Reunited!
12 years and recorded an intake of 206,206 prisoners and 31,951 deaths.
"Arbeit macht frei" means "work makes you free."
Later in the afternoon, we headed to our hostel to check-in, and soon after took a tram into downtown Munich. Emily and I wanted to see if we could find the German dresses/outfits people wore to Oktoberfest, but we unfortunately had zero luck because they were all very expensive (over €100 each.) The four of us grabbed dinner at a small cafe and then headed back to the hostel to meet up with the rest of our group.
Catching the sunset in downtown Munich.
We all headed to Hofbräuhaus, a famous pub in Munich. The place was HUGE and packed with people of all ages and nationalities, drinking liters of beer and singing traditional German songs. The pub was even complete with a German band that fueled all the mayhem by leading chants and cheers. Even though each table could fit about 15 people (and there were hundreds of tables), we couldn't find a table to fit us all so we headed to the back and eventually made friends with some Germans who let us squeeze in with them.
Video:
Saturday morning was the Opening Day of the 202nd Oktoberfest! (The first Oktoberfest was held in 1810 to honor the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig's marriage to Princess Therese, in case you were wondering. ;) Oktoberfest is held on the Theresienwiesse grounds and there were 14 giant beer tents participating, each representing a local Munich brewery. It was raining and freezing when we left our hostel at 8am, but our walk to Oktoberfest was entertaining nonetheless; walking with thousands of people meant hearing a dozen different languages & seeing some pretty awesome costumes.
8am and ready to go!
Cold and rainy, but we were stoked to be there!
We arrived and headed to one of the main tents that our Euroadventures guide recommended (they led the way.) Unfortunately, we waited for about an hour only to have a security guard come out and yell that it was already full. Super bummed that we wasted all that time, we headed to other tents but they were already full as well. Even though there were 14 tents*, that each can accommodate 10,000 people, every single sitting space was packed. Hard to imagine, but true. After bouncing around a few tents, we decided to sit at the outdoor seating of Paulaner, since it wasn't raining. Pretty soon, all the tables around us were packed so we were glad we had found a spot when we did. However, it soon started misting, then raining, then down-pouring. We tried to make a tent with our umbrellas but just ended up huddled together, miserable, cold and drenched.
(*Side note: these "tents" are actually ginormous permanent buildings.)
Looking cheerful before it began to pour.
We waited there for about two hours, until the governor tapped the first keg at noon to kick-off Oktoberfest. Once it was noon, there was instantly a rumble of cheering and table-pounding, and before we knew it, the beers were flowing. It took awhile to get served, but once we did we were able to run inside the tent to dry off. (You only get served when you're at a table, so we had to wait at our table outside the entire time.)
Anyway, once inside, we discovered that the masses of grumpy, unwilling-to-share-their-table people we encountered earlier had turned into routy, dancing-on-tables, outgoing folks. The scene was literally insane, and I have never experienced anything like it in my entire life. Everyone was so friendly and sociable, and it was not hard to strike up a conversation with someone you made eye contact with. Our day flew by and we made a lot of friends, I spoke a lot of Italian (or attempted to) with lots of Italian people I met that found out I was studying in Italy, and we had an all-around great time.
SO HEAVY!
The inside of the tent full of thousands of people.
Made some German friends and scored a table!
Our Euroadventures guides, Clint and Dave, and me & Lauren
For most of the day, traditional German polka bands played Bavarian folk music, but later in the afternoon it turned rock, and they even played some American music. (It was hilarious seeing people sing 99 Red Balloons in English but not know how to communicate with us.) We weren't able to leave the Paulaner tent all day because there were crowds of people at each entrance waiting to get in. But by 7pm, everyone was exhausted so we finally left, and had to weave our way around the crowds (I felt like such a celebrity leaving a VIP event or something.)
Fun facts we read about from Oktoberfest 2011:
7.5 Million - liters of beer served
6.9 Million - people attended Oktoberfest
117 Oxen - roasted on spits to feed the crowds
226,000 - steins recovered by security as people attempted to steal them from the tents. (There was a €50 fine if you were caught stealing one this year, and they searched you as you left!)
Lost property items included: an electric wheelchair, viking helmet, crutches, 1300 items of clothing, 520 wallets, over 1000 ID cards, almost 500 mobile phones, 370 pairs of glasses, 90 cameras and 425 sets of keys.
14 - Number of huge beer tents
10,000 - Number of people a tent can accommodate
32 - Injuries, including concussions & skill fractures
2.9 - The weight, in pounds, of the typical beer stein
We slowly walked out of the festival and took it all in: it was like the Del Mar Fair but 800 times better. Lots of rides, games, costumes, and German food everywhere.
Emily, Jenn, Sara, Lauren and I went to downtown Munich to find a place for dinner. Every single restaurant was full. I guess the first day of Oktoberfest is quite a big deal. ;-) We lucked out and had dinner at the Paulaner Brewery, which was ironically the same tent we had just spent the entire day in! The place was packed so we had to share a big table with two guys from Greece, so it was interesting talking to them about their trip here. After a great dinner, we walked back through the Marienplaz square, headed back to our hostel and were in bed by 11, (which was great because it felt like 3am.)
Dinner at the Paulaner Brewery.
Amazing view of Marienplatz square and town hall.
Cool surfing spot in the river
At the Court Garden.
Beautiful day and beautiful view!
On our way back, we conveniently stumbled upon the HUGE Oktoberfest Opening Weekend Parade! It's officially called the Oktoberfest Costume and Riflemen's Parade & there were thousands of performers. The parade was complete with "troops" in historical uniforms, marching bands, riflemen, floats, thoroughbred horses, and cows. The whole route was about three miles, but we were able to catch the very beginning! I'm still not sure how our timing was so perfect. The backdrop of gorgeous classical buildings made the parade even cooler. We finally had to head to the metro to catch our flight home, but were really proud of ourselves for packing in so much sightseeing in such a short amount of time!
Didn't want to leave!
Overall, I really liked Germany and was pleasantly surprised by everything that happened/we saw this weekend. It was interesting to contrast with Italy.. everything was a lot more clean, their transportation system was much more organized, the buildings were stunning and were without graffiti, and the guys were quite more attractive (if I do say so myself.)
Prost!
(Cheers in German!)
