The other day a couple of friends and I took this quiz found about 75 things to do before you die. The list had quite a few things on it (well, 75 to be exact), and as it turns out I have already complete 29 of them. One item that was not there, though an argument based on personal experience could be made for its inclusion, was taking part in Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. Yes, what I am implying is that I have experienced, in person, the real Oktoberfest. I am sure some of you already knew this, as I have posted many, many pictures both on Flickr and on Facebook, but I thought that I would still try and recount the experience a bit.
And I think that that is the best word to describe it, an "experience". Before going in I did not know what to expect. I knew all of the stereotypes about how there would be lots of tourists, no Germans, lots of messy drunks, etc. and to be honest, that wasnt exactly my idea of a good time. But as the weekend went on I was pleasantly surprised by the event.
Our (myself and four other friends from Uni here in Oslo) trip started with a flight into Frankfurt, Germany on Friday afternoon. For those who are wondering, no, Frankfurt is not really that close to Munich. In fact it is a few hundred kilometers north west, so we rented a car (a Fiat Punto to be exact) and set off down the German Autobahn with a map and a vague idea of where to go...and since I was the only person among the 5 of us who drives on the right side of the road at home, I was the only person among the 5 of us who was going to be driving while in Germany. After 4+ hours of flying down the Autobahn (in many areas there are no speed limits, so I was free to drive as fast as the car would allow) at an average of 90+ mph, we finally arrived in the Munich suburb where we would be staying, Dachau. I suppose I should qualify that statement, for the first night (and really the entire weekend), we were not exactly sure where we would be staying. We had a friend of a friend who we thought we might be able to stay with....but in all reality we were prepared to sleep in the Fiat. Luckily the friend of a friend came through and we had a roof to sleep under for the weekend (even if it meant sharing single beds).
After arriving in Dachau late Friday night, we were up early on Saturday and into Munich to get in line for one of the famous beer tents (my alarm went off at 6:30 AM and we were in line at 8 AM and beer was first served at noon). You might ask, why get up so early just to stand in line? Well in order to truly experience Oktoberfest, it is imperative that you find a seat at a table inside a beer tent, for it is inside these tents where the traditional atmosphere of the festival is found. The "tents" are massive structures that are really more like temporary buildings (they take 4 months to set up and 1 month to take down), and each one can hold at least 1,000 people, most of who are dressed in traditional German dress, also known as lederhosen (the amount of traditionally dressed Germans depends entirely on the tent you go in...we sought out the tents with more Germans to get a more traditional atmosphere). Some tents have bands playing in the middle, there is dancing both on the ground and on the tables, there are different kinds of food (both traditional German and other) being served, lots of singing, and of course there is beer. Each tent is run by one German beer company, so each tent is serving a different kind of beer....but it is not just any beer, it is really good beer...and it comes in large quantities (the beer is served in "steins" or 1 liter mugs, and the waiters or waitresses carry them out by the dozen...a very impessive feat considering I had trouble picking up 5 at once, much less 12). As I have been in Europe and tried different kinds of beer, some good and some bad...but nothing compares to the beer served at Oktoberfest. It is far and away the best beer I have ever had (granted my beer tasting experience is relatively low...but I have a feeling that I have now reached the pinnacle of beer quality and it is all down hill from here). Each brew was a full, smooth, beautiful tasting beer that went down very nicely. So as you might be able to imagine, with a beer in hand and lederhosen clad Germans all around, the atmosphere was a lot of fun.
In addition to the beer tents at the Oktoberfest ground, there is also a massive carnival taking place (again, see pictures). There are more rides, carnival games, lights, and giant stuffed bears than you can shake a stein at...I would imagine that it was something like the Minnesota or Wisconsin State Fair, only it was taking place concurrently with one of the largest beer festivals in the world. Now, some of you may be wondering, did I go on any rides? And the answer is no, I decided given the amount of food and beer I consumed, that any ride where I am being spun in circles 60 feet off the ground would be a bad idea (for the record, I think being spun in circles 60 feet off the ground is a bad idea anyways). But despite not going on any rides I still thoroughly enjoyed wandering through this massive carnival people watching (Amy, Andy, Meg, and Sarah this event blew Summerfest out of the water in terms of people to people watch) and taking it all in.
After a very full and eventful day, we made our way back to Dachau for a good nights sleep, only to get up and do it all again on Sunday. Which sounds crazy I know, but in the grand scheme of things we were only at Oktoberfest for 2 days out of the three weeks it goes on. And yes they were action packed, carbohydrate filled days, but my motto is that you only live once, so I could not pass up this opportunity to experience a German traditional festival....and thats what it was...an experience.
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