So this weekend I shipped off to Munich, Germany to partake in the legendary glory that is Oktoberfest. And of course, it did not disappoint. As many of you know, Oktoberfest is a sixteen-day festival held each year in Munich, Germany from late September to the first week in October. We decided to go for the last week (figuring it would be the big final hurrah of the festivities). Oktoberfest is one of the most famous events in the city and the world's largest fair, with between six and seven million people attending every year. Other cities across the world also hold similiar imitation Oktoberfest celebrations in honor/modeled after the Munich event. {Little known fact is that when the original "Oktoberfest" occurred in Munich, on October 12, 1810 as a giant horse race organized by Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen in honor of their marriage.} Therefore, this marked the 175th Oktoberfest in history.
We arrived to what seemed to be blistering cold weather (the fact that we still are heading to the beaches in Barcelona really spoils us). But we were amply prepared with hats, scarves, wintercoats, and -in my case- fuzzy hospital socks under my boots. After hailing taxi, the three guys and myself were driven for 35 minutes through green farmlands and along highways that seemed to be taken right from central Pennsylvania. Wearing shorts to school and still going to the beach occasionally in Barcelona, I forget that it is fall - the most beautiful season in areas like PA and Munich, where the air is dry and cold and the leaves make even the most mundane walks beautiful and picturesque. We arrived at the hotel, two of us checked in and whisked the other bags upstairs (we were only technically allowed to have two in the room) and bravely figured out the Munich public transportation system to find our first drinking destination. Fortunately for our broke college-student bank accounts, the Munich public transportation system is on a honor basis. My apologies to the Germany government, I promise to repay you one day when I return, which I am sure I will.
Waiting for the #55 bus, our shuttle to heaven.
Gorgeous gothic architecture in Munich.
Outside of one of the many many biergartens that line the cobble-stone streets of Munich.We wander around the crowded streets trying to find a Biergarten that doesn't have a two hour wait to get some food. Finally we find one, wait 30 minutes, and get inside greeting our first vision of Germany's finest. The biergartens are warm and cozy, since the large wooden rooms are congested with more people than usual on such a fine holiday. The tables are littered with drunk locals and tourists alike, weathered and intoxicated after a long day spent outdoors at the Oktoberfest beer tents. Swaying merrily on their chairs, the eat a hearty Germany meal and sing/slur lyrics to the drinking tunes played by a muscian or two, travelling from area to area within the biergarten. We make our way up the winding wooden stairs and spend almost three hours eating chicken, spietzel, pretzels, potatoes, lamb, even ice cream and deep fried apples, and a few different types beer from amply filled one liter glasses. After we had ate and drank our fill, we left back out into the cold to wander the streets, stopping to admire the leiderhosen-clad drunks and grabbing some pizza on the way home (you really can't take America out of the American). Then we navigated our way back to the hotel to rest up for the long day ahead.
We woke up at 6:45 am, left the hotel via taxi (for efficiency) by 7:30 and got to Oktoberfest by 8:00 am. Impressive hustle, in my humble opinion. There we were greeted by the glorious signage, smell of baking breads and pretzels, and of course, the hoards of thousands upon thousands of beer enthusiasts already lined up outside the tents awaiting their first beer of the morning.
(Cue angels singing in background).
No matter rain or shine, the masses will gather, some even sporting some nifty leiderhosen!Eventually we were let in around 9:30 and had beer and chickens in hand by 10:15, not a bad start to the morning. It stayed cold outside and rained periodically throughout the day, but none of this deterred the spirits of us or those drinking around us. We sat at one of the very long wooden tables outside, were we met locals and other tourists, sang drinking songs such as "Ein Prosit" (all in German) and weird enough the opening beats of "Seven Nation Army" by White Stripes (duh-da-da-da-da-duhhh-duhhh). People would stand on the tables and chairs, toasting all around, spilling beer all over our already drenched clothing and tables, and eating the biggest (and thus most glorious) soft pretzels I have ever seen.
Tons of people outside the tent, braving the inclimate weather for some tastey beer.
This definitely gives Philly Soft Pretzels some competition.
HUGE BEERS!
Trying to stay dry outside in the rain.We welcomed the challenge to last all day, especially when a liter of the specially brewed beer was only about 9 euro each (a bargain compared to Barcelona prices)! Furthermore, the beer is brewed just for Oktoberfest and is called Märzen. It is darker and stronger than traditional beer, (contains up to 6-8% alcohol), is bottom-fermented, and is lagered for at least 30 days. Before the advent of modern refrigeration techniques, this type of beer was brewed in March (as its name suggests) and allowed to age through the summer, so that it was ready to drink by late summer or early fall. Like all German beer, the Oktoberfest beer is brewed according to strict German standards (called the Reinheitsgebot and in effect since 1516) that precisely define the four ingredients allowed in the brewing of beer: barley, hops, malt, and yeast.
Just 6 Munich breweries - Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, and Spaten - are permitted to serve beer at the festival. Beer is served by the Maß, a one-liter mug, which is made of very thick glass and weighs a ton! All beer maids and waiters must be able to carry 10 of these beer-filled mugs at a time, and surprisingly a lot of these beer maids are old women.
"Give me a kiss" on a huge German cookie.We lasted pretty long Saturday, eventually making it to a Biergarten for some dinner and more beer before retiring around 8 pm to our hotel, where a group of seven of us snuck our way into the room to pass out until the next morning. Sunday we woke up at 7:00 am and went back to the tents, this time making it to the warm inside of the tent where we were served our first beer at 8:55 am (that certainly rivals our early morning Penn State tailgates)! We stayed at the tent until 1:00 pm or so, when we drunkenly meandered our way to the train station and then to the airport, to return safely back to Barcelona after a lovely weekend!
Inside the tent on Sunday morning.
More people than you think are ready to drink and sing at 9:00 am!
Me sporting a traditional Germany hat.Here are some interesting statistics courtesy of Wikipedia:
Oktoberfest numbers (2007)
- Area: 103.79 acres (0.42 km²)
- Seats in the festival halls: ca. 100,000
- Visitors: 6.2 million
- Beer: appr. 6,940,600 litres (126,900 litres non-alcoholic)
- Wine: 79,624 litres
- Sparkling wine: 32,047 litres
- Coffee, tea: 222,725 litres
- Water, lemonade: 909,765 ½ litres
- Chicken: 521,872 units
- Pork sausages: 142,253 pairs
- Fish: 38,650 kg
- Pork knuckles: 58,446 units
- Oxen: 104 units,
- Expenditure of electricity: 2.8 million kWh (as much as 14% of Munich's daily need or as much as a four person family will need in 52 years and 4 months)
- Expenditure of gas: about 205,000 m³
- Expenditure of water: about 90,000 m³ (as much as 27% of Munich´s daily need )
- Waste: 678 t (2004)
- Toilets: about 980 seated, more than 878 metres of urinals and 17 for disabled persons.
- Telephones: 83, also for international credit cards.
- Lost property: about 4000 items, among them 260 pairs of glasses, 200 mobile phones, wedding rings, crutches, and even dentures
Left: typical Oktoberfest size of a beer; Right: a typical huge jar of beer.Wow... So in other words: Oktoberfest 2009 will take place from September 19 to October 4. Anyone want to join?
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