O'zapft is!

For those who haven't heard the above title of this post, here's a little explanation:

O’zapft is
Bavarian expression, meaning ‘it’s tapped’. At noon on the first day of Oktoberfest, the Mayor of Munich traditionally taps the first keg of beer, exclaiming the above phrase, which marks the official opening of the festival.

And if you haven't yet guessed, this post is suitably named this since this weekend Lois, myself and Matt, a friend from our course at University, visited the legendary Oktoberfest in Munich. It got off to a pretty bad start, after Lois dropped her iPhone down the toilet (don't ask me how...) The said iPhone had all the numbers of some friends whom we were planning on meeting at the festival. Now, at Oktoberfest, if you aren't in the queue for one of the 'big tents' by 8AM, you're not getting in. So we woke up at 5AM on Saturday and caught the first train to Munich. However, with no way of contacting our friends who were at the festival and with thousands of people wearing exactly the same clothes (Dirndl and Lederhosen), there was no way we were going to find them. To cut a long story short, we left the festival to go into Munich and meet Matt. However, we did watch the opening parade, which was quite a sight.





Marianplatz is a bustling square in Munich and is surrounded by
some really nice buildings

We met with Matt in Marianplatz and enjoyed a beer. Following a nice catch-up, we made our way back to the festival to see what was going on. By this point (mid-afternoon) it was heaving! Apparently 6 Million people visit the festival over the three weeks, and after seeing it on the opening Saturday, this figure doesn't surprise me at all. We enjoyed some German cuisine from one the several hundred food stalls and took in the atmosphere. It was a great atmosphere and I'm really glad we went, but the amount of people there does make it a little less enjoyable. I feel like we had the best of two worlds, as we experienced Oktoberfest but also managed to see a little bit of Munich, which is a great city.


A visit to Munich isn't complete without Beer

Matt came back and stayed over at mine. I moved in on Friday, and it's nice to finally have somewhere to live - even just for two months. I'm slightly concerned on how I'm going to re-pack all my clothes when it gets to the end of November, but I'm trying not to think that far at the moment. Today (Sunday), Lois, Matt and I went for a lovely walk around Regensburg. This is the first time I've really seen the city I will be living in, as the previous two times, it's been raining miserably. But today was lovely. It is a fantastic city with lots of history and some incredible architecture. In addition, there are innumerable restaurants, bars and cafes, so plenty for me to sample and try out! I can't wait to get to know this beautiful city a little more.

So tomorrow, I have my first day at school. It's a slightly unconventional first day, as it's the schools 'Wandertag', which involves a sort of hiking school trip, or so I've been told. I don't really know what to expect, but it should be a good way to meet everyone in a less formal environment, compared with a classroom. I'm nervous about the week ahead, but I also just want to get started. By the end of the week I will have a better idea of what I'm expected to do etc. so I'm looking forward to that.

One of the 'big tents' at Oktoberfest - If you're not queuing from the early hours, you're not getting in! 

So that's it for now. This post does seem a little 'bland' but it's late and I'm tired! Next time I update you all, I might have something more interesting to share!


Lois and I on the Stone Bride in Regensburg - A really lovely city