Two Trips In One Weekend
This weekend, I ventured to two places. Friday and Saturday I traveled with a small group of JKU'ers to Oktoberfest and on Sunday I traveled with a medium sized group to Mauthausen-Gusen Concentration Camp. Both were interesting in their own rights, some not in a positive way.
First up, Oktoberfest. I'm going to start off with saying that Oktoberfest was a very big letdown. It was more like "Kings Island with more beer" than a national tradition. I also want to mention that I didn't bring my camera for fear of it being broken, so no photos are available for Oktoberfest.
Ok, so Oktoberfest. A little background before I get started with my journey.
Oktoberfest is the largest far in the world and has been held annually in Munich, Germany since 1810. It runs for 18 days from late September to early October. It draws in nearly 10 million people a year and brings them together for almost three weeks of drinking, merrymaking, and socializing.
My trip there was not quite like how Oktoberfest was described above, it was actually quite the opposite. Before we arrived in Munich, we knew that in order to be served beer, you had to be sitting at a table. This seemed relatively straightforward and simple at the time. When we got to the fairgrounds, we discovered a situation that was mired in problems. Imagine Kings Island on opening day, then double that. That is how many people were at the fairgrounds when we arrived a little after 12 PM. It still seemed within reason that we could get a table and start drinking beers in the early afternoon because, hey, it's 7 PM somewhere in the world.
We went from tent to tent looking for any possible openings that we could snatch up. Alas, nothing was free. If it wasn't filled up it was by reservation only. On top of this, waiting times to get into the tents were absurd. The second or third tent we went to had a waiting time of two hours! Suffice it to say, as quickly as we had entered Oktoberfest, we walked just as quickly out. The group sauntered on over to a "Bier Garden" that one of our members had passed by a few weeks before. We arrived at the garden as rejects of Oktoberfest. There were fellow people that had unsuccessfully tried to get into a tent also here.
This was where my day really ground to halt. I didn't feel like drinking beer with my food, so I spent the entire duration of three hours Facebooking. This really didn't help speed up time, so this was probably the low point of my day. I was quite glad when the group decided it was time to leave.
The majority of the group decided to take one last gander at the fairgrounds, as they would be going back tomorrow in hopes of getting a table, while myself and another UC student went back to Linz.
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First up, Oktoberfest. I'm going to start off with saying that Oktoberfest was a very big letdown. It was more like "Kings Island with more beer" than a national tradition. I also want to mention that I didn't bring my camera for fear of it being broken, so no photos are available for Oktoberfest.
Ok, so Oktoberfest. A little background before I get started with my journey.
Oktoberfest is the largest far in the world and has been held annually in Munich, Germany since 1810. It runs for 18 days from late September to early October. It draws in nearly 10 million people a year and brings them together for almost three weeks of drinking, merrymaking, and socializing.
My trip there was not quite like how Oktoberfest was described above, it was actually quite the opposite. Before we arrived in Munich, we knew that in order to be served beer, you had to be sitting at a table. This seemed relatively straightforward and simple at the time. When we got to the fairgrounds, we discovered a situation that was mired in problems. Imagine Kings Island on opening day, then double that. That is how many people were at the fairgrounds when we arrived a little after 12 PM. It still seemed within reason that we could get a table and start drinking beers in the early afternoon because, hey, it's 7 PM somewhere in the world.
We went from tent to tent looking for any possible openings that we could snatch up. Alas, nothing was free. If it wasn't filled up it was by reservation only. On top of this, waiting times to get into the tents were absurd. The second or third tent we went to had a waiting time of two hours! Suffice it to say, as quickly as we had entered Oktoberfest, we walked just as quickly out. The group sauntered on over to a "Bier Garden" that one of our members had passed by a few weeks before. We arrived at the garden as rejects of Oktoberfest. There were fellow people that had unsuccessfully tried to get into a tent also here.
This was where my day really ground to halt. I didn't feel like drinking beer with my food, so I spent the entire duration of three hours Facebooking. This really didn't help speed up time, so this was probably the low point of my day. I was quite glad when the group decided it was time to leave.
The majority of the group decided to take one last gander at the fairgrounds, as they would be going back tomorrow in hopes of getting a table, while myself and another UC student went back to Linz.
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Mauthausen
Now onto Mauthausen. It was and wasn't what I expected from a concentration camp. That doesn't make much sense now, but I will explain it as I continue. To properly explain why the camp wasn't what I expected, here is a photo from within the camp.
My main complaint is that the camp has been modernized. Now, while this is very convenient for tourists, it also takes away from some of the history and historical accuracy of the place. That's really my only frustration about this camp.
Onto the tour. Unlike the tour guide in Hallstatt, our tour guide here was perfect. She was very loud and I heard everything that she said. We started off in a relatively modern addition to the camp. We were gathered around a miniature replica of the camp and were walked through where we would be going through on our tour today.
We departed from the replica room and trotted out onto the fields surrounding the camp. Our guide stopped the group in the middle of a field and started to explain to us why the camp was so high up in the hills compared tot he rest of the city. Essentially, it was a mixture of line of sight advantages, scenic views, and status symbol.
Onto the tour. Unlike the tour guide in Hallstatt, our tour guide here was perfect. She was very loud and I heard everything that she said. We started off in a relatively modern addition to the camp. We were gathered around a miniature replica of the camp and were walked through where we would be going through on our tour today.
We departed from the replica room and trotted out onto the fields surrounding the camp. Our guide stopped the group in the middle of a field and started to explain to us why the camp was so high up in the hills compared tot he rest of the city. Essentially, it was a mixture of line of sight advantages, scenic views, and status symbol.
After this Q&A session, we moved into the camp itself. Our first stop on this tour was essentially a building where nothing but work occurred. There were a few furnaces that were used for burning wood and misc. objects. There was also a memorial room for family members that had been lost to the camp.
The group shuffled on over to our next stop, the gas chambers. They were not at all how I pictured them to look like. I imagined a small room above ground with no openings except for the door. What it turned out to be was a well lit underground bunker-esque room that was about the size of a classroom at UC. This obviously doesn't make it any worse, I just imagined something different.
After exploring the gas chamber for a little bit, our guide had us walk outside of the camp and towards the quarry that Mauthausen was infamous for. It was a site to say the least. The actual work site had been restored with the generous application of trees throughout the quarry. It was still noticeable however, because of just how enormous the site was, it was easily a 150 foot drop if you walked off of the viewing platform. The guide showed us a few pictures that basically showed how the Nazi's portrayed the camp; organized and efficient. She then showed us an artist's rendering of the quarry from the view of a survivor, it was very different from the Nazi approved depiction. This version had watchtowers in all directions, workers scrambling around to avoid the SS guards who were constantly on the lookout for the slightest mistake to beat a prisoner to death.
Our next, and final stop was the soccer field located right next to the political prisoner portion of the camp. The political prisoners in question were usually Soviets or Americans. The soccer field was located right next to this camp, which made it horrific because viewers of soccer games also had a viewing of the starving and dying prisoners within the camp, and yet they did nothing to help.
On that note, this News Capsule is complete.
On that note, this News Capsule is complete.