Munich...Beer We Come!!

“…We are going to pick Ryan up around 6.30am and be at Rob and Laura's by 7.10am at the latest. I will drive like a bat out of hell (albeit very safely) and that will put us in Munich around lunch....err.....beer time. We'll get to Munich and park at our hotel….we'll all throw our bags down and then rendezvous at a place to be determined ….once we get there, it's no-holds-barred. Like, I wouldn't be opposed to going streaking through the quad and into the gymnasium, taking a beer shower, or even going to KFC (if it's still open)….Holla! let's go get drizzunk!”

Okay-so that was the short version of the email I sent out to the crew on Friday, September 22 to fire them up for Oktoberfest 2006!!

First thing’s first. The facts about Oktoberfest…..

- Oktoberfest is always celebrated the last two weeks of September.

- 30% of the year's production of beer by Munich breweries will be consumed in the two weeks of Oktoberfest.

- 12,000 People are employed at the Oktoberfest. Of these, 1,600 are waitresses.

- There is available seating for 100,000 people.

- The six Oktoberfest breweries, (Spaten, Augustiner, Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbrau, Lowenbrau) sold 6 million mugs of beer in 2005 (5.5 million in 2004).

- Roasted oxen served: 88

- Sausages served: 219,443 pairs

- Roasted chickens served: 459,279

- There are currently 14 main tents at the Oktoberfest. The tents themselves are semi-permanent structures which are only occupied during the festival.

So, as you can see, this was my kind of party. The troops on this “mission” were myself, Ag, Robbie, Laura and Ryan (a new dude in our office from Seattle). We were running pretty much on schedule Saturday morning and arrived at Rob and Laura’s at 7:04am. After a few pit-stops and a little traffic, we arrived in Munich around 1:30pm. We all got settled at our hotels and Ryan, Aggie and I went to “whet our pallets” with a small sample of beer at the hotel bar as we waited for Laura and Robbie.

Then off we went onto the subway, destination: a wonderful place known as Pretzel, Beer and Brat Land. Basically, Oktoberfest is a HUGE festival/carnival in an area of Munich called Theresienwiese. Really, the festival is similar to a state fair. Rides, games, tents, food, beer, people….it was awesome. People were everywhere and the atmosphere just seemed to ooze fun!

The main brew hall tents were enormous, and basically, they looked like huge buildings. We went up to a few of the tents to see if there were any tickets/spaces available but unfortunately, every place was full. We weren’t too worried though. Our plan was to just walk around and drink a few beers and then head into the city and hang out at some biergartens that we knew we could get into. So, we got some brats, pretzels, etc and as we were eating, we noticed a small gated area behind one of the tents. The gate to this area kept opening and closing, people were going in and out…..HUMMMM??? Maybe we can go in too?

We jumped in the small line and within 10 minutes we were seated in the biergarten of the Augustiner Tent! The setting: there were long tables and long benches where people were sitting, chatting, eating and sipping on their liters of beer. Everyone in the place seemed really happy. Roughly 8-10 people fit at a table. We sat down at our table and ordered our 1st of many liters….I looked at my watch…it was 2:30pm….

There was a couple with their kid eating at our table when we sat down. The dude was really nice and chatty; he totally became our friend right away. Eventually they left and a group of 5 sat with us (tight squeeze at the table!) and with this group there was a random 20 yr old guy from Texas who was engaged to one of the German chicks at our table.

They eventually left and we found out that after 1hr of sitting in the garden, you were supposed to leave. Supposedly that was the “rule” so that they can turn over tables, etc. Well, I’m not sure how we managed to stay there all day and all night but we did and we had fun!!

Throughout the night, we all just had a blast! Really, everyone just talks to everyone, people are relaxed and chilled, it was great. Robbie and I managed to try on a couple “Bayerish” vests, chat it up (and arm wrestle) with a couple of East Berliners, and meet some Dirndl ladies (as Ag took pics of us/them!). All I have to say about the Dirndl ladies is “bombs”!

We finally left our little garden around 11pm. The festival grounds had cleared out a bit and we headed to the subway. When we got back to the hotel, we decided we needed a mid-night snack and found a Greek restaurant around the corner of our hotel and it was open till 1am!

When we walked in, the place was dead and the host and cooks were sitting at a table. They seated us with smiles and even brought us shots! Anyway, after a tasty meal of pitas, gyros, meatballs, etc., we headed back to the hotel. As we were leaving, we looked around and noticed that the place had actually gotten kind of crowded….everyone was all about the late night food!

We finally went to bed but not before Ag got a picture of Ryan and I passed out on the bed. In the most heterosexual way possible that two guys could be passed out on a bed together. Lovely.

The next day we walked around Munich for a bit and grabbed lunch at the Hofbrauhaus. We left around 2pm and estimated that we should be home by 7 or 8pm. Unfortunately, there was a major crash on the autobahn and we were in stand-still/slow moving traffic for about 2 hours. Finally, we got home at 10:30pm.

All in all, I highly recommend Oktoberfest and would go again in a heartbeat. Munich itself is awesome, and when coupled with the enormous festival, it makes for an even better time.
So now it is back to reality. I have been extremely busy with work because I am in a new manager role. There’s lots to do and learn…and things are definitely not the same here as in the U.S. I will not bore you with the details but obviously, it makes things more challenging.

However, the living and traveling experience is amazing and Ag and I couldn’t be happier. Speaking of traveling, Pete and Stephanie Stratil arrive in Amsterdam on Saturday. We will of course be picking them up and proceeding to travel all of next week. The nonsense is about to begin again…..