Munich, Germany!

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I spent this past weekend at Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. If you didn’t know, Oktoberfest is a beer festival in Germany that I believe dates back to the 1800’s. From what I remembered during the walking tour, the festival was originally a big party from a King to his newly wedded bride :)

The weekend was unbelievable! We camped out with a travel company called StokeTravel. The temperature dropped to 45 degrees fahrenheit at nigh! Who knew that it would be 10 degrees colder than Copenhagen. Here are some pictures of our campsite and us in our dirndls- the traditional dress many people were wearing at the festival.

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My favorite part of this campsite was the live music the play at night! It gives off such a calm and relaxing vibes because everyone would be singing together while eating dinner. Below are some pictures of the dinner and stage area at night! The dimmed lights really gives off a cozy vibe! Another thing is that people are SO friendly here! (Not saying they aren’t anywhere else…but just extra friendly here) I met a bunch of other Americans and Australians who are studying abroad in Europe. It was so nice being able to share our experiences and talk about how awesome doing an exchange semester/year really is. I also met a few Germans and other Europeans in the Beer tent. After we told people that we’re Americans, we often get asked about our political views and thoughts on the presidential candidates. This, to me, was very interesting because back in the United States, topics like these aren’t openly discussed.

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Moving on to the food! I had so much bratwursts this past weekend and really don’t mind having more because they are THAT good (and cheap when compared to food in Copenhagen). I especially love their curry Ketchup! It seems like they eat it with everything here. Another thing I’ve noticed is that all my meals are in baguettes rather than buns… for example, my bratwurst and steak sandwich (I believe it’s called steaksammel? I might be wrong) are both in baguettes! Here are some pictures. Don’t drool on your laptop now ;)

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Before I go on to talk about our visit to the Dachau concentration camp, here is a picture of all of us in our dirndls in front of Oktoberfest :)

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I had a lot of fun at Oktoberfest but the highlight of this trip was our visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. We did a three hours walking tour that was very intense and overwhelming. I had the opportunity to see the prisoners’ barracks, the gas chambers, and the oven to burn human bodies on top of many more heartbreaking sights. Although I learned about the Holocaust in school and even heard a first-hand account of a survivor, it was so different actually being there and realizing that this horrific event happened not too long ago…that people were brutally tortured, starved, overworked, and killed… We walked through the very rooms that the victims were brutally beaten, stripped of their clothing and possessions, shaved all their hair in order to lose their individuality, and showered in extremely hot and cold water (our tour guide said that this was a torturing tactic; after being brutally beaten and sprayed with hot then freezing cold water, most victims will collapse because their bodies cannot handle the effect). Words cannot describe what an experience I had at this memorial site, I highly recommend anyone who plans on traveling to Munich to visit this site.

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To end on a lighter note, here is a photo of my good friend (Melinda) and I doing our jumping pose! She is currently studying abroad in Florence so we decided to meet up at Oktoberfest :)

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I’ll talk to you next time.

Hej hej!