Just Follow the Lederhosen

Oktoberfest: Muenchen 2011

Again, this is one of those events where I sit down to write and I think, "Where do I begin?" It is extremely difficult to encapsulate everything that has happened.

First off, Niki and I decided to head down together and stay with her host family that lives in a little town just outside of Munich to cut back on expenses. Our first train from Marburg to Frankfurt got cancelled so we hopped on another one headed in that direction. From there we got on the ICE to go straight to Munich. It was so crowded that we were not able to find any seats in the whole train. So, we ended up having to sit on the rock hard ground by the doors. One of the set backs, besides the lack of butt-cushioning, was that we had to get up every time the train stopped at a different station so others could get on. This meant that we were repeatedly snapped awake by awfully loud alarms indicating that the doors were opening. During this four hour train ride, I was able to make it through Beethoven's 6th Symphony, Schumann's Carnival, and the Sunset Boulevard soundtrack. The rest of the time I was sleeping with my eyes wide open watching the train move from 100 km/h, 200 km/h, 300 km/h.

When we reached the Munich Hauptbahnhof we were greeted by a FLOOD of Lederhosen. The station was completely packed with people dressed to the Bavarian nines. We headed straight to the S-bahn. It smelt like stale Oktoberfest (which, for obvious reasons, does not smell too lovely). We finally made it to Niki's host family's place and when I hit the pillow, I was lost to the world.

OKTOBERFEST

Our day started at 6.00 a.m. We got up, grabbed our things and started the 20 minute walk to the Bahnhof where we caught the next train and made the 20 minute ride to Hackerbruecke. The ride to Hackerbruecke just SCREAMED anticipation. At each stop, the doors would open and a wave of shouts, songs, and lederhosen would flood into the train. The doors would close... silence. Next stop, more waves of shouts, songs, and lederhosen. When we arrived at Hackerbruecke, we had no clue how to get to the biggest festival in Germany. Luckily, everyone else on the train and at the station was headed to the same spot. So, when in doubt... follow the Lederhosen. I felt like I was in a Bavarian Pride parade. Everywhere I looked I saw Lederhosen and Dirndls. And then... behold... WILLKOMMEN ZUM OKTOBERFEST. The festival grounds were nearly void of life except for those of us who arrived early to secure a spot in the tent. The ground was soggy from the intense power-hose cleaning session it had received a few hours before. The only traces of the previous night were found when we were waiting in line for the Augustiner tent. There, we beheld crates... and crates... and crates... and CRATES full of beer empty beer glasses piled next to a conveyer-belt looking washing machine.

(For those of you who do not know, there are multiple "tents" at Oktoberfest that can hold thousands of people.)

Luckily we arrived early enough to be towards the front of the line with thousands of people behind us. The line itself is something I have a difficult time explaining. So much anticipation and excitement... to drink beer. Just to drink beer. In front of me was a herd of Lederhosen and behind me was a group of Italians. By 9.20 in the morning they were letting little spurts of people go in at a time so the line would shuffle a foot or two every now and then. Whenever the line moved I couldn't help but laugh. I got smooshed up against the Lederhosen with the Italians pressed against my back. If I had lifted up my feet, I would have stayed in the same position. We finally got in and the tent was absolutely GIGANTIC. The Augustiner tent holds about 6,000 people. That's a lot of people, and that's a lot of beer. And this isn't even the biggest tent. I was told by some Germans that Augustiner is the best beer in Germany. They were not kidding. It was incredible. By 11 a.m., Niki and I were fully flung into the Oktoberfest spirit. The people, the cheering, the beer, the music... I just can't describe any of it. Just that I've never seen so many happy people in one place at one time. Later in the day and into the night, I'd notice that I have never seen so many "about-to-pass-out" drunk people in one place at one time.

After we left the tent, we went back to the homestead and took a nap. Then we went to downtown Munich for dinner. We ate at a little outdoor restaurant by the Glockenspiel where an outdoor concert was playing. Mozart and Rossini. Life was very good at that moment. After that we went to Hugendubel. It is a GIANT bookstore with 6 or so floors. There, I found a much needed English-German dictionary and... *drum roll* LORD OF THE RINGS IN GERMAN! AAAAAAH SO HAPPY!!! We walked around for a bit longer and then returned to Oktoberfest. This time it was dark out, so the fairgrounds were completely illuminated and Oktoberfest was at its height. The ground was now full of trash, broken steins, broken bottles, food, and so on. There were a ton of overpriced rides so I made my selections carefully. There were about 4 "horror ride-throughs" which were all HILARIOUS. Not going to lie, I screamed like a child. Definitely worth it. We then proceeded to stumble back to the S-bahn. As we were walking, I had the funny thought that in a few hours they would power-hose the festival grounds again and it would be like I had never been there. The next day, some other person would probably have the same thoughts and experience the same emotions I did that day.



The next morning we barely made it to the S-Bahn, and then it was so crowded that it was running slower than usual. This means that we made it to our train out of Munich with 1 minute to spare. It was intense. Again... we could not find a seat, and so we were yet again banished to the floor. This time with the aches and pains from the day before. I read The Lord of the Rings all the way to Frankfurt. We had a good 50 minutes there so we were able to get some food and relax for a couple minutes. When we got on the train from Frankfurt to Marburg, WE FINALLY GOT SEATS! Our butts were so grateful. We got back to Marburg at around 3.50 in the afternoon. The next bus headed to the Studentendorf didn't arrive for 30 minutes, so we sat at Fiona's and had a cup of tea. It was fun and relaxing to just kick back in a familiar place.

Oktoberfest is another one of those landmark events that i've continued to have while being in Germany. I don't know how i'll be able to go back to the States and function after all of this.