Oktoberfest: Beer, Pretzels and RyanAir

Dear Readers,

It's been too long, but I'm back to blogging now after a beer-soaked weekend in Munich for Oktoberfest. 

After a pre-departure dinner last Wednesday night, we - Natasha, Kim, Justin, Nathalie, and myself - left Barcelona Thursday morning. 

The first thing to point out about this weekend is that we flew RyanAir, by which I mean we took an hour-and-a-half long bus ride to Reus, a 1-hour delayed (thanks French air-traffic controllers!) flight to Memmingen, another hour-and-a-half long bus ride to Munich, and a metro to a bus to our campsite. Whoa! It was quite the trip but we didn't miss a beat and made it Munich in good spirits – though I think we all now know why RyanAir is so cheap.

The travel behind, we arrived to our campsite Thursday night, changed our clothes and headed back into Munich to the famed beer hall, Hofbrau Haus.  There we ordered our first of many steins – the 1-liter beers that make Oktoberfest/Munich famous - and ate delicious roasted pork and potato dumplings.  It was a great opener to the weekend, especially when Kim decided to balance a beer-filled stein on her head.  Her feat got the attention of our section of the beer hall, which created an uproar of clapping, yelling, and cheers-ing – it was a true Oktoberfest moment, and the first of many to come.

Tired, we headed back to the campsite and fell asleep for our first – and last – night of dry and mild Munich weather.

We awoke Friday morning to cool weather and blue skies, ate a quick breakfast, and headed off to the fair grounds.  Going into the weekend I didn’t realize that Oktoberfest is actually a festival, but those thoughts quickly left my mind as we walked thru the fairground gates and entered the festival in a hoard of tourists and Bavarians alike.

At the fest, the tents are the main attraction.  Less like tents, the structures are actually giant beer halls, each one decked out with Bavarian decorations, bandstands, and hundreds (thousands?) of people.  Getting into a tent is a feat in itself, but getting spots at a table is even harder.

Over the course of the day we went to three tents and ordered our share of steins and pretzels.  Clearly, the main event was the beer, but the best memories were of raucous toasts (“Prost!”) and sing-alongs to drinking songs and big-band adaptations of songs like “Seven Nation Army” and “Sweet Caroline.”

The vibe was so positive at the festival that you could practically sit down at anyone’s table to hang out.  I personally loved the fact that you could cheers anyone while walking around the halls.  And with such an international crowd, it added to the fun of making friends.

Needless to say, a wave of drunkenness engulfed the entire crew by early afternoon, and by that evening we were back at the campsite to relax and reminisce about the day’s adventure.

The next day was more of the same: more steins, more saying “Prost,” more sing-alongs, and even more pretzels.  At one hall, we sat down at a table with a group of Japanese folks who turned out to be the most memorable drinking-buddies of the day.  The cultural exchanges made for even more fun as the day (read: drinking) continued.

And then the rain came.  It wasn’t much of a bother at the festival, but when we got back to the campground, the proverbial shit had hit the fan.  Once neat and orderly rows of tents were now covered in mud and water.  Our last night in Munich was cold and wet, but surely just a footnote to the epic weekend.

By Sunday, we were dirty and tired, and happy to catch the bus to our RyanAir flight.

In all, for our group, Oktoberfest consisted of at least a hundred random, classic, and priceless moments – I even saw a guy fumble his digital camera into a full stein of beer, ouch. 

So there you have it.  Oktoberfest.  Will I ever go back? Maybe, but I’m glad I had the luck of sharing the weekend with so many awesome people.

Prost!

The grand entrance to the Oktoberfest fairgrounds

Inside zee festival

Hofbrau tent at the festival, rowdy place it is

Prost!

Sitges ("See->Chess")

Today, I moved into my apartment, and I'm pumped to be out of the dorms and in Gracia! Ready to stop speaking English too.  I finally feel like I'm living in Barcelona.

Thanks to my neighbor, who's letting us bum his WIFI, I can continue to update the blog...beginning with an epic journey to Sitges - a popular beach destination about 45 mins south of Barcelona by train.

There were two groups of us heading to Sitges that day, and I was happy to be with the first group - our toes were in the sand before 1 pm.  The beach (and bordering neighborhood) in Sitges reminded me a lot of Venice.  Narrow streets led us to the packed midday beaches which were divided every 500 meters by concrete and rock jetties. 

We found a plot and parked our stuff, took in a little sun, and then went for a swim in the salty Mediterranean.  The water was really nice but we were hungry.  The search for lunch began.

After a quick stroll away from the touristy beach-side we found ourselves at a decent looking spot with a seafood menu del día to soothe our hunger.  We sat, drank and ate, all the meanwhile chatting up our waiter who asked the seemingly obligatory question, "So..you all Americans?"  Yes.

He must have liked us because moments after clearing our table he returned with a plate of six ice-chilled shot glasses and three frozen-looking mystery bottles.  Madness ensued.

After tasting the bottle he called, "sin nombre" - "without a name," some potent homemade stuff from Galicia - I went went with the sweeter melecoton (melon).  By 4 we had left the restaurant and were back at the beach.

We then rented a paddle boat outfitted with a slide for more shenanigans in the ocean.  So fun.  After a couple of hours in the water and on the beach, we decided to head back.  As if that were all Sitges had to throw at us...

On the walk back to the train station we crossed paths with a parade of giant fake animals and bagpipers.  After watching the giant squirrel dance around a crowd of dead-pan serious Spanish folk, there was no turning back a laugh attack: one of the funniest things I've seen since landing.

All in all, it was a great day.  Just great enough to yield a much-needed nap on the train ride home.

The summery beach vibe is all over Sitges.  I had some fun with photoshop on this one.

 

 

Our waiter stands proudly with the post-lunch drinks.  Left to right: sin nombre, melocoton, and crema catalan.

The most ridiculous parade I've seen in Spain. The combo of a giant dancing squirrel and bagpipe music was priceless.

El menú del día, the nap-maker

Felipe told me that the Spanish use meals to control their sleeping patterns.  A light breakfast with coffee is supposed to make for a productive morning at work.  But by the time 2pm rolls around and your stomach is grumbling, ya es hora para almorzar (it's time to eat lunch).  For this, the Spanish created the menú del día, a popular pre-siesta lunch for businessmen and students alike that could never leave you hungry.

Lunch is definitely the most important - and heftiest - meal of the day here in Spain.  The menú is a fixed-price deal that many restaurants offer.  For about 8-12 € you get two courses, a drink - bottled water, soda, beer, or wine - and coffee or postre (dessert).  It's definitely a deal for a hearty lunch of well-prepared Spanish standards, like paella, gazpatxo, pa amb tomàquet (bread with tomato) and jamón ibérico (super-delicious Iberian ham).

Today we rode the bus back to our dorm with Mar, our highly-Catalonian Spanish conversation teacher.  I asked her - in Spanish, of course - if she could suggest a good restaurant near our dorm for a menú.  She told me about Cinc Torres, and 15 minutes later I found myself there.

The meal was heavy and carb-centric but still very tasty, nevertheless a perfect nap-inducing afternoon lunch!  Can't wait to try different menus around town as each restaurant does the menú their own way :)

GREASE: This place served up the whole menu on one large plate.  I had the choice of different pastas - I went with baked ragu - and then today's menú came with calamari rings and potatoes.  Definitely delicious but didn't knock my socks off, until of course I passed out for a 2 hour siesta, lol.

BOMB FLAN: This was super good and the caramelized sugar had a potent burnt flavor. Yum!

Tapa Tuesdays

Though tapas have their roots in Andalusia and the Basque Country, they have clearly become a cultural symbol of Spain's late-night eating and drinking culture.  Considered the original 'small bites' food, tapas are intended to promote conversation, and are perfectly accompanied by a glass of sangria. Check out these pics from a successful tapas mission at Cerveseria Catalana!

FLAUTA: A little sandwich with eggplant, pepper and anchoivies.

GAMBAS: Skewered shrimp, a la plancha.

YUM: Grilled baby squid with lemon.

STACKED: Eggplant, Pepper and goat cheese...so dank.

CALIMOCHA KALIMOTXO: An epic thirst quencher, it's made with red wine and cola...so good. 

TAPAS: Not a native Barcelona food, they actually hail from Andalusia and Basque Country (pinxtos).  Either way, Cerveseria Catalana does them justice.

BAR: Most of the cold or room temp tapas are served right at the bar.

SANGRIA: We ordered Cava Sangria which is made with cava, orange and lemon juice and other unknown alcohol. So bomb.

Molt be i bon nit!