Arriving in Munich, we grabbed the tram to The Tent, our accommodation for the next couple of days. Due to over 6 million people flooding to Munich for Oktoberfest, it is near impossible to find anywhere to stay for under 100 Euros a night, so we found this campground where you can sleep on the floor of this massive tent for 11 Euros a night.
Checking in, the lady gave us each 5 blankets and this thin foamy to sleep on. We sat outside eating dinner from the cafeteria and it started getting really cold, and we regretted packing mostly bikinis and sundresses. As dark fell, they started a massive fire, and everyone sat around drinking beer and trying to stay warm.
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| Campfire at The Tent |
Pretty much everyone staying at the tent is a young backpacker, so the company was quite good. The first night around the fire was Spanish night for us, as we ended up talking to some people from Madrid, and then later a group of guys from Argentina.
Sleeping on the floor with 50 other people was interesting... And the 5 blankets were almost enough to keep us warm.
We awoke and decided we needed to go buy warm clothes. We wandered down to the city centre and went shopping. The city centre is really beautiful... We randomly stumbled upon a few castles and markets. I bought a new winter coat and Gillian bought a hoodie.
The second night around the fire we met this group of people who live in Edinburgh and funnily enough, they worked with one of Gillians friends.
Throughout the evening we heard different rumors about what time to get up the next morning to ensure a spot in one of the beer tents. We went with one of the more moderate times of 630am, but come 5am, half of the tent had already gotten up, and by 530 we gave up trying to sleep through all the noise.
We go to get ready and the campground bathroom has about 30 girls all squeezed around 6 sinks and 2 outlets. I've got to say I've never felt so unattractive in a campground before.
We followed the crowd to the grounds and picked the smallest line to a tent to stand in. 2 hours later we were all informed we were all waiting at the wrong door, and a mass mob occurred as everyone raced for the right door. Another 20 minutes later we finally got into the beer tent, only to find all the tables already taken. An hour after asking every non-full table if we could join them, we couldn't handle any more rejection and we left the tent.
Our new edinburgh friends texted us, and jealous of their extra 3 hours of sleep we went to meet up with them.
We sat on the grass until the parade started at 11. The parade itself was one of the most mundane parades I've ever seen. They alternated marching bands with horse drawn carriages filled with people drinking beer, while all the spectators can't drink beer until noon when the mayor taps the first keg. The only thing that saved it for me was the incredibly good looking police officer situated directly in front of us.
At noon the Edinburgh boys ventured off to find a beer tent seat, and we sat on the grass because my sinuses were completely blocked and I had a wicked headache. The boys texted us that they found a seat and we went to find them. We met their other friends on the way, and once getting in the tent and finding no seats, we began the quest to find beer. After asking at the bar and getting rejected we asked some people with beer how they got theirs. Apparently if you aren't at a table you lurk the staff carrying 10 beer steins at once, and then pounce once they've set them down.
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| The biggest beers and pretzels ever. |
I don't think it's ever taken me so long to drink a beer. Feeling sick, combined with the shear volume of the beer, it literally took me 3 hours to drink it. And surprisingly it was still cold at the end! Halfway through our beers we snagged some seats with the boys, and completed our Oktoberfest wishlist.
The whole think is extremely similar to the stampede, with concession stands and rides everywhere except at Oktoberfest people dress in leiderhosen and traditional Bavarian dresses (I've never seen so much old woman cleavage) instead of cowboy attire, and drinking excessively is encouraged and you can bring your own beer and drink it as you walk around.
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| Oktoberfest Grounds |
Apparently the amount of goat hair in your Tirolerhüte (Bavarian felt hat) is a direct relationship to how rich you are. Sometimes it can get a bit silly looking...
Considering I felt absolutely horrible, my Oktoberfest experience was amazing, and absolutely nothing like Kitcheners mini Oktoberfest.
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