To celebrate Dan's birthday, which was Friday, he, Nate, and I decided to take a bus up to Munich on Saturday for Oktoberfest. None of us had ever been before; nor did any of us have a clue of what to expect. But the whole trip was nothing short of phenomenal.
This was the final weekend of the three-week festival, which is basically a big fair with lots and lots of beer. We arrived around 9:30 AM, and everything was already packed. We went to a few different tents looking for tables, and even tried bribing waitresses, but had no luck at all.
After walking around, we stood outside the Hofbrau Tent, and apparently looked pathetic enough for a waitress to have mercy on us and invite us into the outdoor area. It was sunny and in the mid-60s, so that suited us just fine. I was thrilled because, in my opinion, the Hofbrau Tent is the best one to get into. For the rest of the day, the cycle was "Beer. Pretzel. Repeat."
We sat down and began talking to the people around us, who came from everywhere from Switzerland to Canada. And in the early afternoon, we were joined by Deana, Stan, Aaron, and Steven, who'd been there since Thursday.
Nathan and Andre, two of Dan's friends stationed at Ramstein also found room at our table. It's amazing how easy it is to get to know people when you're beered up.
By mid-afternoon, we were joined by Kristy (who swears she knows me, but I don't know from where) and her friends Star and Spencer. Needless to say, our table was getting pretty packed, but we didn't care. Everyone was standing up, eager to get more people in.
The key was to get a nice buzz in the morning, and then keep a steady pace for the rest of the day, just enough to keep it going. It was loud and we were all laughing so much, I was hoarse by 6 PM, but that just meant the cold beer felt even better going down.
The atmosphere was one of pure fun. There was a lot of security, but nobody really seemed like the type to pick a fight or anything. Everyone was just there to have a good time and meet people from all over the world.
A day of drinking out in the sun can be pretty exhausting, and the tents stop serving at 10 PM; so things were starting to die down as it got later. It didn't bother us because our bus was leaving for Italy at 9:30, and we made it just in time.
The full photostream can be seen here. Just be warned: whenever I'd take a picture of people, I'd always say, "Okay, now, make out." before snapping another one real quick. Sometimes it worked; usually it didn't.
So, yeah, even though we only spent one day there, I was pretty impressed with Oktoberfest. It was exactly what I needed to take my mind of the last two very stressful weeks at work. I wish we could have walked around the grounds a little more, and maybe even spent some time in Munich; but the good news is that next year is the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest. I've already got solid confirmations from several people who want to come, and we're looking at hotel rooms, or possibly renting an apartment. If you're gonna be around next year, let me know. Because as we saw yesterday, the more, the merrier. Indeed.
1 comment:
hefeweisen is where it's at!
There's nothing like drinking and drinking and drinking and then riding violent, disorienting carnival rides. The results are as expected.
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