunch of drunk people just seemed like a recipie for vomit. But a lot of families bring their young kids, as well. I definately saw some 6 year olds in the beer tents. So I guess it makes a little bit of sense.
Honestly, the entire festival baffles me a little bit. Maybe its because no matter how hard I try, I don't like beer. Maybe its because I'm not much of one for crowds or getting pushed around in mob-mentality ridden festivals. Maybe its because I still cannnot suscribe to the general objectification of women that reaches a whole new extreme when you add revealing versions of traditional German dress and drunk men together (although the objectification definately goes both ways, plenty of women are guilty of it, too). Or maybe I just got bored by noon of the whole scene or maybe I was just too exhausted from being undercaffeinated and having not slept very well on a bus and waking up way too early.
Around two in the afternoon, we left the festival to try and explore what of Munich was in walking-distance from Oktoberfest. Soon after exiting the festival, we saw a Starbucks cup sitting on a trash and went into a hotel to ask where the nearest one was. Strange that we would be so desperate to find an American coffee change admist a celebration of German culture, right? All I wanted was a strong cup of coffee and the familiar interior decorating that is identical to most other Starbucks. I never thought I would find so much comfort in Pike's Place roast and the signature wall paper. We rested in this American setting for a little while, gathering our strength and developing a game plan, soaking up the setting. I'm not sure if this trip to Starbucks calmed down my underlying homesickness or caused it to spike up. But I never thought I would be so happy to find a Starbucks. I guess you have to understand that coffee culture is so different in Italy that I doubt there is even a Starbucks in this entire country. I have yet to see one in Milan and Milan is basically the NYC of Italy. Here in Italy, you walk up to the bar and down your espresso shot and drink your morning cappucino with a brioche in your other hand while still standing at the bar. The giant, complicated drinks in to-go cups that we cherish in America do not seem to exist in Italy.
After Starbucks, we walked up and down what turned out to be a major shopping street in Munich. We saw a couple giant old buildings that are probably churches of some kind with gothic architecture. We went into the craziest department store that had a "Havana Bar" in their coats section. They were selling cocktails for 2,50 and had salsa dancers twirling in the aisles. It was the craziest thing ever. We even tried on drindles (picture below). We found the oldest brewery in Germany: Hofbrauhaus. We got dinner at a cheap, middle-eastern place and around 9 headed back to Oktoberfest. Exploring Munich was way more fun than the actual festival and I'm glad that we got a chance to do that, especially since I had never been to Germany before. In the back of my head, though, I couldn't stop thinking about how I was walking on land that Jews, my own family members, were forbidden from walking on just a little more than 60 years ago. It was so strange to think about the history of Germany, how most of where I was walking had probably been bombed out. I wondered what it would mean to German Jews of the 30's to know that Jews now walked on and lived in the very country that had murdered them. It was just strange remembering that every now and then throughout the day. I consciously made sure not to tell anyone that I was Jewish. I didn't know what kind of reaction I would get.
After returning to the festival, we walked around some more and found another tent to sit down near. We made some German and Dutch friends and around 11 we left to go back to our bus. The bus took the group of us to a hotel just 45 minutes outside the city. We left the next morning around 10:15 and, although it was a long day on the bus, since it was actually daytime for the drive we got to see the Alps. So beautiful. So many rivers and creeks run beside them. At one point I looked out the window and saw a hardcore, decked out biker speeding along on a bike path and I thought about all the biking through Europe my family used to do. So now I am back in Milan catching up on class readings and generally trying to gear up for a week of classes.
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