Part I
To start this one off, I'd like to clarify that I didn't actually travel to Switzerland, as the title may imply. I merely travelled through Switzerland. Let me explain. First off, I began planning this trip to Germany and Oktoberfest in the early spring of this year. A few friends from SJU and myself decided that while we were all going to be abroad in the fall, it would be a great idea to all meet up in Germany for Oktoberfest. At that time, we decided it would be really fun and cost effective to go camping in Munich as opposed to paying for a hostel which were quite expensive during Oktoberfest. We reserved a few spots at a campsite adequately called "The Tent - Munich" and had our first part of the trip planned. For me, the next step of planning didn't come until the last week of August when I was travelling around The Emerald Isle with Dad and Lisa. I was sitting on my computer (not literally, thank goodness....I'll explain later) when I found a pretty reasonable flight to Munich for $250. I bought it, and my trip to Munich was set! Unfortunately the prices continued to rise and not everyone was able to find as reasonable prices to get there, so some of the original people that had planned on coming were no longer able to join (sorry guys!).
My journey to Munich entailed a 4 hour bus ride from Galway City to Dublin Airport, a 2 hour flight to Zurich, an 8 hour layover in Zurich, a short flight to Munich, a 1 hour train from the airport to Hauptbahnhof (central station), and a 20 minute tram ride to my campsite. My bus left from Galway at 6 AM, and after a couple hours of delayed flights I ended up getting into Munich at about 11 PM. After the train ride I caught the tram towards the campsite and slowly became surrounded by overly intoxicated Germans sporting their festive lederhosen. Not that I wasn't expecting this, but this is one of the last things I wanted to experience after a very long day of travelling. I stuck it out and eventually made it to my campsite, where I checked in and was led in the general direction of the "tent area," where those who were camping could pitch their tents. I had purchased a tent the week prior in Galway, so I was prepared for camping, but I hadn't opened the tent yet, and didn't quite know how it was designed. Don't get me wrong, I have pitched quite a few tents in my day, but this tent was unlike any other I have ever seen. I struggled immensely, to say the least, attempting to set up the tent in the pitch dark at about 1 AM by myself. Eventually, however, I did succeed and was able to get some rest after a very long and frustrating day of travel (just wait 'til I get to the part about my trip back to Galway).
The next morning, my friend Will from St.Joe's and his two roommates arrived at the tent. It was great to see a familiar face, and after pitching their tent, we embarked on our first journey to Oktoberfest. We found our way to the festival, and walked around for a while just soaking in the atmosphere. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before. I didn't even come close to seeing all of the different parts of the festival over the weekend, as it was massive, but the parts I did see were incredible. There were rides, games, tons of food, biergartens, souvenirs, just about anything you can picture at a fair/festival. My personal favorite part of Oktoberfest was the tents, which were huge and absolutely stuffed full of people (pictures to follow). Will, Matt, Andrew and I wandered around for a bit in awe before we actually decided to try and make our way into one of the tents to have our first Oktoberfest meal and bier. After a few failed attempts to find a table inside some of the more popular tents (you have to be at a table to be served), we decided to have a seat in the biergarten of Lowenbrau. Lowenbrau is one of the famous Munich breweries that had a tent at Oktoberfest. The biergarten was outside of the tent, but had many more available tables than inside. We sat down, ordered 4 steins, 2 half chickens, and 2 Munich Weisswurst (white sausage). The steins are the tankards in which beer is served at Oktoberfest. I can't quite put my finger on it, but there is an oddly satisfying feeling when drinking German beer out of a stein.
Later that day my good friend Melissa, also from St. Joe's, arrived from Spain. I met her at the Hauptbahnhof and took her to our campsite. After she got situated, we decided to have a quick bite to eat and a beer at the hostel/campsite before heading back to Oktoberfest. As we were sitting there catching up, a girl came up to me and asked if I knew her friend Eryne. I looked over and saw an old friend from my 8th grade math class. I couldn't believe it. What a coincidence! It turned out she and her friends were staying in "the tent" hostel as well. They were all visiting from Paris, where they are studying for the semester. It was an awesome coincidence that added a lot to the whole experience. Shortly after going back with them to the festival, I got a call from my friend K, who is also studying in Galway for the semester. She had just arrived at Hauptbahnoff, so I met her there as well and showed her the way to our awesome campsite. Finally, everyone who was going to Oktoberfest had arrived! We headed back to Oktoberfest, met up again with everyone, and continued the festivities!
Remember how I mentioned NOT literally sitting on my computer, and that I would explain the clarification later? The week before going to Munich I did, quite literally, sit on my camera, which I had not-so-intelligently placed in my back pocket. Thankfully, this didn't completely ruin the camera, as it was still able to take photos, but it did completely ruin the screen. As my camera does not have a viewfinder, this made it impossible to tell exactly what I was taking photos of. While I was in Munich, the camera stopped working entirely, so I was only able to take a few pictures on the first day. Here are those photos:
Will, Matt, and Andrew walking through Oktoberfest for the first time.
This crazy ride was the first thing we saw walking into Oktoberfest. We rode this after the tents closed on our first night at the festival .
One of the many overwhelming views of Oktoberfest. There are roller-coasters in the distance and the famous bier tents on the right and left.
Lowenbrau, where we enjoyed our first taste of Munich.
The inside of Lowenbrau tent, where we couldn't find a table.
So that is the majority of the photos I took before my camera broke. If you'd like to see the rest you can find them here! I walked around the city quite a bit on my last day, after everyone else had left, but unfortunately I have no photos to show for it. It's a sad thing, because Munich is an awesome city.
My flight left Munich after 9 PM on Sunday, a solid 6 hours after the last of my friends left. After exploring the city a bit, I caught the train to the airport. I flew from Munich to Geneva, Geneva back to Zurich, and finally Zurich to Dublin. Here's the kicker: I arrived in Geneva at roughly 10:30 PM on Sunday, but my flight to Zurich wasn't until 8 AM on Monday. That night in the airport goes down in my personal history as one of the worst nights ever. I didn't want to leave the airport and risk getting lost in Geneva and stranded there for more time, and I didn't want to spend money on a hotel or anything so I slept in the airport. 'Sleeping' on an ice cold tile floor is not my idea of a night well spent in Switzerland. Not much sleeping actually ensued, and I 'woke up' the next morning feeling quite exhausted and frustrated. I eventually caught my flight to Zurich, continued on to Dublin, and hopped on the first bus back to Galway City. As exhausting as the travelling was on my trip to Munich, I wouldn't change a thing. It was all well worth it, as it was one of the most fun weekend's I have had in quite a while! Prost!
Part II
Now that I've spent some more time here in Galway, I've been able to explore the area a bit more. For this part, I'll just post some photos with descriptions. Enjoy!
This is shop street, which is about 2 blocks away from my apartment building. This is where the vast majority of pubs are in Galway, as well as the grocery store, many gift shops, and various other 'shops'.
This is a statue in Kennedy park, just at the end of shop street. The park is named after President Kennedy because he once gave a speech there.
My roommate Dan and another friend from St. Joe's, Kate, on a causeway. We aren't sure what is at the end of the causeway other than an island with some buildings. Notice how low the water is on either side of the causeway. The tides here change drastically on a pretty regular basis. You'll see what I mean...
This is the same causeway with the waves coming over top of it. The water is a solid 10-20 feet higher here than it was in the previous picture. Also, it was incredibly windy on this day, as you can see from the spray.
It was verrry windy. This is Dan holding on for dear life. Easily one of my favorite pictures.
This is the marina area near my apartment. When the tide is low, these boats sit on the rocks that make up the ground beneath the water.
The high tide also has a large impact on the water level of the River Corrib. Most of the time, you can see the bottom of the piers of this bridge. Clearly not in this picture.
Finally, this is the street on which I live. My apartment building isn't actually in this photo, but this just across the street from it.
Hope you enjoyed Part II, and if you'd like to see the rest of my photos from Galway, you can see them here!
Part III
This past weekend, Dan and I travelled to Dublin for a night. We had both already spent some time there, but our good friends Joe and Diana and some of their friends were visiting from London for the weekend, so we decided to meet up with them. We went to the Guinness Storehouse, Kilmainham Gaol, and explored the Temple Bar area. It was really great to see them again, and we had a blast together. I had already visited these places with Dad and Lisa when we first arrived in Ireland, but they were just as fun the second time around! Here are a few of the pictures, and again, if you'd like to see the rest just go here.
Joey and I outside of St. James's Gate, the birthplace and home of Guinness!
Dan, Joey, and I after crafting 'the perfect pints'! Sláinte!!!
Christ's Church at sunset. Awesome place.
We discovered this old museum on our long walk to Kilmainham Gaol. We didn't go in, but we walked through the courtyard.
This is a pretty neat tree grove just outside the museum. My attempt at being arty.
Joey and I inside Kilmainham Gaol. This is one of my favorite places in Ireland.
This is the oldest pub in Ireland. We didn't have time to go in and have a pint, but it is definitely on my list of places to go before I leave. It looked awesome on the inside.
This is for Edward. Just because. :)
That's it for now! Hope you enjoyed it. I will be travelling to London this weekend with a bunch of friends from Galway. I am very excited for the trip!! I promise I will not wait as long to update the blog either! I miss you all! I'll be in touch soon. In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend and keep me updated on anything going on at home!
Also, happy early birthday to Carly and Brandon!!! Have a great one!!
Until next time....arrivaderci!!
