Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit...

Munich, Germany. Oktoberfest. This is culmination of a ton of traveling and drinking; to witness one of the largest celebrations in the world.

And we didn't even get to sit in a tent the first day.

We read a lot about what times to get there, what tables, what tents, et cetera. But most of the stuff you read online is for a normal Oktoberfest day. Not the Opening day, on a Saturday. We arrived around 10am. Early enough, seeing as how they're not supposed to serve any beer until the Mayor of Munich taps the first keg at noon.

Every single tent was filled to the brim when we arrived. Some tents wouldn't even let us in to stand, they were at capacity. After watching the parade out front, which consists of many horses, drawing large carts full of beer in barrels, each one adorned with their respective breweries - we ended up at a biergarten outside the tents, enjoying Paulaner Hefeweisens. The area outside the tents are like a large fair; think of the Del Mar Fair (but without carnies.) We ended up leaving shortly there after, to visit the Englischer Garten.

The Englischer Garten is a very large, beautiful park with a lake in the middle. We sat at a biergarten and drank Hofbrau Radler (a Radler is a 50/50 mix of Helles and Lemonade. To further clarify: a helles is a pilsner, and lemonade in Europe is actually lemon-lime soda) It's incredibly refreshing during the summertime and drinking a liter of it won't get you anywhere near drunk.

Day 2 of the Oktoberfest was much more successful. We arrived at the Hippodrom at 8AM. Tents on the weekdays are supposed to open at 9AM, but for some reason the Hippodrom didn't open until 10AM. That's probably a good thing, as we got in line as soon as we arrived, and actually got to sit at a table this time. Keep in mind it was a mad scramble for an open table, even though we were probably only 20-30th in line. This brings me to what is really my only complaint about Oktoberfest tents. It seems like 70% of all tents are reserved! It's pure luck if you come upon a group who is getting up from their table (as they tend to sit there all day, in shifts.)

The rest of that day pretty much consisted of heavy drinking, eating, and singing German songs. I can tell you right now that is one of the best times of my entire life. We met a couple from Hong Kong at our table. We met three 16 year old German kids (and played pranks on the boy when he got up to use the bathroom.) We met an Australian couple who had actually been to San Diego. It was a blast, and I'll never forget it.

We also attended day 3, a Monday. We expected a smaller crowd, but that wasn't the case. It seemed just as packed as a weekday. We got really lucky and snagged one of the stand up tables in the famous Hofbrauhaus. We met a guy from Texas who came straight from the Airport. He still had his luggage. Hofbrauhaus is a weird tent. It's all Americans/Australians/New Zealanders. Every five minutes or so, someone will stand on a table, and everyone will cheer as he guzzles his beer. It's like a big frat house, which I'm not a huge fan of. Augustiner and Schottenhamel seemed to be 100% German. Everyone was in traditional dress, standing on the benches, singing songs non-stop. It seemed impossible to get a seat in there!

Some tips if you ever plan to attend Oktoberfest in Munich:
- Book hotels as early as possible. We booked fairly early, and the rooms were far and away the most expensive out of any of our hotels in Europe.
- Bring cash (no tents that I saw took card)
- Splurge and get some Oktoberfest clothing. I could only afford a spiffy hat, but if I could, I'd be rocking lederhosen, no doubt.
- Don't go for opening day. Wait until that second week, and try to attend a weekday. Being able to sit and eat is much better than standing around.
- Practice drinking
- Learn the lyrics to 'Ein Prosit.' You'll be singing it every five minutes for hours

I hope you've enjoyed reading my exploits. I encourage anyone to make a trip to Europe. It's a beautiful place. Might want to wait til the US dollar is stronger though ;)

- Eric

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