Prost!

Munich City Hall in the Marienplatz city square

Late last night I returned from what has hands down been the best weekend of my trip so far: Munich, Germany for opening weekend of Oktoberfest! I traveled with Bri and two of our other sorority sisters who are staying in Florence, as well as four other Santa Barbara girls we've become friends with here. I had no real expectations of what Munich would be like so it completely blew me away--it's such a beautiful and fast-paced city and the people we met there were so friendly and eager to show off Munich.

We took an overnight bus from the Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence and arrived in Munich Friday morning. All my friends complained about how long the bus ride was but I once again proved my ability to fall asleep pretty much anywhere because according to Bri I was passed out within 10 minutes of the bus leaving the train station and aside from a quick break at a rest stop in Austria, didn't wake up again until about 20 minutes before we arrived at our hostel in Munich.

View from the rest stop in Austria: Just a little more scenic than the Alameda Nob Hill gas station

Because Oktoberfest didn't officially start until Saturday, we spent Friday afternoon taking a four hour bike tour of Munich. Our tour guide was an Irishman named Steve-O and I don't want to perpetuate stereotypes but I'm 95% sure he was really drunk the entire time. On the bright side, he was hands down the most hilarious tour guide I've ever had.  We biked around Munich, stopping at churches and other landmarks. My favorites:

The Theatinekirche of St. Kajetan--We were there right when the sun was shining its brightest, so the inside (virtually all white) was completely lit up by the sunlight shining through the windows.

Gorgeous dome of the Theatine Church--I don't think I've ever spent so much time staring up at ceilings in my entire life as I have in the month I've been in Europe.

Altar of the Theatinekirche

Really liked the contrast of this black pulpit with the white walls and ceiling

The Englischer Garten, a huge, beautiful public park in the Center of Munich. We stopped at the Cheineischer Turm ("Chinese Tower") for lunch at the second largest beer garden in Munich. First sip of Bavarian beer... delicious. 

Biking through the English Garden!

Maddie, Bri, Lauren and me in front of the Chinese Tower

Turns out vegetarians don't have a whole lot of culinary options in Germany...  I learned to get really friendly with cabbage.

More biking through the English Garden. The whole park was gorgeous.

German government building

The next day we finally headed to Oktoberfest! It was opening day so at noon the mayor tapped the first keg and everyone went crazy. We quickly picked up on the different Oktoberfest drinking songs: Ein Prosit and our favorite, "Hey Baby"

The Hoffbrau Tent, favorite of the tents we went to. A lot of tourists but a lot of Germans, too and the youngest and rowdiest of the crowds.

Maybe this is common knowledge, but I had no idea Oktoberfest was partially a carnival. I was ecstatic and spent an obscene amount of Euros on roller coasters. In line with Myles and Juliana for roller coaster ride #29068769675

On the second day of Oktoberfest we befriended a New Zealand rugby team, who educated us on why Kiwi accents are better than Australian ones and taught us some New Zealand rugby chants

Kappas in Munich! Ignore the glasses--borrowed them from Russ, our Kiwi rugby friend.

Some other snapshots from Munich:

The Eisbach: A man made white-water river where locals surf. First time seeing people surf in a river!

Out for our first German dinner on Friday night:
Delicious Smoked Salmon Salad--dedicated to J. Hong

Mmm... So excited for käsespäzle

All in all, an amazing weekend that completely surpassed my expectations. The more cities and countries I visit in Europe the more addicted I get to traveling. We're currently trying to decide between the Amalfi Coast and Croatia for our next trip... though I just learned that there's a Chipotle in London so England has gone way up on my travel priority list.

The Surreal Life

At least once a day here I have moments where I stop and think about what I'm doing and where I am and it all feels so surreal--today's happened while I was sitting in my kitchen in the late afternoon snacking on a Caprese Salad Bri put together with the freshest mozzarella I've ever had and some unbelievably sweet-tasting tomatoes from the huge market near our apartment, with my hair still soaked from the spontaneous downpour that I got caught in on the way back from a friend's apartment. Working on homework is never at the top of my favorite activities list, but writing my Italian composition while listening to the slowing drizzle outside and looking out my kitchen window at the centuries old, beautiful apartment buildings next to us felt pretty perfect. (I'm also grateful to have a roomie who's willing to take the time to make delicious snacks, because I was about ready to stick with a PB&J)

Steered clear of the salami, but I could probably live off of that mozzarella. 

A few other of my "Is this real life" Moments so far:

First time ordering in only my broken Italian--satisfying both because the waiter understood me and because of the delicious lunch: tomatoes, mozzarella, and pesto on warm focaccia 

Realizing it literally takes me 15 seconds to walk to the Arno when I leave my apartment building, and having this as my view when I walk to school every morning.

First time stumbling on the Duomo--We were so busy staring at our map trying to find a grocery store on our first day in Florence, we didn't even pay attention to where we were, rounded a corner, looked up, and.... Duomo!

Delicious and beautiful--complimentary cocktails  on our first night in Italy from the chef we met who works in a restaurant in Chianti during the week and lives in Florence on the weekends.

Almost everything I've had so far in Europe has been delicious (the McDonald's fries I caved in and bought one late night in Barcelona being the standout exception), but this pizza from Gusta Pizza was the first "I have never had anything like this before, it's so good I don't want it to end" meal I've had. The sauce was on another plane from any I've ever had at home. 

Enjoying Gusta Pizza in Piazza Santo Spirito during our lunch break from school--it's right around the corner so I'm foreseeing me becoming a regular. 

Toasting with Bri to our night, delicious asparagus risotto,  and all-you-can-drink vino deals.

I'm going to continue to try my best to document all of the moments that stick out like these ones, and am still feeling so astounded and lucky right now to be here meeting wonderful people and doing wonderful things. Ciao!

Finally in Firenze

Arrived safely in Florence Monday afternoon where I checked into my program and took a taxi to my new apartment. I was ecstatic to see Bri (my roommate this semester and good friend from UCSB and Kappa) was already there and had scoped out the best bedroom for us. The first few days here have been a whirlwind of getting settled in the new place, starting school (first day of classes was today), eating way too much gelato, pizza, and foccacia, and going out and exploring Florence's nightlife with new friends. Anyway, here's a virtual tour of the new place!

Our street--Via dei Fossi

Our apartment!

Entryway

4 flights of stairs + No elevator = A little less guilt about all the gelato I've been indulging in

Bedroom... Heyyyy Bri!

I think my bed making skills need a little work

Still isn't the closet Carrie got in SATC, but very happy to find I have adequate shoe room

Kitchen

View from the kitchen window #1--The bridge over the Arno we cross every day to get to school, the Ponte Alla Carraia

View from the kitchen window #2--Not too shabby