Ahoj! or... Gutentag!
Despite my blogging hiatus, I am still alive and breathing after our wild Oktoberfest adventure... barely. What a whirlwind weekend. It all began on Friday, where we met our German friend at her workplace to take off for Munich. As the four of us followed behind her to the parking lot, we joked that the silver compact car/roller-skate in the first spot was hers. She brings us to the silver compact car in the first spot and we load up our backpacks. She introduces him as Oscar, and the German speaking GPS as Sheila (although we are warned that Sheila is not so bright). The tight squeeze made us a little more acquainted with each other but just enhanced the adventure nonetheless. Especially when I caught sight of her ME bumper sticker! She loves Bar Harbor, visited last year... what a small world. Five hours later, we pull off the Audobahn and arrive in Munich at our mysterious Ukranian School. And so it begins....
We arrive in front of the Hofbräu tent around 9:00 as it is the last Saturday of Oktoberfest and the tents are packed. Pregame with an orange capri sun while we wait in the massive crowd slightly resembling a line.
After about 30 minutes, we hear several whistles blow and the gates are opened. Let me give you a visual:
Right. So we got in. I don't really know what else to tell you besides maybe a few facts and my photos to explain my trip.
The Hofbräu-Festzelt is the largest beer tent of the Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany.
During Oktoberfest 2007 (16 days), there was a total consumption of 6,940,600 liters of beer and 700,000 whole roast chickens.
The center of the Hofbräu tent is known as "The Pig Pen". For obvious reasons.
SO- With that being said, here are some photos of our experience on Day 1: Hofbräu.
I decided to take a quick break to do some weight training since I've been feeling rather lazy lately.
Har har har. Moving on.....
Ian, Jenny, Jenna, Mike and Jenny's friend. We decided that after our third liter we'd need a nap before continuing on further. Grabbed a quick bite to eat, stole a mug, made some friends with Aussies, and back to the room.
We actually made it with only one break to take a quick snooze on the grass. Thank God for Mike.
Round Two! Oktoberfest at night. Half-chickens galore.
An insider's tip for future Oktoberfesters: Get your cute blonde friend to make friends with the security guard so that you get VIP access to come in and out as you please. And no waits for restrooms!
So that was day one. Now, it was great, but something was missing. The official outfit of Germany/Oktoberfest is Lederhosen for the men and Dirndls for the ladies. Basically ALL of the locals were sporting these cool outfits and we simply felt like frauds without them. So we fixed that problem for day two.
Best €45 I ever spent.
Made friends with some (fifteen year old) locals.
After all the excitement, we had to head back to Prague for school on Monday. Overall, probably one of the best weekends I've ever had. As my friend said, "This is like Disneyworld for college kids." Can't go wrong there. Well, I guess you might feel a little wrong the next morning- but with lots of veggies and water, it's a price I am willing to pay.
007's life looks like a visit to gramma's house compared to your international escapades!
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have found the real Oktberfest.
Over here we are just smashing pumpkins and bobbing for apples.
Hey, it looks like you are gonna put the St. Pauli girl out of business...did you buy that thing or can you rent it by the hour?
Not much talk about school but I guess that doesn't make for good blogging. Good luck with it anyway.
miss you
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