Oktoberfest

Sooooooo, yeah. Was für ein Erlebnis!

My roommate, Mackenzie, and I got our butts out of bed really early last Saturday and made a pilgrimage to Munich for die Wiesn’. Something I love about this place in the world is that is perfectly normal on a chilly Fall morning to be standing at a train station in Lindau at 6 a.m.-ish waiting to catch a train wearing Dirndl or Lederhosen. We were not the only ones. In fact, about an hour into the ride to Munich, those not in Trachten were definitely in the minority. Also in the minority were those not drinking already. That’s right…before 8 a.m. Everyone was so happy and excited, despite the overcrowded noisy train. One guy was even leading our car in some songs. Hilarious.

 

So we eventually got to Munich. After a quick struggle to find somewhere to pee without a 30 minute wait, we were on our way to the fest grounds.

For the first 10 minutes I was so exited and enchanted by the sights of all of the Lebkuchen hearts, giant beer tents, and spinning fair rides.

Then, stress set in.

I have never been anywhere…ANYWHERE…with so many people. That includes Disney World on New Year’s after a parade.

We did manage to get into a tent, but our luck stopped there. We wandered around and around and around again looking for anywhere to sit. See, the thing is, you can’t order a beer without having a seat. And at 10 a.m. everything was already full. What sucks is when everyone else around you is having fun, singing, and drinking yummy beer, and you are being told “Nein” repeatedly by everyone you ask “Ist hier noch frei?” 

Granted, it was the last weekend of Oktoberfest. On top of that, it happened to be a holiday weekend for the Germans. So, I do believe that added to the insanity. But all tents being full to capacity by 10:45 with no more entrance is nuts.

After a respectable amount of perseverance, Mackenzie and I had had enough and were resolved to go drink elsewhere. So we left.

Fortunately, Mackenzie studied in Munich once upon a time. Therefore, she knew there was a great Biergarten around the corner that serves Augustiner Bräu (my fav, as some of you know).

Life was soooo much better there. Wow! Space. Food. Fresh air. Trees. Peace. And most importantly...BEER!

We had been sitting down maybe 4 minutes before some older Swiss guys sat down at our table, offered to buy us beer, and began chatting us up. So, we were getting the beer drinking, eating wurst, and speaking German with strangers Oktoberfest experience….just not on the official grounds. Oh well.

We did head back to the Wiesn’ later but basically we were just wandering around. Mackenzie and I knew we wouldn’t have any better luck as a larger group. So we left again and headed back to the Augustiner Keller.

After another beer, we did a mini city tour and then were on our way home in the late afternoon.

I will do Oktoberfest again. I need to redeem it. Next time, I won’t go on 1. a Saturday 2. A holiday weekend 3. Any day that the tents would be full before the place has been open for an hour.

How classic are these rides???

Na ja, so ist das Leben.