I didn't manage to post before heading off to Berlin, so I will take the chance now to share a little bit more about Oktoberfest, which ended this past Sunday.
I realized that I left out some of the background information on Oktoberfest, so I'd like to fill everyone in. Oktoberfest started in 1810 as a wedding ceremony for the Bavarian prince Ludwig. The original festival included horse races and such, but it has since evolved/degraded into its current form, which roughly resembles a hybrid combination of theme park, state fair, and--of course--Munich's famous beer houses. In recent years the festival has been visited by more than 6 million people across its two weeks. Munich itself has a population of only 1.2 million.
My last trip to the Oktoberfest was during the second/middle weekend, or the so-called "Italian Weekend"--when hordes of Italians drive up to Germany hoping to have a good time. There's usually one of two practices: 1) they leave at 3am to drive over the Alps into Bavaria, spend the whole day drinking, and try to drive back the same night--thus, to the dismay of Munich residents, the police have been forced to set up traffic-jam inducing checkpoints around the city during the festival, in order to cut down on drunk driving; 2) they drive up in campers and try to park all over the city, which has lead police to ban camping vehicles in the city and try to contain them in vast parking areas on the outskirts of town.
Anyway, we showed up at 8am so that we could be among the first let into the tents. I met up with a German friend of mine, along with his family and friends visiting from Heidelberg. We chose the Armbrustschützen-Paulaner tent, since one of the friends was actually competing in the German crossbow shooting championship in an attached area. There are 14 major beer tents in all, each seating between 1,000 and 8,500 guests inside, plus additional outdoor seating.
The Armbrustschützen-Paulaner tent, in the early morning.
A view of the Tent from the front balcony. The balconies contain mostly reserved seating, which you have to get 6 or more months ahead of time. In the middle of the tent, you can see the band stage. They play traditional music all day, and starting around 6pm in the evening, they are allowed to play popular songs, such as well known anthems and soccer cheers, which tend to make the crowd a bit rowdier.
Our group near the middle of the day.
My German friend Sascha, myself, and an Italian woman who couldn't speak German or English--so I got to practice my limited Italian (i.e. Spanish) skills with her.
Two of the other American students who practiced the best strategy for Italian weekend--they found a group of wealthy Italian men with a reserved table and managed to get them to buy all of their drinks and food. I met up with them to mooch some chicken.
A waitress carrying 9 liters of beer. The most talented ones can carry more like 12 to 15.
After we got out of the tent around 8pm, we decided to go for a ride on the "Freefall Tower." Fortunately, nobody threw up, and I managed to get some great night shots of the festival from above!
The view along the major row of beer tents.
The view in the direction of the roller coasters and one of the entrances.
The beer tent of the famous Hofbräuhaus. All Germans know to avoid it, due to the massive throngs of clueless tourists.
That about raps up Oktoberfest. In other news, my parents are visiting Germany and Austria this week. They spent the last couple of days with me in Munich, and now I'm travelling with them for a few days through the Austrian Alps. Once I get back to Munich, classes at the University will start on Monday, and meanwhile I'll try to share more from my travels. Bis dann!
-TG-
A waitress carrying 9 liters of beer. The most talented ones can carry more like 12 to 15.
