OKTOBERFEST!

Hi everyone,

I had 2 (ok maybe 3) reasons I wanted to go to Oktoberfest:

1. It's almost the only thing Germany is famous for, so if I didn't go, I'd get the question "Did you go to Oktoberfest?" for the rest of my life.
2. Every German you talk to about it says "Why would you want to go to that, it's awful, [horror story about their "friend" that went there and had the worst time]". And then you ask them what happened when they went, and they admit they've never been. But every year 6 million people go! Are the Germans just showing their dislike of all things Bavarian? Are they trying to keep the tourirts away to preserve it for themselves? Of course, I had to find out.

So we organised a group from all corners of the world (Poland, Portugal, Chile, Russia, Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand), and headed off to Munich!

The gang. From me clockwise; Chile, Portugal, Poland, Poland, Russia/Australia, Mexico.

We were staying in a semi-permanent tent (The Tent - highly reccomended) with about 30 beds. It was positively tiny compared to the main tent there - with 100+ beds. Queuing up to check it, I realised that one of the rumours about Oktoberfest is true: that everyone is Australian.

The "Weis'n" from the top of a ride.

We were there for the opening weekend, so on Saturday there was a big parade. We didn't get the timing right, but still managed to catch the last 5 minutes of the parade, before we headed to Oktoberfest proper. We arrived there just as the mayor tapped the first keg, and declared the festival open. We ran to the nearest beer tent, but they closed the doors just before we got through, and were told to wait for some seats to be free. This was worringly close to how many of the horror stories started. And the next hour waiting in line was too, as was the announcement that the tent was full.

A parade.

Getting a bit nervous, we decided to give up on getting a beer for a bit, and explore the fair ground a bit. It was big. The next tent we tried to get into was full as well, but we managed to wriggle our way into its beer garden, and scam a delicious beer. Success!

Inside the Hippodrom tent.

The next day we had a booking for a beer tent already, so we spent the morning watch another parade, and exploring Munich a bit. The tent we booked was one of the smaller ones, with only seating for 3300 people(!). Somehow we were in an exclusive booth with complementary fingerfood and a(n almost) private waitress. It was crazy how loud it was - and how drunk/happy all the Germans were! We made the most of our aliquoted 3 hours we were allowed there, and headed into town where we met some pretty rude waiters, and some deceptive fountains.

Monday, we had to head back to Potsdam, but we took a short detour to the Czech Republic for goulash and fried cheese. I collapsed into bed about 10pm, at the end of a fantastic weekend.

Thanks for reading, I recommend Oktoberfest for everyone, even if you're not so into beer.

See ya!

Adam