Day #188 - Oktoberfest - Munich, Germany

Table-side at Oktoberfest

The food and beverage of choice

One of the Big Tents

The Ferris Wheel kept me oriented

Another Big Beer Tent

Saturday, September 18th

Ok - I've had a little time to recover. It's Sunday evening here in Munich - I'm back at my hotel. Yesterday was a whole lot of fun - I'll try to hit the high points.

I first started the day with a 3 hour run through the streets and riverfront area in/near Solln, Germany. It was a perfect morning. I basically got lost for a while, found this river to follow, bought some water along the way, and made it back to the hotel about 16 miles later. No records broken. A long slow run with a few walking breaks.

I ate a couple peanut butter sandwiches and drank some powerade - I was ready to head downtown.

A little background on Octoberfest ---------

This year marks the 200th anniversary of the event. The first Oktoberfest was held on October 12th, 1810. Crown Prince Ludwig and Princess Theresa of Saxe-Hildberghausen organized a public celebration 5 days after their wedding -- a great horse race. It was so popular, it was renewed in 1811.

Since this time, the horse race aspect ended (1960), a festival atmosphere was added, a parade was introduced, drinks and food tents multiplied, and the celebration has now become the largest fair in the world - attracting 6 million people.

I mentioned yesterday it's a 16-day celebration. That's true for most years. If the first Sunday in October falls on the 1st or 2nd - the event is extended until October 3rd (a public holiday - German Unity Day). Therefore, the celebration can be 16-18 days in length. Since this year is the 200th celebration, they are extending the festivities an extra day in honor of the date.

The celebration gets started at 12 noon on Saturday with a 12 gun salute and the tapping of the first keg by the incumbent mayor of Munich with the cry "O' zapft is!" (It's tapped!). The mayor then gives the first beer to the Minister-President of the state of Bavaria.

There are 14 main beer tents on the grounds. Some of these can hold up to 8,000 people - with a 5,000-6,000 person average. The beer is served in 1-liter mugs - with cost around 8.50 euro ($10-11).

Continuing with my day ------------

Today I was very fortunate to meet up with some great people. I knew it was critical to have an open attitude - whatever happens - would be a good thing.

I walked to the bus stop near my hotel. There, I met this guy from Helsinki, Finland. He was a business guy that flew in for the weekend with some friends. He was staying in a different hotel than his buddies and needed to get to the fairgrounds - so he pulled the "Does anyone speak English" move. I perked up and responded. I gave him the low-down on the bus schedule and the pick-up points. He was very appreciative. He would be my wing-man today.

Although this guy was a business type, it was clear within the first 10 minutes of the bus ride - he was a hard-core partier. He was 50+ pounds heavier than me and had already drank about 6 beers in the airports and plane ride from Helisinki. Now, I'm a light weight currently when it comes to drinking. I'm good with that. I rarely drink - if I do - it's not much. However, I do have expereince in this area - I would need to draw on this today.

We got to the bus stop - and just followed the crowd about 1/2 mile to the fairgrounds. First impression - 'There's ALOT of people here". Second impression - "The dresses worn in Oktoberfest are very nice". The area holding the festival was massive. It reminded me exactly of a carnaval. There were rides, game booths, and endless food and drink stands.

The guy from Helsinki (Marko) - had been to Oktoberfest 2 years ago. He gave me the quick lowdown. I was really surprised by a few things. The main one - it's not that easy to get a beer. Really. You cannot just walk up to a booth and buy a drink. You either have to be at a table in one of the major tents or in a beer garden area outside these tents (seated). Because this was Day #1 and a Saturday, the crowds were enormous. Most of the major tents had all the inner tables reserved. All the beer gardens had a queu. We decided to wait in line for the beer garden outside the Hippodrom Tent.

About 20 minutes later, we were at our table. I was just here for the experience today - I'd say that my goal was accomplished. We spent the next 7 hours drinking beers, singing, dancing, talking to the swing-door of people that joined us at the table --- a really, unbelievable day. Marko's friends from Finland came over to our beer garden. We shared a table with some girls from Germany, then a couple from Ohio (US), then 4 others from Germany, and ended with 4 business guys from Copenhagen.

I can't remember how many times we toasted during the day. I think I must have cracked mugs over 100 times. It was the most "feel-good" atmosphere I may have ever been apart of. They would play all these songs and everyone would sing and dance. People would get up on the benches and tables. We were making jokes - "Who was gonna be the next table to enter the dark side (dance and sing uncontrollably)". Little did I know - it was going to be us. About 10 minutes later - the German couple from our table were up and dancing. Then - we were all swaying back and forth to the song: "Heeey, Heey, baby, I want to knooooow, if you'll be my girl". Brought back some memories of Faurot Field or Hearnes Center at MU. Side note - each tent serves their own beer. So, when the server comes, it's "How many?" - not, "What would you like?"

The other people were outdrinking me 2 to 1 at least. Each beer is 1 liter - almost 3 US beers. Plus, the alcohol content was about 7-8% compared to the 3.5 to 5.5% in the states. Like I said, good thing I've drank in the past. About 2 beers in - I'm feeling 'very" good. I go into "control mode". My intake of alcohol was almost nonexistant for a long while. I can't say how many beers were bought for me or shots for that matter. I'm way beyond peer pressure effecting my moves - If I don't want to drink something, it's not going to happen. If I drank what was put in front of me yesterday, I may still be past out on the hill with the other 1000 people. (Actually, to be honest, I'm surprised by the lack of people who were over the edge.)

Anyway - the day was great. I made some new friends. I was invited to a family's house in Copenhagen for Christmas, was given "women" advice by a couple from Ohio, and have an ally from Helsinki if I'm ever in those parts again.

About 9pm - I was getting a headache. I needed water and food. I could barely talk anymore - both tired and 1/2 intoxicated. I said my farewells - and decided to walk around the grounds before heading home. I drank 2 huge waters, ate a large pretzel (double the size of any large pretzel in the states), ate a 1-1/2 foot long brat -- I was all good about 10:30pm.

I luckily found the bus station and got back to the hotel around 11pm. Good stuff in Munich.