Ok, so it has now been over a month since us girls headed down to Munich for the party of all parties! Guess its time to update this thing with the details of Oktoberfest...well, what I can share in public....just kidding, it was all good, clean, beer-induced fun!
So about 10 of the girls from the team rented a little pink Barbie bus and made the trip 5 hours south. Despite the weather being pretty crappy, we all managed to show up in style. Just about everyone there wears a dirndl or lederhosen, so we just had to fit in!
With it being a Monday, it wasn't nearly as packed as the weekends, but there were still plenty of people guzzling beer at 1pm in the afternoon. Honestly, what could be better that? The first tent we went into was the Pschorr tent. We quickly found a table, ordered a round of beers and waited for our massive one liter beers to arrive. That's right, one liter of ice cold, 6% alcohol beer.
I have no idea how the Frauen that work the tents carry all those beers, but handling 8 of them this first trip was no sweat for our waitress. Seriously though, one was almost too much for me to handle. So heavy! I can only imagine the money that they women make working here during Oktoberfest. Apparently, it is such a highly regarded (and definitely sought after) job, that once you are hired in a tent, you have the job as many years as you want. Talk about job security!
Anyways, we slowly but surely downed the first beer and decided it was a good time to stroll the fair grounds. There were rides, games, outdoor beer tents, every imaginable German food available (think 2 foot long Wursts!) and many, many souvenir kiosks. Just imagine the largest fair ever (with real rollercoasters, not those puny ones at town carnivals), with hundreds of thousands of people just walking around, drinking good German beer and having the time of their lives. There is something to admire about the German way of life. After a couple of hours of braving the cold outside (I for one did not ride any rides. I mean really, a beer for 5 Euro or a ride for 5 Euro, its not even a contest), we headed into the infamous Hofbräu tent.
This tent (notice it is not really a tent, but a large building with probably about 6,000 of your new best friends waiting inside) is known for its large tourist crowd. There were Aussies, Irish lads and lasses, and even a group from Austin, TX! I picked them right out of the crowd, wearing "Tito's Vodka" baseball hats. Haha, who would of thought that Tito's Vodka could bring together Texans more than 5,000 miles apart!
Well, the Hofbräu was so, so much fun, but a blur. We finally ended up in the Spaten tent, sharing a table with a couple of older Italian gentlemen - their wives looking on from another table, laughing at their fun - that were kind enough to let us drink their beer and dance on their tables. What a riot! I unsuccessfully tried to smuggle a giant beer glass out of the park, but they guard those things closer than you can imagine. My "American Charm" (is there such a thing?) and pleading to keep the glass was no match for a sober and probably exhausted security guard. Oh well, Alex got me one the next week and the huge mug has become his favorite milk glass. And after all was said and done, the party came to an end for us. It seemed to me that the night was over in a blink of an eye, and I would do it all over again in a heart beat! Anyone that ever has the chance to make their way over to Germany in late September has to make the trip down to Bavaria for a celebration to remember. I promise you won't be disappointed; I know I wasn't! (already looking forward to next year! Who's with me?!?!)
Oh, and one last picture for your enjoyment. Herr and Frau Leavitt. Aren't we just the most German couple! lol.
