Munich, Part 2 - Oktoberfest!!

Well here it is, the highly anticipated, long awaited Oktoberfest blog. I guess that's probably not true, but I hope I can at least come close to describe what an amazing experience it was. It sounds odd to say, but I really think it was one of the funnest days I've ever had. Everything about it was amazing. Where to start...

Don't laugh at me too hard: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/bbergey/Oktoberfest#

And a bonus...2 Videos! Pleeeaasseeee don't laugh at me: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=r01zbf4kgM8 and http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=9eVEKicvovU

I guess the best place to start is when we woke up around 8am. We had been told by numerous people that in order to get a seat in a tent, you had to get there early. Without a seat, you won't get served. So we got up, got dressed in our festive German garb, and arrived at Oktoberfest by train at around 9am. The festival grounds itself was huge and we were struck with our first big decision...what beer tent to choose. The fairgrounds has over a dozen tents. When I say tents, I don't mean actual tents. These are huge buildings that hold thousands of people each. We ended up just going inside the first one we came to, which was sponsored by Paulaner (beer), and easily found a seat amongst hundreds of people that were already there. To our surprise, the beer and pretzel ladies were already walking around taking orders! So we each ordered a beer and a pretzel and got started.

The tent itself was green and white and had a raised stage in the middle for a band. All tents serve huge steins for beer that hold over 1 liter of the golden liquid, along with a huge array of traditional German food. The tent was filled with tables and benches, most of which were reserved for large parties that reserved them months and months in advance.

Within an hour or so, the place was pretty much packed. By this time we were joined by Gerald, a fellow American currently serving with the National Guard in Afghanistan. He was on a two week holiday and decided to come to Oktoberfest for part of his break. We talked for quite a while about what it's like in Afghanistan and also American politics. Not having any alcohol for the last few months, he was completely passed out on the table within a couple hours and left the tent in the very early afternoon. Our table continually cycled through people, but the 3 of us stayed put for the most part of the day. We met a couple Serbians, a group of 3 Americans on a business trip, and countless other people celebrating at the largest party in the world.

Throughout the day, Hayley and I took bathroom breaks where we would go use the toilet and then leave the tent and explore. We briefly visited a couple other tents, just long enough to see what they were like. The weather on Sunday was beautiful and sunny yet we barely saw any of it sitting in the tent all day.

Around midday, a number of marching bands marched through the tent playing music and dancing along the way. A few of them even had reserved some tables in the tent and one of the bands sat in a set of tables directly next to ours. Around this time, the tent's band also showed up and began playing traditional German music that went on all day. Many of the songs played would cause everyone to suddenly stand on the benches and tables to dance and sing along. I did learn (or at least pretend to learn) the words to one song, which was pretty much played in between every song all day long. It was stuck in my head for days after the festival.

As the day wore on and evening approached, the tent was getting louder and louder. People were constantly dancing and singing along with the music and everyone was making friends with everyone around them. The atmosphere was incredible and I don't know that I've ever experience anything like it. It was also amazing how nice, orderly and safe everything was. I never felt like I had to be careful about anything and our packs were left unattended often. Eventually, Hayley and I started chatting with members of the band on the next table and the next thing we knew, we were playing their instruments, wearing their hats and talking to the entire band. They were all high school age, but since the drinking age is 16 everyone was having a great time.

As the night continued, Hayley and I soon realized that Fran was missing! We had noticed that we hadn't seen her for a while, but we figured she was at a nearby table making friends as she had been all day. At one point I put her wallet that was sitting on our table in my pocket so it wouldn't get left behind, but her cell phone and camera were still on the table and we knew she wouldn't leave them. A while later, after there was no sign of her, the tent was slowly starting to clear out and Hayley and I knew it was time for us to leave. We grabbed our backpacks, walked around the tent a couple times to make sure Fran was no where to be seen, and finally left. Neither of us really knew what to do about her, nor were we in any state to really do anything responsible, but we did know that we could trust her to sort herself out if we got separated. After all, she did grow up in Germany!

Hayley and I decided to go to another tent since others still seemed to be open. Upon entering, we were stopped and asked to open our bags. We both slightly panicked because we had taken a beer stein from the prior tent, something that everyone tries to do but few people get away with. However, once I got my pack off and started to open it, the man waved us through! So in we went. The atmosphere at this tent was much different. The music was more mainstream and everyone was standing up dancing and singing along like crazy. And I mean everyone. Young, old, it didn't matter. We orderd another beer and joined right in, singing along with everyone else around.

Eventually we either decided to leave or the tent started to close, we're not really sure which. On our way out of the fairgrounds we ordered some bratwurst and I got some ice cream. We then managed to make our way to the train station, got on the correct train, then on the right bus, and back to the campground. Fran was still no where to be seen, and not knowing what to do about that we immediatley passed out for the night. Everthing ended up being OK with Fran. She ended up leaving the tent by accident, got a little lost and scared, and talked to a policewoman. They took care of her from there and they ended up giving her a ride to her friend's house for the night. What a mess!

Overall, the day was obviously a success. We're not really sure how many beers we had, but my best guess is around 7-8. So that's 7-8 liters of beer. That's a lot without drinking anything else, even water. We came away with 2 steins and 1 with a broken handle. I had 2 giant pretzels, a giant piece of pork with potatoes, a bratwurst, and some ice cream during the day. I also had a tired voice the next day from all the singing, and a ton of fun looking at pics which worked as entertainment and a way to put my memory back together.

I want to go back. Every year. It was just a complete blast!