Prost to Oktoberfest!

Since I was in Europe during the biggest public festival in the world, I decided I should probably go to Oktoberfest. For those of you who haven't seen the Blockbuster hit "Beerfest," let me try to explain to you exactly what Oktoberfest is all about. Beer...that pretty much sums it up. Oktoberfest is held in Munich, Germany for 16 days each year, and it actually is filled with tons of German traditions and culture. I honestly don't know that much about it, so if you want to do further reading on this crazy event heres a good link: http://www.vistawide.com/german/oktoberfest/oktoberfest.htm


Since traveling to Germany can be expensive and kind of a pain, we decided to go through a tour group out of Florence, Florence For Fun- the name is not deceiving! We left Florence at around midnight for the nine hour drive. About three blocks from my apartment I was beginning to wonder if we would need the piece of paper they gave us when we paid for the trip...so I called Abbey and the conversation went something like this:

Me: "Hey, do we need that piece of paper they printed off when we paid?"
Abbey: "You mean the ticket?"
Me: "Right..."
Abbey: "And you have your passport, right?"
Me: "Of course I do..." in a tone that she knew I was lying
Abbey: "You know that Germany is another country, right?"

Being my mother's daughter, I had packed spare underwear, spare socks, and band aids for all 6 million people at the festival, but I had forgotten the two most important things...we're off to a good start. The bus ride wasn't near as bad as I thought. Abbey and I got rockstar seating and got to put our feet up because there weren't seats in front of us.

While we were driving through the Alps at 4 in the morning, while I was sound asleep...well, as sound as you can get on a bus...I was woke up by four or five girls who thought that taking 5 million picture out of a bus window was a good idea. I don't know if you've ever taken pictures out of a moving vehicle, but they never turn out, especially at night. So since I wasn't able to capture any of these Kodak moments, here is what the Austrian Alps look like. Kind of reminds you of the Sound of Music, doesn't it?

Since it was the final weekend, which meant the craziest, the plan was to get to the beer tents as quickly as possible so we would be able to get into one of them. Turns out, about half the people on the trip didn't get that memo, so we waited for them for about a half hour so they could all pee. We finally got to the festival, and got in line for one of the tents. Since there was about 100 people in our group, we gave up trying to get into a tent and sat at a table outside. Most of the 18 beer tents were completely full by 10 am!! We had a beer and a pretzel, and Abbey, Alissa, our new friend Ben and I decided to separate from the group.

We headed to one beer tent after another, and it was the same story: if your name isn't on our list, you're not getting in. This guy (the one being held down by the security guy), just wouldn't take no for an answer and pounded on the door and screamed something, I'm assuming was naughty, at the guards. It was 11 in the morning and people were already getting crazy! At this point it was 45 degrees, raining, and I was beginning to hate Oktoberfest. We needed to find somewhere warm! However, I did find entertainment by telling some old drunk German man, who was hitting on me, that his breath smelt. He had know idea what I was saying, and I'm pretty sure he thought I was into him. I wish I had a picture of this looker!

Shout out to my baby sis!

Pretzels the size of your face...doesn't get much better than that!

We thought we'd give it one more go and stand in line at another beer tent. After an hour and a half we were at the front of the line!! There were tons of people in line and it was getting pretty rowdy. We were being pushed around like we were in a mosh pit. The guard at the gate, who was deciding the chosen ones to be let in to the tent and ironically looked a lot like Saddam Hussain, was getting really frustrated with the crowd. At one point he went inside and said he wasn't going to let anyone else in. I was beginning to get optimistic, and at one point I actually sat down and threw a fit. I know, heard to believe, I'm so patient!! Long story short, we got into one of the tents and the fun began!

It didn't take us long to get our first beer. Since it took me about two hours to drink that beer, Abbey and I decided we would share from then on!

I know you're looking at this picture thinking "I thought she said tents." You're right, these weren't tents at all. They were huge buildings that were probably twice the size of my high school! It was filled with men in Lederhosen and women in Dirndl (aka German beer girl outfits). There was a band in the center of the "tent" that played all the classic German songs, that we all began to love, and even American songs. My personal favorite was when they sung the Beatles! Benches were not used for sitting, rather standing on and dancing to the music. If you weren't screaming to the music, you looked like an idiot.


They start young in Germany. We made friends with these girls, they were 14 and 15. They had to leave for curfew at 10:30.

After we stole our Hacker Pschorr (don't ask me how to say it) mugs, we stumbled out of the tent in search of some German food.

Just like the Iowa State Fair....

We headed back to the bus, only to wait for another hour and a half for the late arrivals. Some decided they wanted to stay in Germany, and did not return to the bus...we actually don't know if these people are alive, so Tim, if you're reading this, please let me know you're OK!

Since there are respected adults that could potentially be reading this blog, I have decided against putting up the videos of our madness at Oktoberfest. I think the pictures have said enough:). I'm already planning on returning to Oktoberfest next year, so if you're interested lets start the planning!


I know this final picture isn't relevant to Oktoberfest, but I thought I would show you the irony in this picture. After eating your 2000 calorie McDonalds meal, you can go right upstairs and do yoga. Awwww Europeans are great!

Hope you enjoyed Oktoberfest as much as I did! Stay tuned for Cinque Terre.

LOVES
vivian*