Deutschland Disaster....of sorts

I am writing this blog on a computer in the Frankfurt-Hahn airport internet cafe, and the man across from me is playing some ridiculous war game at a ridiculously loud volume. I have just come in from the rain, looking a lot like a wet dog. I am tired, wet, and hungry, and damnnit I just want to go home.

This is the story of an American girl in germany.

I started this trip to Oktoberfest in Munich with my friends Scott, Kelsey, and Meg in the Montpellier airport. From there, our Ryanair flight arrived safely at Frankfurt-Hahn, which is at least an hour and thirty minute ride from the actual city of Frankfurt. Scott and I jumped on the shuttle which took us to....Mainz?..
Apparently, we must have jumped off the shuttle a tad prematurely,... but the good news was that there was still a train going to Munich at 2 am.
Scott and I, being early in Mainz at 11:30, and being the resourceful folks we are decided to wander through the dark downtown of Mainz. I found an open bar and it was perfect. A real local dive. Without the whole speaking german thing, it could have been any northern wisconsin bar: a few old locals, a dyed blonde, smoke-aged barmaid, good, cheap, german beer, an assortment of oldies playing from the ancient jukebox, and a dark, smoky atmosphere. Scott and I paid 3 euro each for the biggest, best glasses of beer I have ever had.

But, wait....Next disaster: Scott and I return to the train station to catch our train to Munich....and apparently we got on the wrong one, because we soon found out that the destination was Basse, not Munich. At Frankfurt, Scott and I run off of the train, only to be told to reboard and wait to transfer in Mannheim. We do this, but the Mannheim to Munich train was overbooked. So, we huddle on the floor of the train until a compartment can be found. Of course, it being 3 am, Scott and I fall asleep. I wake in time to see a sign saying -Muenchen HBF- We are here!
We run off the train, as people are strangely trying to pile on and look around the station. I must have seen the wrong sign, because we got off in Augsburg...an hour from Munich. We then wait another 30 minutes for the next train to Munich. When it arrives, the doors are rushed by drunks wearing lederhosen and dirndls. I don't know how, but I manage to back my huge backpack and me onto the train, grab scott by the shirt front and haul him in after me. We were packed like chattle. It was miserable. That's really all there is to say about that.

By the time we get to Munich, we are both exhausted and hungry. I try to call my friend Bath-sheba (who we were staying with) but the number wont work. We are stuck once again. Luckily I had her address and we were able to navigate the tramways and streets until we were standing at her front door. I knocked,...no answer. Being resourceful people, we pulled out a blanket and curled up outside her door where she found us asleep a couple hours later.

Oktoberfest: Lots of people, lots of beer, lots of drunks.
Friday night was fun, sheba, scott, and I met up with meg, kelsey, and zach. We had our first Oktoberfest beers, some bratwurst and good times.

The next day, it rained, rained, and rained some more. We waited in a huddled line to get into a beer tent...and I thought I was going to die. As the hours went on, the line got shorter, and more compact. I had three gross italian men behind me, brushing their hands across my butt and telling me to 'relax, smile, don't worry' - all in garbled english accents. Then, just before I was about to give up, the guard that looked a lot like Saddam Hussein (who isn't dead, just working at Oktoberfest) quit pushes me and finally let Sheba, Scott and I inside.

Inside the beer tent, we spend another 30 minutes just looking for space at a table. In the course of this table hunting, I am assaulted (kind of) by two drunk guys who sandwich me between them and start pushing me. After Bath-Sheba hauls them off of me, we find a table with some German men who are half in the bag. Fun occurs after this in the form of beer, bratwurst, and lots and lots of singing. Finally, Sheba and I call it quits early and retire for a chill night at her apartment.

Big Disaster!: On sunday, we find a cheap way to get back to Frankfurt in the form of a rideshare. A very nice man agreed to drive us to Frankfurt for 20 euro each. The only glitch in our plan.....traffic jams. The entire Autobahn system was backed up. Although our driver did his best....there was nothing more he could do. We missed our flight by an hour and a half. Luckily we were able to make it on the next flight....unfortunately the next flight was 7 the next day....and would cost us each 75 euro....not to mention Scott lost his passport in the driver's car (but that's a whole other story).

So, the four of us pile into a tiny hotel room for the night, ...I took the floor. The next day, the three girls had a whole day to kill, unfortunately it was rainy and cold in Frankfurt-Hahn. We walked to the Shell station...yes the gas station for breakfast and warmth, after which I walked back to the airport in the soaking rain...

Other than that, the flight was on time, I made it back to the apartment, straggled in at 9:45, only to discover that the two swiss teenage boys that have been staying with us for the past week are here for still another week! Uggggghhhh, it doesn't help that I don't like them much or that they have decided to practice their english swearing on my host sister at the dinner table. oooooo, if I had been home, I would have ripped them some new ones.

But otherwise, I am home, I am safe, and I do have homework and class early tomorrow morning. Ohhhh fun.

Well, that's all folks. Slightly more upbeat posts are on the way.

Becca