Oktoberfest 2010
11:18 AM
So we reach the main event, Oktoberfest.
We arrived in Munich the day before the 200th anniversary of the Oktoberfest celebration is due to start. After an early morning warm up beer, I go shopping to find myself some traditional german gear, known as Tracht, to wear at the fest. For blokes, this is known as lederhosen, or leather pants. I get everything from shoes and socks through to pants, shirt and suspenders. That afternoon we go back to the hostel to watch the AFL preliminary final - Geelong vs Collingwood and put away a few more beers at the hostel bar that night.
Day 1 of the fest. We arrive at 8:30 to masses of people already queuing to get into tents, which don't open til 9am and don't serve beer til midday. We lined up at the Lowenbrau tent and when the doors finally open, we rush inside only to find that most tables are reserved and there's no space to accommodate the rest of us. We reluctantly leave and take up a position on an outdoor table. We then begin the boring wait of holding the table with no beer for three hours. An old colleague from Perth, Ali, who now lives in London, showed up and we did some quick shopping for hats while we waited for beers.
At midday, the cannon fired a few times, the first keg was tapped by the Mayor of Munich and then we waited. We had just sorted out our hat with our cash to pay for rounds when a waitress carrying 12 steins of beers came rushing out the door and laid them down on our table. We couldn't believe it. We were the first people outside served at the Oktoberfest! There were many jealous people around us as we came together for a huge cheers and then enjoyed our litres of beer.
The rest of the day quickly became a reasonable blur as one stein turned to five, turn to a desire to get food and water, turned to more beer and then as the night got longer, turned to finding our way into a tent and dancing on tables singing german drinking songs. There was also some show rides thrown in there somewhere but that part is a little hazy. What a party this Oktoberfest is!
Day 2 started a little later at 3pm at the Hofbrau tent where we took it a little more sensibly at first, before more steins, more table dancing and more german singing was undertaken inside the Hofbrau tent. More rides were had including a five looping rollercoaster and a giant chair swing, amongst others.
Day 3 was Monday and the fest had quietened down a little. I can't begin to describe the noise, colour, sights and sounds of Oktoberfest in full action. I took some time this day to go in and out of every tent and take some pictures, enjoy the sights and sounds, the songs of the oompa bands playing and of course, a cheeky stein. That afternoon, we headed to Olympic Park and the BMW museum where we'd organised to take a factory tour. All the tours were sold out in English so we took a german one, which was interesting. Fortunately, you don't need commentary to see what is going on in most parts of the factory, though i'm sure the commentary was interesting. We returned to the fest that night for another stein and more rides.
That's the end of my Oktoberfest adventures. Four more days in Germay I'll write about separately.
Prost!
Dave
We arrived in Munich the day before the 200th anniversary of the Oktoberfest celebration is due to start. After an early morning warm up beer, I go shopping to find myself some traditional german gear, known as Tracht, to wear at the fest. For blokes, this is known as lederhosen, or leather pants. I get everything from shoes and socks through to pants, shirt and suspenders. That afternoon we go back to the hostel to watch the AFL preliminary final - Geelong vs Collingwood and put away a few more beers at the hostel bar that night.
Day 1 of the fest. We arrive at 8:30 to masses of people already queuing to get into tents, which don't open til 9am and don't serve beer til midday. We lined up at the Lowenbrau tent and when the doors finally open, we rush inside only to find that most tables are reserved and there's no space to accommodate the rest of us. We reluctantly leave and take up a position on an outdoor table. We then begin the boring wait of holding the table with no beer for three hours. An old colleague from Perth, Ali, who now lives in London, showed up and we did some quick shopping for hats while we waited for beers.
At midday, the cannon fired a few times, the first keg was tapped by the Mayor of Munich and then we waited. We had just sorted out our hat with our cash to pay for rounds when a waitress carrying 12 steins of beers came rushing out the door and laid them down on our table. We couldn't believe it. We were the first people outside served at the Oktoberfest! There were many jealous people around us as we came together for a huge cheers and then enjoyed our litres of beer.
The rest of the day quickly became a reasonable blur as one stein turned to five, turn to a desire to get food and water, turned to more beer and then as the night got longer, turned to finding our way into a tent and dancing on tables singing german drinking songs. There was also some show rides thrown in there somewhere but that part is a little hazy. What a party this Oktoberfest is!
Day 2 started a little later at 3pm at the Hofbrau tent where we took it a little more sensibly at first, before more steins, more table dancing and more german singing was undertaken inside the Hofbrau tent. More rides were had including a five looping rollercoaster and a giant chair swing, amongst others.
Day 3 was Monday and the fest had quietened down a little. I can't begin to describe the noise, colour, sights and sounds of Oktoberfest in full action. I took some time this day to go in and out of every tent and take some pictures, enjoy the sights and sounds, the songs of the oompa bands playing and of course, a cheeky stein. That afternoon, we headed to Olympic Park and the BMW museum where we'd organised to take a factory tour. All the tours were sold out in English so we took a german one, which was interesting. Fortunately, you don't need commentary to see what is going on in most parts of the factory, though i'm sure the commentary was interesting. We returned to the fest that night for another stein and more rides.
That's the end of my Oktoberfest adventures. Four more days in Germay I'll write about separately.
Prost!
Dave
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