UofC Engineering has an annual "Mechtoberfest" modelled off of this real festival devoted entirely to drinking beer. Here I drank the best beer I have had to date, sang German drinking songs, wanted to wear a dirndl, and I also got to visit a beautiful city that I did not spend nearly enough time in.
A bit from an email to my mom:
****Hi mom,
My trip was fantastic! Oktoberfest is just like the Stampede. There are alot of people and there are rides and games, maybe no shows though. The only difference is that everyone is wearing traditional German clothing and there is alot more beer. And everything is in German. The beer they served at the festival was sooooo good. There was a brand that I liked alot called Augustiner, but they do not export outside of Germany! Also, the beer at the festival only is specially brewed to 6 or 7 percent alcohol, so it is a lot stronger than normal beer. They only serve beer in 1 litre sized mugs, which is alot! So I had to share with another friend the entire weekend because I can't drink alot of beer. I ended up drinking 5 litres of beer over then entire weekend. Hahaha. Also, Munich is a beautiful city that I would like to see again!****
I spent most of my time there with my Olivia, so what she has written is pretty much exactly what I did as well, check it out: http://wennichnurmehrdeutschgesprochen.blogspot.com/2009/10/oktoberfest.html
Another Oktoberfest experience by Steve: http://steveseuroadventure.blogspot.com/2009/10/munchen-is-batcave.html
2) Leibstadt, Switzerland with IAESTE and Europapark in Rust, Germany
I got a chance to visit Switzerland's largest nuclear power plant with IAESTE this Saturday. Woke up early and caught a train north to the town of Leibstadt, close to the German border. Here we watched "Power On", an unintentionally funny presentation on the plant, visited inside the massive cooling tower, and toured an exhibit on nuclear power. I especially enjoyed being inside the cooling tower where it was 40 degees Celsius and 100% humidity inside. My clothes were instantly drenched and of course my glasses (not smart for wearing those) fogged up. It was really neat to recall all my education on nuclear physics again and see it put to work in real life!
I quickly went home after this morning visit to prepare for a Canadian Thanksgiving dinner that night with all the interns plus a few others. I brought over some mashed sweet potatoes that night and devoured one of the most delicious Thanksgiving meals I have ever had! Two hams, three chickens, mashed sweet/regular potatoes, five pies, veggies, casseroles, I was stuffed to the max. Haha turkey did not make that list since neither Switzerland or Germany seem to sell the bird whole.
The next day I took an early train to visit Europapark for the day. It is Europe's largest amusement park. Haha as if I didn't get enough of rides and fair food the previous week at Oktoberfest. This park is set up so that you can visit "countries" of Europe, so there are sections of England, Spain, Iceland, etc. The best ride by far was the Silver Star, a mega roller coaster that I rode over about six times. Stopped for lunch in Greece, had some fish and chips in England, ate some mini donuts too. The park was also themed for Halloween so there were witches and cobwebs hanging everywhere, and THOUSANDS of pumpkins littering the streets. I managed to scream my way through a haunted house. Left the park at closing, with a pumpkin in my backpack ready to be carved in time for Halloween.
3) Kandersteg, Switzerland
Chillin in Baden is the best still! I still enjoy spending my weekends here, relaxing and exploring around town.
From an email:
****last weekend i went to zurich to go shop around for ski rentals with three friends, but i ended up just doing regular shopping. i bought a jacket here, it is so cold! the humidity makes 5 degrees feel more like -10. On sunday i went to a church in Baden which i might consider attending regularly when i am in town. it is in both english and german. the pastor delivered the sermon in english, and there is someone translating in swiss german. the songs we sang were in both english and german. i met a guy in my german class who said he went to church, so i asked him about it and went with him last week. after church, myself and a few friends went for a short hike in Kanderstag. it was beautiful to see the fall colors in the trees, and also some snow since it is very chilly now! i wore 2 hats. ****
4) Wellness Weekend with IAESTE in Brunnen, Switzerland
I don't know what I was thinking, signing up for this trip. I think I was lured by the spa and forgot to factor in an all night hike which means not sleeping. Hahaha this was definitely a one-of-a-kind experience. We left late Friday night at 10pm and met the entire hike group in Brunnen. I tried Gluweine for the first time, it is a warm drink made of wine, spices, and sugar and just what you need before you trek into the darkness, second-guessing why you are climbing up 1000m at four in the morning. And so we left by the light of our headlamps, and all I can say is that it was uphill for FOREVER, and fantastic with the rain, and eventually snow as we got higher. We had frequent stops though for rest near a fire, tea and soup and snacks. It was worth it though to see the sunrise at the top of the mountain, simply gorgeous! We finally made it to the top, and then......you remember that you have to go down. And be awake for a second full day.
Haha, at 11 am (yeah that was an 11pm to 11am hike) we arrived at the Swiss Holiday park where we spent the next four to five hours soaking in warm hot tubs and saunas, special thermal baths, and getting a very nice soap and brush massage. It is the only spa I have been to but boy, it was nice! There was even a bowl of apples for grabs, and a NAP ROOM!!! I took a glorious one hour nap to soft jazz and pleasant scents in the air. We wrapped up the trip with a nice Italian dinner and then I went home to sleep the next 13 hours away.
On Sunday, I enjoyed a nice eggs benedict breakfast with the Dave and Bruce, and just relaxed all afternoon doing crafts and origami with the Berg girls and Chris. I made may over to Mellingerstrasse as well for a nice Swiss meal of raclette (pretty much melting cheese on anything possible).
5) Baden, Switzerland
Watched the movie "Desperado" with Antonio Banderas on Friday night. What a terrible movie. It is one of those awful movies that are so funny because they are so bad. Saturday I spent a very relaxing day shopping in Zurich with Bruce, Dave, and Olivia. We all needed something and had a great day just walking around town, enjoying the weather. We had some roasted chestnuts which are so warm and tasty and sweet and delicious! There are these booths set up all over around the wintertime that sell these snacks. On Sunday, the entire country shuts down and I enjoyed the day doing some chores and relaxing. I went for a beautiful walk in the forest near my house. The trees tower above with pretty fall colors. We are thinking of doing some time capsules and burying them in this forest so we can come back maybe 20 years from now to dig them up and bring the group together again.
No comments:
Post a Comment