OKTOBERFEST!!!!!!!

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit.
- See more at: http://www.oktoberfest-songs.com/ein-prosit-lyrics.html#sthash.IS2Y9qNq.dpuf

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit.
- See more at: http://www.oktoberfest-songs.com/ein-prosit-lyrics.html#sthash.IS2Y9qNq.dpuf

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit.
- See more at: http://www.oktoberfest-songs.com/ein-prosit-lyrics.html#sthash.IS2Y9qNq.dpuf

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit.
- See more at: http://www.oktoberfest-songs.com/ein-prosit-lyrics.html#sthash.IS2Y9qNq.dpu

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit.
- See more at: http://www.oktoberfest-songs.com/ein-prosit-lyrics.html#sthash.IS2Y9qNq.dpuf

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit
Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
Der Gemütlichkeit.
- See more at: http://www.oktoberfest-songs.com/ein-prosit-lyrics.html#sthash.IS2Y9qNq.dpuf

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
der Gemütlichkeit

Ein Prosit, ein Prosit
der Gemütlichkeit!

The end of September will forever bring back nostalgic memories from our time in Munich to celebrate Oktoberfest 2012. Our trip comprised of two and a half weeks visiting Budapest, Vienna, Munich, and Prague, with Oktoberfest being the main highlight. For anyone who loves beer this is the beer festival of all beer festivals, although not showcasing a great variety of beer but rather highlighting the pride that Bavarians have for their golden beverage - perfected over centuries.Truly a work of art.

The first Oktoberfest began on October 12th, 1810 (coincidentally the same day as Jean's birthday) to celebrate King Ludwig I's marriage to Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. There is a pretty cool history underlying the festival that really has become synonymous with the city, for more on that check out this link: Oktoberfest History. The festival brings in unbelievable crowds and revenue for the city which now makes it a vital part of Munich's economy. We heard something along the lines of 10 months worth of municipal revenue!! The area on which the festival is held is called the Theresienwiese, meaning grassland of Therese, is 420,00 square metres (4,500,000 sq ft) of prime Munich real estate. The festival brings in so much money that the city can justify leaving it empty most of the year, with the exception of a spring and winter festival plus an annual flea market. So if you ever visit Munich outside of the Oktoberfest season don't bother going to the grounds, it will look like an open grassland/ construction site, but don't despair amazing beer and atmosphere can always be found at the beer halls and gardens.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wiesn2006_Luftaufnahme.jpg

We arrived two days before the start of the festival and we were made aware by locals that we had to get our traditional Oktoberfest gear, meaning a lederhosen for men and a dirndl for the ladies. Although it seems like a bit of a splurge to be buying costumes, especially on a traveler's budget, we had come a long way to be there and we were gonna make the most of it! We were directed to Kaufingerstraße a pedestrian street right-off of Marienplatz. The atmosphere in these stores selling Oktoberfest wear was something along the lines of boxing day, Lederhosens and dirndls flying every which direction. 

  

The festival opens with a parade down the streets of Munich to the Oktoberfest grounds. Each beer house had their beer ushered in on horse drawn carriages and different Bavarian wear was showcased. After seeing enough differently coloured traditional attire and with the rain starting to come down we carried on our way to explore some more of Munich. 

  

 

This festival ran like a well oiled German machine! In preparation for Oktoberfest we did some research on different forums, and while reading we found out that if you do not have a seat you do not get any beer, but if you get there early enough you should have no problem finding one. How early? Well that just depends on which tent you want to spend your day in, if it is one of the younger party tents, those party goers are serious so make sure to get there well before the tents open. This came as a surprise to us, but most tents are already booked solid months ahead of time, and table reservations are only made for parties of 10. SO, we didn't want to take any chances and we booked a tour plus table reservation with an independent travel service (Viator) where we also got to meet other out of towners who helped to make our experience much more lively. Because that's what Oktoberfest is all about, rubbing shoulders and sharing a beer while singing beer drinking songs with other festival goers. 

   

These tents, if you can call them tents, more like semi-permanent structures, were amazingly decorated in each beer houses unique style. They can seat anywhere from 2000 to 10,000 people and they fill up fast.  

 

Let the party begin! We got settled into our extremely compact seating arrangements at the Hofbräuhaus tent, back-to-back on long benches (believe me you only get up to use the bathroom if you really have to go). The tents usually have two sittings, afternoon from 12-17h and evening from 18h-23h. Oktoberfest food fares are pretty standard unless you're in a food tent like Fischer Vroni (fish on a stick) or Ochsenbraterei (Ox meat), you could expect a standard meal to accompany the heavy drinking ahead. In case you didn't already know, Oktoberfest beer is traditionally 2% stronger than the regular year round beer, bumped up from 4% to 6%. We wonder who thought about making the beer - for a beer festival where people will drink excessively - STRONGER! We would like to give them a pat on the back, Prost!!

Micheal Jackson sums up the history of Oktoberfest beer pretty well, so I'll let you read that at RealBeer.com. The atmosphere in these tents is nothing less than pure jovial fun and carefree! Although this festival is centered around beer, the organizers do a great job at making it an inclusive cultural event for people of all ages to enjoy, so babies in lederhosen and dirndls are welcome!

 

As you can tell, people like to stand on the tables and benches, in some tents everyone is standing on these benches together. Funny story, we met some Americans with the tour who were visiting their daughter, along with some of their friends. When our reservation expired they invited us to join them for some more drinking in the Schottenhamel tent. At this point we (Jean) were already 6 litres deep, this goes without saying that our American friends more than held their own. So, we decided to go with them, we thought it would be fun, and it was. After taking our seats in the tent we found ourselves standing on the end of the benches singing along with them to Oktoberfest songs, but soon after we had reached our Oktoberfest limit and decided to leave. We climbed off the benches and went to say goodbye to our Oktoberfest companions when all of a sudden they fell over like dominoes! And their legs and arms were flailing, beer was flying everywhere, and people were falling onto the floor. Obviously, we stopped to help one of them up, and while doing so we saw the aftermath, it looked like this: the friend was belly down on the table covered in beer, the father was laying on the bench, and the mother was lying on the floor her hair soaked with beer. What a mess! We could not help but wonder if we were to blame. The sole benefit of being in an intoxicated state is the body's numbness to pain, however, the next day must have been hell. Nothing more-beer cannot cure!

Goodbye!

Thanks for reliving our Oktoberfest experience with us, We hope that one day you will get the opportunity to go, if you are going this year and want some travelers tips just send us a message!

Prost!

- Adri