As promised, here’s the scoop on our Oktoberfest adventure!
Oktoberfest photos are
HEREWe went to the Oktoberfest on the very last day (it’s called “oktoberfest” but it actually takes place the last 2 weeks in September and up to the 1st Sunday on October). I did a bit of research beforehand, and found out that we did NOT need reservations for the tents (the BIG drinking halls), because they only take reservations for groups of 10 or more. I also looked a bit into public transport, and city sights, but in the end I was so rushed getting all the visa stuff ready, I did not print out anything but the hotel reservation. So off we were with no maps, and a few notes on my notebook.
We took a train early on Sunday, and arrived in Munich around 11:30 am. We decided to go straight to the fair grounds and not to the hotel, since we packed very light and only had a backpack and my bag to carry around (and it also meant more time for beer). In retrospect (and as Abril pointed out), it was a bit silly to think we would be able to get to the hotel at night with a few beers on our system and without a map… but more on that story later.
So we easily made our way to the fairgrounds (just follow the crowd), and made it there a bit past noon. The place is like a HUGE fair, with booths, and food, and rides, and lots and lots of people. We bought a huge pretzel and whole fish to eat. They had them cooking right in front of you, and even though they didn’t look very pretty, they were delicious. A lady asked me if it tasted good, I said “ja!”, then she asked if they were not too salty, I said “nein!” (this conversation was in German, and I was happy that I understood).
We walked around a bit, and went into a couple of tents. At first we didn’t quite know what to do. I had read that you just sit in a table where there’s room, and make friends with the other people there. Even though it was still early, some of the tents were pretty full (at least their “no reservation required” section). Then we found a very lively tent, and found a table, so right away we sat down and started ordering beer.
The tent was full of young people, and they were all singing and dancing on the tables, and after the first few sips, we were singing along too (to “sweet home Alabama”, if you can imagine). We stayed there for a couple of hours (or a couple of pitchers, however you want to put it), and then moved on to another tent. The next tent we visited was a bit less “happenin’ “, but fun too. We stayed there a couple of hours more, and then headed out for dinner on the fairgrounds (rotisserie chicken). We had a great time in both tents, talking to the people on our table, we found some Swiss drinking buddies. We were also very happy to know that our German is not as bad as we had thought. I fact some people said it was very good and we could even have small conversations with them. (maybe it was the beer)
After dinner, we decided we had had enough, and headed to the hotel. This is where I miraculously found our way to the hotel, without a map, and just relying on asking people (in german) “where is…?” And I was so happy that I even understood their answers (not just their signs when they pointed “that way”). Maybe it was the alcohol in my system, hehe.
The next day we found out that sadly our “recovery” time increases with age when we stayed in the hotel until noon!! After checking out, we just walked around the “old town” part of the city, visited a few churches, and had lunch in front of the Rathaus. Most of the museums were closed (because it was Monday), and we were too tired to enjoy them anyways. We were back in the train station and ready to leave by 6:30. Since the Oktoberfest was the main attraction of the trip, we did not feel too bad about not leaving a lot of time to see the city. After all, we got what we wanted: An awesome Oktoberfest experience!
It was “le-----wait for it---- gendary!!!” (<<-- from “how I met your mother”)
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