Oktoberfest!

Finally, one of the trips I have been looking forward to the most happened...OKTOBERFEST!!! 

Oktoberfest is something that should be on everyones bucket list! It is indescribable! 

Our journey began on 11pm Friday night. Yes, we decided months ago that taking a bus for a one day trip to Oktoberfest was a good idea, do I regret it...slightly. It was about a 9 hour bus ride of pretty much misery because it was so uncomfortable to sleep on but regardless its all part of the experience! We stopped twice for bathroom and food breaks and reached Munich and were off the bus around 9am.  Although we had barely gotten any sleep, adrenalin kicked in as we approached the "Welcome to Oktoberfest" arc. We immediately entered one of the beer tents and got sat pretty quickly at a table (you can only order drinks if you're sitting at a table). On our way over to the table Taylor and I got grabbed into a huge man who was at least 45 years old and were brought into a chant of OLE OLE OLE OLEEE OLE OLE!! This was our first taste of what the day was about to be like. We got sat next to Americans from University of Syracuse who happened to have been on our bus ride. We ordered our first pints of the day and began to participate in the madness of Oktoberfest! Everyone was chanting and singing it was like the crowd at a sports event! IT WAS AWESOME!! After we finished our first pint we decided to make attempts to get inside the tent. The line was taking forever but we met a bunch of cool people for all different places and finally ended up just giving up on getting inside and went to try and get another outdoor table. We soon found one and were back to another pint and making our first Oktoberfest food purchase of a giant pretzel! We also got placed near Americans again who were from Fairfield University. I shared some mutual friends with them and hung out there for a while. I also met a few italians who attempted to teach us some words and got me and one of the guys I met from Fairfield into a contest of whose eyes were prettier. We decided to then venture off to find another tent. That only lead us to a bathroom break and getting roped into the Oktoberfest rides that are about 8.50 Euro each! I also found chocolate covered strawberries so I needed to get those. The rides were so much fun! But I don't understand how rides and drinking go together at all....Soon it was another typical Tay and Mic moment as we got lost from everyone we were with and ventured off alone. As we walked around we got food. I somehow talked a food vendor into a food deal to give me a vegetarian mac and cheese for 3.50 Euros which was half the price of the meat one and also not even an option on the menu. The Germans looked at me like I was crazy for not wanting meat because EVERYTHING there had meat. Taylor and I decided to try and get ourselves back in a tent area. By this time the lines were obnoxious to enter a tent without a ticket and not even an option to get inside without a ticket, which we did not have. Getting into another tent seemed like it was deemed for failure until fate was on our side and we saw a guy selling his bracelet to these two other guys so we ran over to get some of our own. Unfortunately he only had one bracelet left so Taylor and I couldn't get it but the guys he had sold it to told us to just try and sneak in with them since they had bracelets. We went around to the back and tried to casually sneak in past a security guard but got pushed back. Then yet another miracle occurred as this guy walked up and pretended to be our dad and also paid the security guard off to let us in!! People in Europe are awesome!!! So we had finally made it in to the heart and best of Oktoberfest, inside the tent!! There was a live band playing a mix of American songs and Germany and 20 more times as crazy as it was outside! The guys we had originally met bought us a pint to split...once again what is life and why is everyone here awesome?!? We found out the two guys were from LA and were like 33...they asked Taylor and I if we were born in the 90s and said "oh those were some good times." We made fun of them back asking them if the old music playing which was the Beatles at the time brought back childhood memories. We pretty much hung out with them for the rest of the time in the tent as we dance, sang, and pinched peoples butts and try and play it off like it was someone else. At one point we separated away and joined another crowed and once again ended up running into Americans that were our age and hanging out with them. Until Mr. 30 LA came back to us and by then we decided to spend the last few hours of Oktoberfest with them. With about an hour left till we had to get on the bus Taylor decided to venture off to find a water. I stayed with our new friends until after a while realizing that Taylor was still not back. After texting her off my italian phone I ended up finding her with her new Australian friends. By then it was really time to leave, even though we contemplated several times staying and finding our own way home the next day. We said goodbye to our new friends and headed back to the bus. We decided that we for sure should have stayed the weekend and that Oktoberfest will be in our future again! The bus ride home was miserable...probably the most miserable for me....we got back on Sunday morning about 9am and slept for pretty much the rest of the day.

Oktoberfest is one of those things you need to attend to truly understand its glory. For me it was one of the best most memorable experiences I have ever had! I understand why people make it tradition to go every year because that is my new goal (maybe when I graduate college anyways)! EVERYONE needs to experience Oktoberfest!!! 

Ciao....or should I say Auf Wiedersehen!!!! 

J'adore Paris!!

Well once again its been like 5 billion days since i've posted anything..thank you horrible wifi!
Last week I went to PARIS!! It was my second time traveling there but it never ceases to be the most magical place in the whole world! I also realized that my blog is more like a story book because I write way too much haha enjoy!

Day One:
We arrived in Paris about 9pm Tuesday night and were shuttled from the airport to the hostel we would be staying at "St.Christopher Inn." The Christopher Inn was crazy!! Upon our immediate arrival we were greeted by two college aged British guys screaming welcome, drinking beers, and going on crazy tangents. It was probably one of the best greetings I have ever received! The hostel was completely full of backpackers and whatnot all who were around the college age. The hostel also doubled as a bar/club and just happened to be full of some very beautiful people also there was finally a normal girl to guy ratio! We had to check in to our room so we could put all our stuff down. Room keys were distributed and we headed upstairs. The upstairs smelled like straight sewage...gotta love hostels! And conveniently when we swiped into our room it was already completely full to capacity. So we waited and waited and asked and asked trying to get someone to help us figure out why our room was full. Finally after an hour and a half later we got a new room. By this point it was around 11 and we were all starving! We walked down the street looking for anything that was open and came across a sandwich place and smashed...big subs and french fries...5 minutes flat the meals were downed and not a single crumb was spared. Then it was back to the hostel and to sleep so we could try and get in some sleep before our 7:30 wake up call.

Day Two:
Exhausted we pried ourselves out of bed to go get the free continental breakfast. Breakfast was an assembly line of everyone staying at the hostel and consisted of huge buckets of cereal, baguettes, jams, jellys, and butters. Our broke college student instincts told us we should probably try and stuff as many baguettes and jelly packs in our bags so we could have food for later. After breakfast it was time to try out the metro for the first time to get to our first activity of the day...the boat tour of Paris on the Seine! The metro was a lot like the nyc subway system and easy to navigate, we were also accompanied by two of our teachers which made life that much easier. We all freaked out as we got off the metro and could see the Eiffel Tower!! On the boat ride we immediately all started taking selfies with the Eiffel Tower and insulting the French culture by adding baguettes into those pictures. On the river tour we passed many of the main landmarks of Paris like Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower, the museum of Modern Art in Paris, the love lock bridge...etc etc. When the tour was over it was off the boat and back on the metro to head over to our guided tour of the fashion and textiles portion of the Louvre.

When we got the the Louvre we split up into two groups. One would go into the museum first the other would get free time. I had free time first with all my roomates. We followed one of our teachers Barbra as she showed us a few cool places and an awesome concept store called Collette. We all wondered around there...Taylor and I testing all the sample hair products out...until we realized we didn't have much time left before the museum tour. We ran into a Starbucks and knew it was necessary to stop. We snacked on our baguettes (Brilliant idea!!) and all got a drink at Starbucks. Then we headed over to the museum. The museum was one of the coolest exhibits I have ever been to! Our tour guide was so enthusiastic, interactive and passionate about everything she showed us! The whole exhibit was corsets through the years and undergarments for both men, women, and children. It was insane how small the waist of a women used to be and how horrible the corsets must have been! At one point of the museum tour I got to try on a mock corset basket which made your skirt round and out (I am horribly describing this). It was sweet but the tour guide had my try to "sit like a lady" in it and that was a complete fail. After the museum we were given the rest of the day as free time. We used our free time to explore, eat crepes, shop and visit Notre Dame...all while it was raining!

We went back to the hotel to get ready and head back out to go climb the Eiffel Tower. We were exhausted but I have been waiting to get a redemption climb of the Eiffel Tower since I was 16. By that I mean when I was 16 I bought a ticket to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower but didn't have enough time climb to the top level. The Eiffel Tower at night is the most beautiful and magical sight in the world! Every hour they do a light show where lights flicker on and off, up and down, and sparkle on the tower. There was a lot of freaking out, screaming, running, yelling, and excessive amount of pictures before we even went up to buy our tickets to the top. We took a sideways elevator up the tower and stopped at each of the three levels. Each one was more beautiful than the next and the view was incredible. I think that if you are going to climb the Eiffel Tower you have to do it at night! The feeling is unreal! When we reached the top it was freezing but we were in awe! I felt on top of the world! We headed back down the tower to take more pictures and to catch the metro before it shutdown for the night. We were so exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel that we went straight to bed without stopping for dinner.

Day Three:
It was another early morning wake up call, breakfast of baguettes (and some to go), and we were off again to the metro station. Today we were headed to Premiere Vision the world's leading fabric fair in Paris. At Premiere Vision they show future trends, colors, and concepts in fabric. Premiere Vision was amazing!! It was huge! It literally is like its own mini city of Fashion and Fabrics...Dr. Mcleod would be in heaven! Taylor and I walked around and like 5 year olds got bags of candy that got weighted after you filled them...Taylor spent 10 Euros on gummy candies. The food around the whole building was crazy expensive! Although it was fabulous there was not much to do if you weren't a business person purchasing fabrics or making serious reports so we were in there for one two many hours and Taylor and I may or may not have fallen asleep on some chairs for a few minutes...or so...Our next destination was free time to grab lunch that wasn't 5 billion dollars. We came across a cute little restaurant and got amazing spinach quiche! Then we went to the most boring presentation ever...I apologize I feel awful for saying this but I couldn't stay awake. It was a draping demonstration along with the story of a famous draping designer. The room was small, hot and stuffy and the women spoke only french so it was double the time because she would speak and then a translator would interpret. While its great knowing the construction behind amazing couture draping, it was really a design major driven lecture. Finally when we got to leave the torture chamber we went to the Luxembourg Gardens. The Luxembourg Gardens were beautiful!! We walked around until hunger got the best of us and we decided to go get CHIPOTLE IN PARIS!!! YESSS!!!!!!! Chipotle was ridiculously expensive in Paris as my meal came to a grand total of 15 Euros..but it was worth every single penny. Chipotle had been missing from my soul! Also typical American move going to find Chipotle when there is so much good authentic Parisian food around. We went back to the hotel and started to get ready to go out again when I realized just how tired I was. I am not one to turn down going out but I was so tired that my eyes were blood shot so I chose to stay in and catch up on some sleep.

Day Four:
I don't even have to explain the morning read previous day posts haha. Today we started off the day by taking a visit to Trend Union. Trend Union was AWESOME!! Trend Union is a fashion foresting company ran by one of the most influential women in the world Lidewij Edelkoort. Here we learned about the trend forecast for Spring/Summer 14-15. We watched presentations of the trends that were incredible! We were only at Trend Union for a few hours and then our group was split up into design and merchandising majors. The merchandising majors were all sent off to go to Centre Pompidou while the design majors went to Musee Branly. We had free time before Centre Pompidou but we all were supposed to head over to the area for the free time. As we made our way there my train ticket got demagnetized and wouldn't open the turnstile. Luckily Amanda's did too so us and two other girls (Cassie and Brittany) who waited for us got separated from the group and watched everyone get on the train. Amanda and Cassie already had intentions of separating so they could get lunch and macaroons in a separate area but I had planned on being with the group. Since I didn't want to get lost any further I stuck with Amanda and Cassie and ended up having a delicious Parisian lunch of french onion soup and trying a macaroon for the first time! We met up with the group in time for Centre Pompidou. Centre Pompidou is a modern art museum. I am in love with modern art! I love how it free it is and interactive. Taylor and I ran around the museum overwhelmed by how cool everything was! I dropped my scarf in the museum and a guy picked it up and I quickly decided I was Blair Waldorf and he was my Prince Louis. The story ended tragically when we decided to leave and go off to explore more of Paris. Taylor, Olivia, and I decided to separate from Amanda and a few other girls and go shop, check out the love lock bridge and the Louvre. We ended up on a road with all these awesome vintage stores. There was one vintage store where you weighed the clothes for the price. I got the best vest in the world for 2.50 Euro there. At the love lock bridge I made a lock for my love at the museum...you think I am lying but I did hahha just so I could participate. The love lock bridge is probably the best way to feel painful single but so cute at the same time. Olivia and I acted like idiots on the bridge while Taylor actually did a litigate lock for her bf. We then headed over to the Louvre for the soul purpose of only seeing the Mona Lisa. Exhausted again it was time to head back to the hostel. At the hostel we got ready to go out. It was two girls on the trips birthdays so we went out to a nice Parisian restaurant. The waiter was beautiful and we ended up inviting him to go out with us after he got off work. Unfortunately the night ended up a mess because the metro closes at around 12 so we ended up walking forever to get to the bar area. We ended up eating crepes, going to one "bar" where the drinks were 10 Euros each, and not being able to figure out where to meet the waiter. Then we had the impossible task of trying to get a taxi home at the busiest time of night! After searching for a taxi for well over an hour we finally made it make to the hostel and passed out.

Day Five:
The last day was a complete free day until 4 when we needed to leave for our flight to Florence. Olivia, Taylor, Kate, and I decided to spend the day at the Palace of Versailles. Versailles was incredible! It is unreal how King Louis XIV lived in such a lavish palace. We explored the gardens of Versailles as well which went on for miles and miles. You could spend a full day exploring the Palace and the gardens it was so enormous! We walked around the gardens eating sandwiches until once again it was time to head back on the train to the hostel. After that was your basic get on the plane and go home except side note I had THE BEST salad ever in the airport.

I spent the whole next day sleeping and recovering from a sleepless week in Paris. Needless to say Paris is one of the best cities I have ever been to. I am in love and will definitely be back there one day! EVERYONE GO TO PARIS!!!!!!

Ciao and stay posted this weekend is OCTOBERFEST!!!