I took the train from Vienna to Munich today. It was a pleasant and comfortable 4 hours ride. I got to read the tour book and looked into what I can explore in Munich. When I checked into the hotel in mid afternoon, I asked the lady at the front desk what I can do today. Without hesitation, she said Oktoberfest! I organized my luggage a little after I got into the room. When I turned on the TV, there was a non-stop Oktoberfest coverage. Well, I decided to check it out. Especially, it’s a raining day and there’s not much going on in the Sunday afternoon.
It’s pretty easy to find where it is located – just followed the people with traditional bavarian clothes. It looked like a carnival in the Theresienwiese ground when I arrived. What I didn’t know is there are 14 beer halls, in addition to some smaller beer tents. These halls or tents are built every year just for the fest. I picked one beer hall (Bräurosl – True Wiesn tradition), walked in, and boy, it was amazing. The tent is huge, filled with people drinking lots of beer, dancing on the benches, singing alone with the band, and having a good time. There was also a huge kitchen for supplying food, and two levels on each side of the hall. I found a spot that was relatively comfortable since it was extremely pack inside. The security guys were every where, and the wait staff had no problem to push people hard to get around. I also made some new friends. A man and a woman pretty much took care of me the rest of the evening in the beer hall. The guy handed me a heart shape cookie for me to wear on. The woman told me that “you know this is the homosexual hall right? It only happens this Sunday very year”. I asked her “why you came here?” She simply said: this hall is the best and the most fun compared to other tents! It’s an eye opening experience. They helped me order my dinner at the hall with bavarian flavor (a pork shank and a potato ball which is jelly like. It tasted great! I even had a couple sips of the beer, with the encouragement from the people at the table. I am not a drinker nor a party animal. From what I saw in the tent, this is probably the biggest party that I know of. It would put Vegas to shame… People would sing “Sweet Caroline” one moment, a German song later, or followed by a marching band song. It’s crazy… And there are still 13 other tents! I am glad I went to see with my own eyes. My German friends here told me this is their once a year big party. After the beer hall stopped at 10:30pm, I haven’t seen there were so many drunk people on the street. It’s really funny!
Justin,
I am glad to see you are getting over your shyness and getting out and talking to people. You will have some of your best memories because of that.
I don’t know if I got over the shyness, but I did try to talk to friendly people. 🙂
The man eating off your hand at your table looks unclad!
That was crazy. I was eating my dinner and folks made sure that I would eat the skin of the pork shank. The skin is crunchy with a good deal of fat under it. Very tasty. This guy, clealy drank “some” beer already, asked a piece of skin to snack with the beer. What the hack, I fed him a piece by hand. He went for it. It got a really good laugh at our table. No, he still had his bottom clothes on, the shorts they wear during the fest. Some of the clothes were really nice.
Justin, you look like you’re having a wild time there! Looks like a lot of fun. Turner Hall in Germantown is having Octoberfest this Saturday afternoon – may go, mostly to try the food.
Ha! The pictures do look likes it’s a wild time. I am likely the only or few ones who don’t drink, and local could tell I am visiting. My new Gernam friends made sure I got plenty of wild pictures to show. I was pretty safe with the table that I was sitting. They really want to show how German have a great time during Oktoberfest. 🙂 Hope you had a fun time at the Turner Hall if you did go.
I can not believe you hold a beer mug of 2-liter(or more?)! I have ever enjoyed beer,sausage,schweinshaxe with sauerkraut at Leavenworth,a Bavarian village in Washington state with my kids some years ago. I must go to Oktoberfest in Munich to experience the original!
Remember I still don’t drink? 🙂 it’s really a different experience to see the Oktberfest with your own eyes. If you are into drinking beer and partying, you will abosultrly have a good time!