Oktoberfest!!

Despite having a monster 13.5 hour flight from BA to Paris, then another short flight into Munich, I was still in good shape. I arrived at the city center around 5pm and headed straight to the Hostel (A and O Hostel), checked in, and was on my way to Theresienwiese (Oktoberfest grounds). This place was like a state fair on steroids; games and rides as far as the eye can see, an abundance of sausage and wursts, and thousands of people dressed in lederhosens and drindls. Blended in to this mess of activity were several Beer tents, each representing the beer in which they serve. As a solo traveler, I decided to refrain from participation until the next day when Beth, and our friends, Blane and Ben, could join. I went back to the hostel to rest and gear up for a much anticipated day. Well, rest is exaclty what I did not get. Sound asleep around 11 pm, I awoke to 10 Aussie folks who: 1. were very intoxicated, 2. enjoyed babbling on and on about absolutely nothing, and 3. were extremely loud and had zero consideration for others. Well, these were my roommates, great. I guess 2 hours of sleep was gonna have to do.

The next day Beth arrived, finally. We got everybody checked in and made our way to the fairgrounds. After several attempts to find a place to sit in the overcrowded tents that were filled with jovial festival participants, we opted for a table outside. The time was 7pm, evidently much much too late for the beer gardens. We had a few steins and mingled with some locals and decided that our big day of singing and dancing in the beer halls would have to wait.

Beth and I sharing a delicious Bavarian treat

The following morning we had a plan. We decided to head to the BMW Museum till about 1pm, then make our make down to the festival by 2pm to ensure that we got seats at a table. The Museum was incredible and really made me ask myself how I could someday drive my very own BMW; the answer, don't start saving by taking trips around the world. We checked out all the hot new cars and motorcycles. I know that my good buddy Andy Millisor would be in heaven. I am sure that he likes his Bimmer more than he likes me. On to Oktoberfest! We arrived and started scouting out places to sit. We saw many unoccupied tables which was sweet, then we found out that they were all reserved, not so sweet. Evidently, companies and families reserve certain tables on certain days up to a year in advance. After about twenty minutes or so of slight panic, we found the 1 table left that did not have a reserved tag on it. We all ordered giant steins of Palauner. After the first one we knew it was going to be a long day. Well we later came to find out that a lot of locals drink something called a Radler. This concoction is beer mixed with lemon flavored soda (similar to Sprite). AH HA! I knew these folks could not pound stein after stein of high octane beer all day and all night. I continued to drink Beer. We participated in all the Prosts and all the songs with our table mates into the early evening when the beer tents began to reach maximum capacity. All of the Germans were very friendly and enjoyed our company as much as we enjoyed theirs. This was probably because of our constant mispronunciation of the simplest German words and phrases. It was an incredible experience that I recommend to everyone. We were in bed by 9 pm.

Beth and I outside the BMW Museum

I want one

Inside the Palauner Tent, can you find Beth?

Beth and Blane drinking Radlers

The next morning we picked up our well rested bodies and set off for Dachau, the longest operating concentration camp during the Holocaust. Dachau held around a total of 200,000 prisoners from 1933 until liberation in 1945. I personally recommend this to anyone staying in, or passing through Munich. We all took a lot away from this important historical site.

Next stop, Prague.

Dachau Prisoner Camp

In side the Paulaner Tent