Mars to Florence (WITHOUT a Spaceship): October 2014

My teepee group, left to right: Sierra, Alyssa, Jaemi, Matt, Clara, Me, and Belinda

Boy oh boy, what a week it has been. My last post ended with me anxiously awaiting to get onto my night bus to Munich, Germany for Oktoberfest on Thursday, October 2nd (Zach's 22nd birthday). After saying goodbye to my roommates, I headed to the Santa Maria Novella train station to check in for my weekend with Bus2Alps. After confirming my attendance, I met up with Sierra, Belinda, and Clara (a few of my friends also on this trip). We waited around for a little bit and then we got to head to the buses. Sierra and I sat next to each other on the ride there. Hannah, our leader put in Inception, which I wasn't going to argue with...falling asleep to Leonardo DiCaprio's voice? Yes please.

The bus ride lasted about 8 hours. Which meant 8 hours in which I did not move from my seat so that I could maximize the sleep I got before the craziness of Oktoberfest. Including all of our rest stops, we ended up arriving in Munich at about 9am. From there, we had to drop off all of the people that were staying in Hostels before arriving at our accommodations. Oh yes, did I mention I was camping? In a teepee? In Munich? Well I did. We got to the Stoke Travel campsite at about 9:30 and we checked in. (For those family members of mine that are reading this and are semi-horrified at the thought of me camping in Germany for an event like Oktoberfest with many other people that I do not know, this campground is catered to college-age students, serves food--that even I would eat--, has fully-functioning bathrooms, and has 24/7 security detail).

Our group with two workers from Stoke Travel, at the campsite.

We were given breakfast when we arrived at the campsite which consisted of scrambled eggs, and bacon, on a hard roll (not Panera-quality breakfast sandwich or anything but it was really good). After breakfast, we got our teepee, teepee 10 (for 8 people)...yep I stayed in a teepee, there is a first time for everything. I did not get a picture of it because I know that my mom would most likely get grossed out that I stayed in something of its condition, regardless, it was fun. Then, the waiting game began. Sierra, one of my friends here at school had a few of her friends that are studying abroad in Europe as well that were staying in our tent so we had to wait for them to arrive from their respective countries. Matt, who Sierra knows, and his roommate Kendall, got the the campsite at about 10:30am and Jaemi and Alyssa, who Sierra also knows, got to the campsite at about 2pm. FINALLY, at 2pm, after they got to the Stokes campsite, we all got ready to head to the festival. I put on my Dirndl and everyone else brought money to purchase one at the train station (that is where all of the cheapest ones are). The Dirndl purchasing process took about an hour and so we did not get to the festival until about 4:00pm.

The amount of people at Oktoberfest is quite unfathomable. I have been to my fair share of county fairs and other large events as such but the Oktoberfest festival could easily be compared to the Superbowl in population. I suppose for Germany that Oktoberfest is the Superbowl so that would make sense. We were all hungry so we headed to find a food truck. We saw two men dressed in matching outfits holding what looked to be a delicious piece of meat so I was all for it. They translated for us (in very broken English) in order to help us order a meal. I got a lightly-breaded piece of veal with onions, ketchup and mustard on a hard roll. If this is what all German street food is like...I'm all about it.

The two guys that helped us to translate our orders were named Christian (left...yeah the guy smoking) and Emanuel (right). We got to talking and they offered to take our group around to various beer tents to try and get into one. (I'm pretty positive they just wanted to get girls to go with them because it would be easier for them to get in with us).

              For those unfamiliar with Oktoberfest, tents open around 9am. Getting into a tent at 9am
              will allow you to stay until 5pm when they clear everyone out and get ready for the
              evening of customers. So, trying to wait in line to get into a beer tent at 5pm guarantees
              you an hour (or more) wait outside of a tent easily, because many people waiting in the
              same line have been there since 3pm. Generally, reservations to get into a tent can be
              made, but that requires a 30 euro down-payment per person not including beer, not
              friendly to my budget. Plus, sneaking in is more fun.

We tried a few different tents and they were packed full. So, finally we arrived at the Hacker-Festzelt beer tent and I got to the front of the crowd in line. The security guard at the front seemed quite annoyed--I mean I don't blame him--so I tried to talk with him and I smiled. Christian and Emmanuel said the best way to get in was to "make beautiful eyes at them", so I smiled and blinked my eyes a few times and we were in....to the beer garden. Beer Gardens are situated outside of the physical tent so while we conquered one hurdle, we had about a ten-foot wall to still climb.

We got in line to get into the beer tent. The line we were in had possibly THE SCARIEST German guard I have ever seen, so behaving was the only option. After about an hour and a half of waiting, every. single. one of us got into the beer tent. We saw that there was no possibility of even getting a table (which is the only way to be served) so we just bought souvenirs and headed back to the campsite.

The Hacker-Festzelt Beer Tent

The following morning, we woke up early determined to get into a beer tent. After arriving to the festival grounds, the lines were absurdly long so we walked around trying to find a place to go. It just so happened that one tent opened its beer garden just as we were walking by, so we darted for a table. Successfully, all of us got to the same table and cheered to a stein at 9:45am.

Once our steins were finished, we decided we wanted a change of scenery so we left the beer garden to try and find another place to go. As we were walking around, Sierra and Jaemi were able to sneak into the exit of another tent and that left 6 of us to find our way. Then, funny enough, we ended up at the Hacker-Festzelt tent again. Matt (my pretend boyfriend so we could get in) and I sweet-talked the guard at the exit...not the mean one, although he was there again...and we got into the tent! Then, after searching for about 45minutes, we got a table and it was perfect. There, I had one more stein, a German pretzel with my table, and I stood, danced, and sang on a bench at Oktoberfest...UNREAL. At 5pm we had to leave, as I said before, and Kendall was cold, so we decided to split off again. Me, Matt, Belinda, and Kendall headed into Munich so she could buy a sweater while Alyssa and Clara stayed behind. We also did some sight-seeing while in Munich and it was gorgeous.

Afterwards, we all needed to relax and agreed that, while Oktoberfest was awesome, we would go back to the campsite. Once we got back, I took a (much needed) 6-minute shower, (could they spare it?), and then relaxed. That night we all hungout at the campsite, had a really good bbq dinner and danced.

Sunday morning, I woke up at 7:30am in order to get to the Dachau Concentration Camp early (I wanted to beat everyone else from the camp that...lets just say, does not have a similar personality to me at all). So, Sierra, Belinda, and I took the bus to the Metro Station and then the train to Dachau. Once we arrived in Dachau, we had to take a bus to the concentration camp. Right off of the bat, I was stunned to find that the camp was literally a 5 minute bus ride from the center of the town. I was infuriated. How the hell did all of the German citizens sit back and allow what was happening to continue? It wasn't like the camp was off in the country somewhere. Neighbors to the camp could definitely see what was going on through the barbed wire fences.

The front gates of Dachau...view from the train station stop

The front gate, "Work Makes You Free"

View from "The Yard" looking towards the barracks

When we first got onto the site, a welcome center had been built where we were able to purchase a remote with different listening options for 2.50 euros. I took my remote and began down the path to the gates of Dachau.

The first thing that shocked me was the fact that the camp had its own train station for the sole purpose of shipping in prisoners. (The picture above is me standing where the train station was). There is something about seeing the front gate of a concentration camp in a history book that is difficult to comprehend, but physically feeling the cold iron rods of the gate, looking through the bars, and imagining the horrible pain that happened there is horrifying.

The silence on the grounds of Dachau allow one to really reflect on what happened there. Most people are familiar with Auschwitz as the most famous concentration camp during the period of the Holocaust, however, Dachau is second to this camp. Used as a work camp, this location also served as the basis for numerous experiments by the heinous doctors of the camp. Experiments such as testing the body's reaction to ice water, malaria, and consumption of purely salt water were among only a few of the terrible experiments performed at the camp.

A few pieces of work done by two inmates who were designers

The museum itself contained stories, film, and artifacts recovered at Dachau from prisoners and other individuals involved with the camp itself. The remote I purchased for the tour also had accounts made by some of the liberators of the camp. One story particularly stuck out to me because the liberator went on to say that she had "never seen a more sad place in her entire life...children didn't smile, there was no laughter". Think about that for a second. A world where children don't smile. Wow.

We went into the barracks and a development of the conditions of the barracks were given from one end of the building to the other. In this way, one could see how the decent living conditions inside of the barracks, (in no way am I saying that there were decent living conditions in a concentration camp), quickly declined over the next years. I then walked from the barracks down the main road to the different monuments that were built to honor the prisoners of the camp, each was quite beautiful.

A few from the Protestant memorial of Dachau looking down the main road towards the yard. This was dedicated to all of the prisoners in 1967.

Following these monuments, it was time for the most intense experience I had in Germany. Known as "Barrack X", I began my walk to the crematorium. Located just outside of the camp, the crematorium immediately made me feel uneasy. I walked into the right door. On the wall, there was a plaque describing what happened in each room. I was standing in the body room. Right where my feet were planted, hundreds and hundreds of Jewish peoples' bodies had been thrown like garbage.

How? How could something like this have happened? We've all wondered it, but being at the camp and seeing everything? There is something about it that is no longer just memorizing dates for class, but everything surrounding you becomes reality, and it hits hard.

I continued to walk through the building and I hit a room which I almost couldn't walk through. "BRAUSEBAD" or "SHOWER". We are all familiar with the "showers" that were presented to prisoners in concentration camps. Taking this panoramic picture (below) was the longest amount of time that I could spend inside of a room that was responsible for the death of thousands and thousands of people. After walking out, there were tears in my eyes and I had to try and focus for the rest of the building.

The Dachau Gas Chamber

I then walked through the oven room. I do not believe that there are any appropriate words to describe the rush of emotions that went through my body in the two minutes that I could physically stand in that room. Frustration, rage, sadness, and remorse only encompass a small amount of what I felt. Experiencing a walk through a concentration camp is something that every single person should do in life.

We drove back to Florence and I arrived to my apartment at 12am (as usual) and got prepped for the week. On Monday I had Italian in the morning and then I went rowing and worked on homework. On Tuesday I had oil painting class where slowly but surely I am progressing on my painting and then in my cooking class we made a pork roast with potatoes and a "grandmother's cake"--which is basically pie crust with a cream filling and pine nuts, super good. Once class was over, I ran to the boathouse to get in a workout. There, I met Bryan, another student from the States that goes to UCLA. That night, Natalie, Krista, Sierra, Nina and Belinda and I went out to Latina night at a local club where we danced a lot.

On the way home, we wanted to find a secret bakery. Secret bakeries in Florence are like unicorns. They are magical and hard to find, but when you find one, everyone else wants to get in on it too. The idea of a secret bakery is that there are people who work the night shift in Florence at these supply buildings for the street bakeries. They stay up all night and bake for the following day. If you find one (through your sense of smell), you have to go to the back door, knock and wait for someone to answer. Then, you pay a euro and he will give you a treat, but you never know what you are going to get. Annnnnnnd, we found one, so I can officially say that I have had my first secret bakery experience (it was really good).

On Wednesday, I had Italian in the morning and then I came back and took a nap and worked on some homework. The weekly drawing tension with Andrea was almost non-existent seeing as he loved my drawing so that felt good. Then on Thursday, I had design class where right outside of our window, there was a ceremony for the police so instead of lecture, we got to watch the ceremony...only in Florence.

As for today, I slept in, went rowing with Bryan, and wrote this blog. It is now 3:30am because of the time it takes for photos and video to load so as soon as I finish this, I am off to bed. This week was very busy but very worth it. Next week is midterms for me so I am spending the weekend in Florence working on all of my school work. Thanks again for reading, I hope you've enjoyed my adventures!

A few more facts about Europeans:

1. They don't smile in pictures. Like ever. They must believe in "smiling with their eyes" (that was a Tyra Banks reference folks)...but I see nothing cheery about those pupils.

2. They also take pictures in front of designer stores. All. The. Time. But they do not go shopping inside of them.

3. I have been asked by 6 different male individuals on separate accounts to take a picture with them because they "need a new profile picture". Keep in mind that I knew none of them. What has our world come to?

4. In Europe, men seeing women lift must be equivalent to an apocalypse because every Tuesday when I hit the weight room the men seem to be in utter disbelief.

5. Even the police officers' uniforms are designer branded.

6. The Italians are surprised with the amount of sass that I have. Many of them do not know how to react...sorry, that's not going to change.

I FOUND A SECRET BAKERY

Bryan and I in a double...the catch here is phenomenal

Almafi was certainly an awesome trip, but it was nice to be back into the swing of things back in Florence. The early part of the week went pretty quickly and the Wednesday following my trip to the Almafi coast, was a quick one.

I had Italian class in the morning, and then I went to row. After rowing, I had to quickly draw a chair using "Cross eetching"(Cross Hatching), as Andrea calls it, before my drawing class. Andrea (a man, pronounced Ahhn-dree-ya), is my drawing professor, imagine the most cliche of Italian artists, (yes skinny jeans, boots, multiple necklaces, chain bracelet, deep-v henley shirt, glasses, and perfectly-moused hair), and he is a very opinionated human being. The first day of class he went through his work experience and how many projects he has been involved in...so you could say that the intimidation factor is pretty high. When we get to class every day, we are presented with something to draw and then while we spend three hours drawing, each person gets an individual critique on his or her homework...only the critique changes from personal to public with the volume of Andrea's voice. Its a little game each class to see how much...how little...he decides needs fixing with my work. This class went especially well though! After only about a minute of changing my work, he seemed pleased. That coupled with the fact that we got to leave the classroom and draw something outside made this my favorite class to date.

My drawing for Andrea's class

Wednesday night was filled with graphic design homework and then some much-needed sleep. Thursday I woke up for graphic design class from 9-2:30pm. Here we had to reconfigure the current logo for LdM (Lorenzo de Medici, my school). After class was over, I was able to go back to the boathouse and row. I came back to the apartment and grabbed a shower and my roommates and I made dinner. That night, Nina, Sierra, Belinda, and my apartment shared some drinks together at our apartment and then we all went out. We got back kind of late so Friday was reserved for sleeping in.

When I woke up on Friday, I watched the new episode of Grey's Anatomy (that is a must) and then I went to the boathouse. After a quality workout, I decided to sit on the lawn and do my Italian homework. There, I ran into Massimo who was just getting to the club to row. He was excited for me because the following day I was traveling to Lake Como (Como, Italy) and St. Moritz, Switzerland. After completing my homework, I went to my apartment and took a shower and a solid nap while a few of my roommates went out to eat. When I woke up, they came back and we started to pack for our weekend trip.

On Saturday, we woke up and left our apartment at 5:30am for the 'Piazza Independencia'...there are so many Piazzas in Florence and sometimes they can be confusing. Needless to say, we got to the buses and were able to put our stuff underneath. This bus trip was possibly the best that I have ever had. Not only did I get the front seat (so no one can decide that putting their seat back while in front of a 5'10" female is acceptable) but no one sat next to me! Its the little things that get me so pumped. It took about 3 hours to get to Como, Italy from Florence. We made one stop at a "Ristop" just outside of Milan and then we got to Como. When we stopped in Como, we had to take a ferry across the lake to get to Bellagio which took about 10 minutes. I was surprised that people do not swim in Lake Como because it looks as if it would be perfect for that, but then I found out that the water comes from the Swiss Alps ice caps melting...so that makes sense.

In Bellagio...Sierra and I

Inside of a gorgeous church in Como

In Bellagio at the popular lookout point

The ten minute ferry ride to Bellagio was gorgeous, as expected, and we were given about 2 hours to explore. My friends and I went to lunch at a cute little ristorante and had a relaxing meal. Afterwards, we decided to try and find the lookout point, which we did, and it was pretty awesome.

Inside the same church

We had to catch the ferry back to the other side of the lake at 4:00pm so that we could take our bus to St. Moritz. The two our bus ride seemed to go pretty quickly, although it was semi-chilly because our bus driver (Bruno--who looks as if he could have worked in the Italian Mafia) had his window broken, and again, I was in the front seat. We crossed over the Switzerland border and about 20 minutes later, we stopped to take pictures of the landscape. I can honestly say that there is no place as gorgeous as the Swiss Alps. The sunset was literally that of a Photoshopped picture.

The crazy-awesome sunset in St. Moritz

When we got to the hotel, we were all settled into our room (I got to room with Sierra), and then got ready for dinner. The hotel made dinner for us which included pasta, tomato salad, turkey, and Swiss chocolate pudding. My group of friends decided to take a walk into St. Moritz-Bad (the town) which was about 30minutes each way, and it was in the 40s temperature-wise. I was LOVING it. When our hour-long search for a bottle of wine was a failure, we walked back to the hotel and got a small stein of beer, sat on the roof of the hotel (that we could get to from Natalie and Krista's room) and looked at the stars.

On Sunday morning we got up for breakfast at 7:45 and got ready for our 3 hour walking tour around St. Moritz. We got to walk around the lake so I will just let the pictures do it justice.

I also got to go into town and buy Swiss Chocolate! It is really good, as you would imagine. At the end of the tour, we met at the train station to take the Bernina Express from St. Moritz, Switzerland to Tarino, Italy in order to cut our driving time by a large portion of time. The three hour train ride went through the Swiss Alps and the views there were totally incredible.

After the train ride, we had an hour of free time to explore Tarino and then we got back onto the bus for our ride back to Florence. This trip was so much more relaxing than many others and the views of Switzerland were absolutely breathtaking. I am so glad that I went.

My Oil Painting thus far...

Monday consisted of Italian class, and rowing. After rowing, I got showered and sketched outside on the lawn of Societa Cannotierri Firenze for a few hours. The rest of the day was very laid back and spent doing more homework and grocery shopping. Tuesday I had class from 9am-5:30pm where I was able to progress further on my oil painting and I learned how to make homemade pasta for our homemade lasagna as well as a delicious Italian dessert. Wednesday I had Italian in the morning and I came back and took a nap and relaxed because I have still been feeling sick. Then I had drawing class where we were working on two-point perspective and I came back and worked on homework and watched Gilmore Girls with my roommates!

This morning, I woke up and went to my design class and then went straight to the boathouse in order to get in a good workout before this weekend. I was also able to contact someone who went to Oktoberfest the past two weekends and bum her Dirndl for the weekend...I am SO EXCITED. It is 8:35pm right now and my bus leaves at 11:30pm. As for now, I need to go pack and get ready for a crazy weekend! Get ready for my Oktoberfest post next week!