Oktoberfest

Well last weekend we were in Munich for Oktoberfest…for opening day of Oktoberfest in fact.  Now I was expecting there to be lots of people but man, it was a mad house!  According to a news article there were 300K people there on Saturday alone.  The first keg was tapped at noon so we figured if we got there later in the afternoon we could possibly have a chance at getting into a tent as the first wave of people filed out.  We were meeting up with our new friends Stacey and Alex who weren’t arriving until later in the afternoon anyways so it should all work out perfectly.  No such luck.  We arrived at Oktoberfest and while there were definitely people exiting (not all on their own two feet) there was no way we were getting in.  We were fortunate though (after some patience and walking around) to get in to one of the biergartens.  Now it wasn’t the same as being inside the tent but it was still a fun atmosphere and better then not getting in anywhere at all.  We got our Maß (translation: liter) biers and enjoyed a few of those before the downpour happened.  Once we decided that it wasn’t going to let up, our time at Oktoberfest was over and it was off to a bar where we finished out the night. 

Now don’t get me wrong, it was crowded but not total craziness everywhere.  Nate and I had an enjoyable Saturday morning/afternoon.  We walked around a bit and found a little farmer’s market where we grabbed some lunch.  After a bit more wandering around we came across Augustiner in a little side alley not far from Marienplatz and enjoyed a few beers sitting outside on their patio.  We met another new friend, Mike from Chicago, and had a nice time chatting with him.  It was a pleasant little afternoon….and quite different than our time at Oktoberfest.

Overall we had a great time and it was definitely worth the trip.  We were at Oktoberfest in 2007 during the middle of the week and I’m going to say that’s the way to do it.  In 2007 it was crowded but we were at least able to get into a tent.  This trip we had the pleasure of seeing a drunk guy literally thrown out of a biergarten as we were trying to get in, numerous people practically passed out on the ground and plenty of people being carried out by their friends.  So if we do end up ever going again, I’m going to say it’s worth it to just take a day or two off of work and not deal with the craziness.