Oktoberfest Munich, Germany
Oktoberfest truly met all the expectations we've heard about it. Dave and I, along with my sister Jackie and her husband, Craig all met up at the Munich, Germany to celebrate our first Oktoberfest.
We arrived on the first day of the festival, September 19th, and drove our rental car to our hotel, Hotel AtriumMunich. The hotel is conveniently located just a quarter mile from the fairgrounds or the Theresienwiese. Oktoberfest has been going on since 1810. It was initially held in October, but in 1872, it was moved to September to provide partygoers with a more comfortable experience due to the warmer temperatures and longer daylight. The festival lasts 16 days and concludes on the first Sunday in October.
We didn't need to rent a car to get to our hotel but we found it more convenient since we were only spending 3 nights in Munich before driving to Switzerland and Italy for the remainder of our vacation. Plus, with the hotel's discount it only cost us 16 euros a day to park.
Once we arrived we decided to walk around the city and find a local place to eat. At the recommendation of the front desk clerk we went to Munchner Stubn. We were early enough to find a table for four. This is where we had our first beer of the trip, although they were only a half liters. Baby steps. The food was also delicious. Dave and I had potato & sausage soup. After that there was schnitzel, pretzels, redfish, and a bunch of other things I didn't write down. We were all too full for dessert so we decided to continue walking around the city.
First stop was the Hard Rock Cafe, not to eat but to get our customary t-shirts and a hat for Dave. As we walked we passed by churches and government buildings as well as various restaurants and gift shops. Occasionally we stopped, bought something or just simply looked around. Many of these buildings are well over a few hundred years old, something we're not used to seeing. We did find enough room to stop for some gelato before taking the long way back to our hotel and hitting the hay by 9pm.
It's a good thing we went to bed early because it seemed that we were a victim of jet lag. We woke up at 9am and immediately jumped into action. We couldn't miss the Traditional Costume and Riflemen's Parade, the main reason we choose to attend Oktoberfest on the first days. The parade started at 10am so we quickly grabbed some breakfast downstairs and headed out the door. Jackie and Craig were just getting up when we left the hotel. As luck would have it, the parade route was only a half a block from our hotel and we were able to secure a prime spot.
With 50 different groups and over 8,600 participants, the parade lasted two and a half hours long. Each brewery in Oktoberfest brought beer barrels in by way of Clydesdale horses. It was all pretty awesome to see. The parade started in Munich City Center and concluded at the Theresienwiese, a little over 4 miles long. Of course, these days the barrels are empty as there is no way those horses could pull enough beer for 7.4 million visitors. Which is how many people attended Oktoberfest this year, a record high.
After regrouping back at the hotel we walked over to the fairgrounds. It was super easy to find our way. Besides following the crowd there were also directional arrows on the ground .
We started at the Feisingers Kas- und Weinstubn beer garden. The beer gardens do not take reservations, its all open seating. We ended up sitting next to a couple from Canada before some of our friends from work met up with us for a liter of beer. Almost everything in Oktoberfest is cash only. The beers will run about 15 euros a liter. And a liter is a little over double what we're used to in the States with pints.
Next, it was off to the historic part of Oktoberfest, Oide Wisen. We were charged 4 euros a piece to enter but it was totally worth it. For one, it was not as crowded as the rest of the park. When we entered the Festzelt Tradition tent we heard the band playing and people were dancing in the center of the tent. At one point, while we were seated at a table a bunch of men in their lederhosen climbed onto the tables and put on a "whip cracking" performance. One of the whips almost took off Craig's ear. But he was ok.
Another tradition is to wear a customized clothespin on either your clothes or your hat. It was in the Festzelt Tradition tent that my sister spotted one left stranded on the floor. Dave quickly grabbed it and from then on became known as "Jamnik".
The following day we all wore our traditional German outfits: lederhosesn for the guys and dirndl for Jackie and I. We made our way back to the festival by 11am and just walked the fairgrounds before it became too crowded. We met up with our friends at the Hofbrau-Festzelt tent, Oktoberfest's largest tent. The tent holds around 7,000 people inside and another 3,000 in their beer garden. We ended up in the standing area directly in front and below the music stage. It was there that we met up with Dave's nephew, Danny who spent the day partying with us. After a couple liters of beer, a half chicken, potato salad, a giant pickle and a bottle of wiesn koks we headed for the ferris wheel.
The Ferris wheel was a great way to take a break and get a bird's eye view of the Theresienwiese. We ended up sharing our cart with a local couple who gave us some recommendations on where to go within the park.
The beer garden at the Lowenbrau tent was next. We continued with having a pint and also ordered some pretzels. The weather was beautiful and since we were sitting outside we could see the giant lion above us that roared every couple of minutes.
At some point we ended up in front of the giant Bavaria Statue, built between 1844-1850. There were a bunch of food venders in that area. Sometimes there were bands playing traditional songs or the Clydesdale horses waiting in the area.
We concluded our day at the Augustiner Brau beer garden. This was one of the recommendations from the couple in the Ferris wheel. Augustiner is Munich's oldest privately owned brewery, established in 1328. Yes, the year thirteen hundred twenty-eight. This place was pretty busy but the 5 of us were able to find a table and made some new friends. We sat next to some people from Vietnam, The Netherlands and Turkey.
After another liter of beer, what I later discovered was 13.5 percent and the only brewery at Oktoberfest that still serves their beer from a wooden barrel, we slowly made our way back to our hotel. Of course stopping multiple times to buy a souvenir or two and grabbing a bite to eat like a fish sandwich, potato on a stick and a giant bratwurst.
Oktoberfest was amazing but we needed our rest because the following morning we were off to Switzerland!
Until next time!
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