Oktoberfest!

So I know I haven't written for a while and I think its high time for an update! These past two weeks have been jammed full of awesome goings-on. I was fortunate enough to be able to experience two extremely important German events; the Oktoberfest in Munich and the Tag der Deutschen Einheit (Day of German Unity) in Berlin.

I was actually very lucky to be able to take part in the Oktoberfest. The other Americans studying at the University of Cologne had booked a hostel in the nearby city of Augsburg months in advance. However, one of their roommates had dropped and they asked me if I wanted to accompany them to Munich. Of course I said yes! I purchased my ticket the next day and packed the day after! On Friday the 23rd of September I woke at 5 am, and hurriedly readied myself. By 6:30 am I was on a tram bound for the Hauptbahnhof to catch a train to Munich that left at 7:15. I arrived on the platform ten minutes before the train arrived, boarded, and settled in for the 4 hour journey.

About halfway through a Canadian sat down beside me and started talking excitedly about Oktoberfest. It was clear that he was not exactly in the best condition to be going. He had lost most of his luggage at the last stop and had no idea where the person he was staying with lived and lacked contact information for her. He also seemed woefully unprepared for all that Oktoberfest encompassed so I did my best to fill him in on what exactly would go down.

We arrived at the Hauptbahnhof in Munich at about 11:30 am. I grabbed my small, over-the-shoulder bag that held all I would hopefully need for the weekend and took a little walk around the city, acquainting myself with the area around the Haupbahnhof. I then returned to the station, had lunch at a Burger King, and sat down to wait for Chris and James to arrive. It turned out that their train was two hours late so I sat for about three hours before it finally pulled in. I greeted them cheerfully and we set off to meet the three others who would be sharing the hostel with us. We meet the first very fortunately a few train stations away. We met the other two American students at the airport with surprisingly little trouble then hopped back on the train to the Hauptbahnhof were another train waited to take us to our hostel in Augsburg.

After checking into our hostel and depositing our luggage we boarded the train once again to go back to the Oktoberfest celebration. Within an hour we had entered Theresienwiese, the massive park where festival takes place. Hundreds of people were crammed into the wide streets and massive Bierzelten (beer tents) had been erected along the dirt road. The atmosphere was overwhelmingly cheerful and our sense were assaulted by a barrage of sights, sounds, and smells. After walking along the streets for a time, taking pictures and marveling at the enormity of it all, we decided to try and enter a tent. We scoped out a few before landing on one of the most popular, the Hofbrauhaus tent.

The Theresienwiese Strassenbahn stop.

We shouldered our way into the crowd waiting outside and stood in the cool night air for what must have been 20 minutes. Occasionally the bouncers at the entrance would raise a line of rope and allow 2 or 3 people to enter the tent. At around the 20 minute mark (we were prepared to wait an hour at least) the bouncers raised the entire rope and the crowd surged forward excitedly, each struggling to be the first to enter the tent. Inside our small group reformed and Chris excitedly exclaimed that they had been offered a table. We walked a few feet into the massive beer tent and forced our way onto a crowded bench near the entrance. No one was sitting and everyone was standing on the benches of the table so we shouldered our way into the mass of humanity bestriding the table.

The noise in the hall was immense. On a raised stage a band was playing a mix of older American music and traditional German melodies. Everyone in the tent was shouting and yelling and singing along. As our first round arrive we quickly made friends with our neighbors. One was a gigantic. loud Australian who enjoyed smashing his beer stein into those of the people he was toasting. It was clear he had consumed quite a lot of the golden brown liquid. On our other side was a quiet and serious German who held a doctorate in history. His name was Ollie and he was soon the most interesting man at the table. Soon the Australian man was replaced by a group of younger Germans with whom I chatted for a time.

The Oktoberfest grounds.

Der Bierzelt des Hofbrauhaus

James, Ryan, and I inside the beer tent.

After about two hours of merry-making inside the tent we were ushered from the table as the beer tent was closing. The tents at Oktoberfest surprisingly closed around 11 pm. This was probably due to some safety concerns but it was still disappointing to have to leave so soon. On the other hand, the beer in the tent was super-strong and most of us had about reached our limited. We walked outside into the crowd and were promptly separated by the swarm of people leaving the fair grounds. There was nothing that I could do except force my way back to the train stop and catch a ride back to the Hauptbahnhof. I found the train departing for Augsburg at its platform when I arrived, hoping against hope that the others would find the train as well.

As I was about to board I received a call from James who showed up with one of our other friends at the platform. Relieved that at least some of us had survived I boarded with them. I sat down once aboard as James and our friend went in search of a bathroom when a miracle occurred. First one of our other companions, than another, and then the final one walked aboard the train and past my seat. Despite all odds and some slightly altered states, we had all made it aboard the same train. I was very relieved and spent an surprisingly enjoyable ride back to Augsburg were we collapsed into our bunks.