We left after I got off of work on Friday evening to go to the airport to catch a flight to Munich for Oktoberfest. We were going with Dan, Rebecca and Andrew (a friend of Dan and Rebecca's), so we met them at Liverpool Street to catch a train to Gatwick. The trip was uneventful and we flew Air Berlin which ended up being very nice since we've mainly been flying budget airlines that don't have the best service. It was nice to be back on a proper airline again. We ended up arriving late in Munich and caught the S-Bahn train into town to get to our hotel around midnight. We were staying at the Easy Palace Hostel and it was quite interesting. When we got to the reception area, it was a big party. They even sold beers from the check-in desk...... welcome to Germany!
The Easy Palace Hostel
We were staying in a 6 person room. We normally don't do that, but rooms are scarce during Oktoberfest, and can get very expensive. However, it was the five of us and Susan, who was very nice and also lived in London. We dropped our stuff off in the room and Dan, Andrew and I went back down to the lobby to sample some German beer. We probably stayed out too late since we had to get up fairly early to make it to Oktoberfest proper, but we still have a good time.
Saturday September 27, 2008
We got up fairly early to try to get into one of the beer tents at Oktoberfest because we have heard that they fill up quickly. We grabbed some breakfast on the way down and headed for the Hacker-Festzelt tent, which is quite large. It seats 6900 inside and 2400 outside. Even with all of that seating, we were quite lucky to get in. We got into a line for a side entrace which ended up getting crazy with everyone shoving to get in. We were worried about getting crushed! They started opening the tents at 9, and our side barely moved at all. We stayed around for 15 minutes and they would open the doors every now and then to let a few people in. We kept moving up, but were nowhere close to the door they were opening. Tami and I were up ahead of the rest of the group when they suddenly decided to open one of the doors that was closer to us. We didn't get in, but we got closer. When they opened the door again, my main concern was keeping people off of Tami so she didn't get crushed. She managed to get a clear run on the door after that and jumped inside. I quickly followed, but I was one of the last to get in.
Our first beer of the day. Those steins are a full liter.... and this isn't a lightweight beer.
We grabbed seats at a table, trying to save seats for the rest of our crew. We went ahead and ordered a beer and a pretzle (since we were starting to drink at 9:30am... wanted some food in our systems besides the pastries we had for breakfast.) The rule at the beer tents is that if you aren't sitting, you don't get any service, so it's important to grab a table when you can. We took pictures of our beers with our cell phones and sent them to the rest of our group (we had to gloat a little :) ). They finally gave up on waiting and were going to go to another entrance. If they hadn't gotten in by the time we finished our beer, we were going to just leave and meet up with them. Luckily, they were able to make their way into the tent a little while later by bribing a security guard to let them in. We hung around a bit more and had a few more beers. Around noon, we had to vacate our table since they were reserved and we heard that if you were there when they needed the table, they would kick you out of the tent. We ordered another round of beers to take with us and wandered around the tent a bit, listening to the Oompa band play.
Even the pretzles are huge (this was around 9:30 am, not being drunk)
The band stand
As you can see, it was pretty full
Tami and Rebecca
After a few hours, we weren't able to find a table so we couldn't order any food. Between the lack of food, drinking a lot of beer, the heat and the fact that the hall was filled with smoke, Tami started to not feel well. So we headed outside where it was cooler and easier to find a table and managed to get some chicken, which was really good. Rebecca came with us and we left Dan and Andrew inside the tent. After we ate and were feeling better, Rebecca wanted to go back to the room for a little bit, so we left with her and went back to the room. Dan and Andrew followed a little bit later and we all decided to grab a nap.
After the nap, Tami and I were ready to go back out, but we didn't have any other takers, so we decided to head out to Marienplatz (the main square in downtown Munich) to grab some supper. We ended up finding a place across from Hofbrau House that had really good German food and a special Oktoberfest brew they were serving. After supper, we headed back down to Oktoberfest proper to see all of the carnival rides lit up at night and wander around a bit. After that, it was back to the hostel for some sleep.
Yummy Pork Roast
Ferris Wheel
This ride looked pretty scary... especially if you'd had a few beers first
Tami with a Gingerbread heart... they sold some three times the size of the one I got for Tami.
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