Germans definitely know how to party

Had you been on around Yawkey Way just after Keith Foulke’s underhand flip to Doug Menkiewicz in 2004, your opinion of Boston would be a bit skewed – positively if you like to party; negatively if you’re more of the museum type. Granted, FC Bayern Munich hadn’t just won the Champions League, but being in Munich for Frühlingsfest was the equivalent of being in Madison for the Mifflin Street block party in May. Arguably the most fun weekend of the semester thus far. At least party-wise

But to be perfectly fair to the city of Munich, I thought it was an awesome city regardless of Frühlingsfest. Friday morning at 7 a.m., six of us (none of my roommates included; all five from downstairs) took the bus from Prague to Munich. We got there just after 1 p.m., immediately checked into our hostel (which was probably the nicest I’ve stayed in thus far) and were on our way. Our room had a Camp Cedary feel to it, with twelve wooden bunk beds and wooden floors. Maybe that’s why I liked it so much. We met a bunch of those kids’ friends from home (north shore Chicago), so our group filled 11 of the 12 beds; No. 12 ended up being a normal American, which was a nice luxury. So we dropped our stuff off and headed to the beer halls that we had heard so much about. Honestly, what did you expect?

They didn’t disappoint. These beer halls sit hundreds of people, teenagers to grandparents, all drinking liters of beer at a time out of huge steins, eating sausages, pretzels and sauerkraut (all amazing, pre- and post-beer, by the way). That started at about 3:30 and ended around 8. Then came head-to-pillow contact, which was supposed to be a quick pre-evening nap. Woke up at 2 a.m. with eight missed calls from Becky and Sam. I’m usually not a deep sleeper.

Saturday we were on a mission. The rest of them had to be because they had a 1 p.m. bus home Sunday. I was smart and booked the 11:40 p.m. one by myself so I had more than one day in the city. Great decision. I randomly ran into some Madison folk who were taking Lenny’s Bike Tour around town. My group wanted to do Mike’s Bike Tour, which cost 24 euro. Lenny’s was free, pre-tips (needless to say Mike and Lenny don’t get along. No joke.) Saved me about 16 euro. Another great decision, considering we did the same exact tour as Mike and Co.

Munich is cool because downtown has so much Word War II history, but within biking (or walking, really) distance, there’s huge, fields, streams and gorgeous scenery. The tour took us trough all of it, the coolest part being the river surfers. Our guide told us that in WWII, they built a mad-made wave-maker (for lack of the real term) in the river to please the soldiers from California. It’s still there, and the Germans love it.

After the tour, it was time for Frühlingsfest. The Fest is basically a carnival for adults. It’s a regular carnival with rides, games and food, with a huge tent where the real fun happens. Under the tent was a live German band, decked out in traditional German attire, singing everything from German drinking songs to “Beat it” by Michael Jackson. With steins in hand, everyone (hundreds, many also in proper attire) is singing, dancing on the tables and cheersing liter after liter. Best bar in the world.

I met Becky and her roommates in the tent, on purpose and ran into Russell Thaw in the carnival, post-tent. Didn’t even know he was in Munich at the time. Small world, in the most literal sense.

Needless to say, there wasn’t much to the night after the tent, except for one carnival teacup-ish ride (thank god I didn’t puke). Didn’t see midnight on back-to-back nights. Can’t tell you the last time that happened.

Sunday was my own personal day. The Prague boys were leaving at 1, Becky left at 9:30 and Sam’s phone wasn’t working. Didn’t see her the whole time, unfortunately. So I decided to be productive. I went to the Olympic Park, where the 1972 Olympics were held, the BMW Museum and the Munich Zoo all by myself. Each was cool in its own way, the zoo being my favorite. I couldn’t tell you the last time I was at a zoo, but this zoo had everything: zebras, elephants, tigers, lions, sharks, penguins, polar bears, gorillas, baboons, wolves, flamingos, you name it, it was there. I was honestly fascinated by the primates (of all variety). They’re so human-like. You’d think we were closely related or something.

The zoo also had a pretty sweet aquarium with all sorts of fish and aquatic animals (I guess that's why they call it an aquarium). I was standing behind a German family, staring into a tank when I heard a 7-year-old girl say something along the lines of: "Cheiststein zeichenbach deutchzeich Nemo!" Sure enough, there was an orange and white fish that looked just like Nemo. I laughed out loud and had to walk away.

After the zoo, I was beat. I streamed the Red Sox game on my computer (thank you Martin, and thank you again in advance for tonight), then took the 11:40 bus back to Prague. Got here at 5 a.m. and went straight back to bed.

Another weekend, another country (although technically I’d already driven through it) added to my list, which is getting rather long. Off to Krakow and Auschwitz (Poland) Friday night on a trip with CEA, our program. Should be a bit of a different atmosphere.