Capital: Berlin … 82,790,000 People … 357,386 km²
The Country
Beer, Bratwurst, Bavaria; no European trip is complete without visiting the land of poets and thinkers. Germany is a powerful nation that strives to provide its citizens with free access to education and opportunities for the future. Known for their luxury car manufacturers which supports the largest economy in the European Union, Germany has a history that stretches back hundreds of years, and plays a modern role in international development.
Fun Facts:
Germany was the first country to adopt daylight savings time.
Beer is considered a food group in Germany.
In Germany, it is not illegal to escape from jail.
My Experience
I flew from Copenhagen to Munich the day before Oktoberfest 2018 began with some friends. We took a train to Marienplatz, and began exploring the city. We had pretzels, beer, schnitzel, beer, sausages, and beer. Did I forget to mention we had some beer?
We walked north to the English Garden where we ran into a few friends who were also in Munich for Oktoberfest. There we saw a large line of people carrying surfboards; obviously, we had to check it out. The English Garden has a river running through it, that has a location with a permanent wave. We weren’t expecting to see surfers in Bavaria, but we took the opportunity to relax in the park and watch some impressive surfing.
After some time, the friends I was with went to their hotel while I did some exploring on my own before meeting up with some other friends. I walked to Odeonsplatz, another large square, before catching a train to the campsite my friends and I would be staying at. Packed with friends here for Oktoberfest, we all had an incredible time (probably, since no one had a great memory the morning after).
We made our way to the Hacker-Pschorr Tent early in the morning to get some seats, and waited a few hours before Oktoberfest officially began. With nearly 7000 people inside the tent, moving around and finding a seat was only for the strongest and the bravest. After a few litres of beer, I was able to convince my two friends (who are deathly afraid of heights) to join me on the ferris wheel. 3 of us went up… and 3 of us came down (although they were both shaking and were considerably mad at me for “tricking” them). After a few more beers and a few more rides, we went back to our campsite and enjoyed some water (just kidding, we had more beer).
The next morning we woke up to the sound of hard rain hitting our tents. It was peaceful, but all of us were groggy and sick. My friends and I somehow managed to navigate our way to the airport, and the sight of us looked reminiscent to any zombie movie. However, we survived, and made our way back to Denmark.
I also had the pleasure of visiting Hamburg twice, as a pitstop from Aarhus to Amsterdam. The first time we arrived at midnight and had to wait until 4am; everything was closed, we got threatened a few times, and while looking for a washroom we found a hallway covered in blood. Not the most welcoming experience, but 3am near a bus station anywhere obviously won’t show the best aspects of the city. During our next time in Hamburg, I was able to complete a bucket list item: eat a hamburger in Hamburg. There are still many places in Germany that I can’t wait to explore, and I have plans to visit again very soon.
Photos of Germany