Oktoberfest
This week has been a busy one, but an amazing one!
Last weekend, a few friends and I spent the weekend at Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. I was in culture shock the entire trip. It was so incredibly difficult trying to find your way around a city where you do not know the language, but we made it! Oktoberfest was nothing like I expected. Basically, Oktoberfest is a huge fair ground, similar to state fairs in the United States. They had a ton of carnival rides, food stands, and souvenirs shops. The only aspect that set it apart from a state fair was that there were beer tents. I’m not sure why they are referred to as tents, because they are really just these huge buildings that look like dining halls. The buildings have long tables both inside and outside where you can order food and beer. We sat outside, which I thought was really nice. I enjoyed the fresh air, and the heaters kept us warm. Because of the long tables, you have the opportunity to meet a bunch of people from all over the world. Throughout the day, we met people from Italy, Russia, Germany, and Brazil. There was a lot of sign language being used, but it was such an amazing experience to meet all those different people. Also, I learned after we left Oktoberfest that they had a drink which was beer and lemonade mixed. I was not fond of the taste of beer, so I wish I would have known this ahead of time. I would also just like to point out to everyone that I camped in a tent for Oktoberfest, and it really wasn’t all that bad. It was just part of the experience!
Chocolate crepes at Oktoberfest
Katy Perry concert!
After sleeping all day Sunday, my friend, Caroline, and I decided that we were willing to tough the elements in order to see the Katy Perry concert. In London, Apple puts on an iTunes Festival, where they bring in popular singers every night for a month for free. People who live in London put their name in the lottery, and then people are awarded tickets to the shows. Since Caroline and I are not residents, we could not apply to the lottery. Luckily, the concerts have a stand-by line. We arrived 6 1/2 hours before the show, brought food with us to eat in line, and suffered through the cold. Security let 14 people into the show, and I am proud to say that I was one of the 14! The concert was totally worth every second of the wait, and I would do anything to see another Katy Perry concert. My only regret is that we didn’t hang around to meet her.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Globe
On Wednesday night, my Shakespearean Literature class went to see “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which is my favorite of Shakespeare’s plays. Even though our seats had restricted view, I was so happy to be able to see this play at the Globe. All of the actors and actresses were extremely talented and knew how to make the audience laugh. I do not think you can fully appreciate the comedic aspects of that play until you see it performed. Also, the director did a great job of adding some modern aspects to the play, while still keeping the majority of the traditional Elizabethan values.
Yesterday, we went to the British Museum, which is very similar to the Natural History Museum in NYC. The museum was broken down into time frames and locations. I wish we would’ve had more time to walk around, but we had to be back for a lecture, so we just did the highlights tour to make sure we saw the important elements. We got to see Hammurabi’s Code, the Easter Island Statue, the Rosetta Stone, and some statues from the Parthenon.
British Museum
Finally, this week, we have stumbled upon a cheap and delicious sandwich shop, an amazing Mexican Restaurant, and a upscale sushi restaurant. We also went to breakfast at the Muffin Man, who does not live on Drury Lane.
PS: The pumpkin spice latte finally made it to London!
pattersonanna 