Prost Y’all

Time again for the Bartholomew’s to hit the road. It feels a little like 2012 though because our second trip while living abroad was to another city we visited on our Masters study abroad trip – Munich. As with London, however, we had a very good reason for returning to Munich. The timing of our visit probably gives it away but Oktoberfest was the motivation for our trip. The famous festival of beer and pretzels and music. We had seen the pictures, heard the stories, and now we were going to experience the event first hand. In order to maximize the fun both Bill and I took Friday off of work and left Amsterdam on Thursday evening to meet Vartan – Bill’s KPMG Fort Worth coworker living in London – and his wife Paola. We had a direct flight on Lufthansa but it did not leave until later. I had assumed Lufthansa would have a boarding process more in line with airlines in the States. Not the case. Just as with EasyJet it was one big free for all. I don’t necessarily mind this (especially since my status is with American Arline’s and is all but useless here) but it does mean you have to be slightly aggressive to get on the plane. If you don’t have enough hustle the overhead space will be full by the time you board. Arriving in Munich also made me appreciative of the ease in which we can get to Schiphol at home. The journey in Amsterdam to the airport takes maybe 30 minutes. Munich was at least an hour. There is a direct train into Munich, however, so we couldn’t complain too much. With our slight delay it did make for a late night which would make the next morning’s alarm less pleasant.

Friday morning had a strict agenda. Everyone we talked to said we needed to get to the tents early to secure a table. For those who haven’t done Oktoberfest a table is key for a few reasons. First, the wait staff will not serve you if you aren’t at a table – beer or food. We did learn Saturday that this isn’t entirely true. In the hacker tent there are also spaces signified with a white box where you can stand and they will serve you. The second reason you want a table is more self explanatory, to actually sit down. Aside from the tables there is no seating in Oktoberfest. Literally. There may be some somewhere on the grounds but if there was I didn’t see it. Without a table you also aren’t able to set your heavy beer stein down. I consider myself to be fairly strong but a whole day holding a beer stein would be a lot of work. I guess it’s one way to burn the calories. Anyway, good accountants that we are, we followed the advice we were given and tried to arrive as close to 10 am when the gates opened as we could. Before making our way to the tents there was one important element to the experience we needed to procure – authentic Bavarian garb! Bill found an outfitter online where you could rent drindels and lederhosen for less than it cost to purchase them and we decided to go with that option. With the minimal shelf space in our new apartment and my recent hatred of clutter following our move, I was more than happy not to be the owner of an outfit with no other immediate use. I did not realize this but drindels are basically the Bavarian version of a corset. Very tight and lots of boobs. My years of skillfully maneuvering into skin tight racing suits finally had a practical application! Looking our German best we were ready to take on Oktoberfest. Walking into the Oktoberfest grounds reminded me of walking into the state fair. Rides, games, vendors, the smells of praline nuts and sausages filling the air. Essentially this felt like an amusement park for adults.

With a slight detour for a hat for Bill (complete with feather) we set course for the Hacker Pschorr tent. Many of you have probably seen pictures of this tent with its painted ceiling cluttered on your social media feed. We thankfully were there early enough to secure a spot at a table and we were ready! The day was filled with beer, new German and Italian friends, and spatzle (think German Mac and cheese).

Before we knew it it was already 5 pm. Sufficiently drunk and a little restless we decided to leave the tent to explore the fairgrounds a little. We rode a couple of rides and got some yummy snacks.

I was starting to need actual food though and wanted to actually sit down to eat so we went back towards our Airbnb for dinner. We found a small Italian restaurant that did the trick. The tightness of the drindel made the post-dinner food coma less than ideal. We ended up going back to the Airbnb for a short pit stop before heading back to the tents. When we arrived back at the tents we learned the next lesson of Oktoberfest – once you are in a tent, do not leave. Getting back in can be particularly challenging. You can get reservations in a tent but you need a large group and tickets sell out essentially a year in advance. It can also be very expensive. For our small group it was easier to get in but it requires a lot of waiting. You have to wander around the outside to find the general admission entrance and wait behind a barricade until the bouncer decides to let the group in. After trying a handful of tents and wandering around, it looked like the Hofbrauhaus tent was our best option. Although it was frustrating having to wait, I’m actually glad we went back out that night and learned how to get in to the tents later. The early morning was wearing on us (mostly me) and I knew tomorrow I would not be able to get to the tent at 9 am and survive into the night and the night is when the fun starts. The Hofbrauhaus had a live band playing “classic” American songs. I say “classic” because it’s interesting what songs they choose to play. They had everything from Blink 182 to Sweet Home Alabama and Sweet Caroline to Angels by Robbie Williams (What??). Everyone at this point is also standing on top of the benches at the tables, swaying, and singing at various levels of intoxication. The benches were so sticky I could barely lift my feet. I kept praying someone actually cleans all of it off before the next morning. At 10:30 the band said auf wiedersehen and we did too until tomorrow.

The next morning Paola and Vartan woke up early to get to the tents when they opened. Paola was unable to get Friday off of work so Saturday was her chance to experience Oktoberfest. We on the other hand decided on brunch. Yesterday we only had McDonald’s finest egg McMuffin for breakfast and something a bit heavier would be in order if I was going to make it into the evening. Flipping on the trusty TripAdvisor we found a spot called Cotidiano. I knew it would be good when we walked up and saw the line. It was in a cute little square and it was a perfect fall day, slightly crisp breeze with the sun shining down. After about 15 or so minutes standing in line I noticed the couple behind me suddenly leave the line and take one of the outside tables that just cleared up. At that point we realized the outside tables were first come first serve. With a divide and conquer strategy I continued to wait for a spot inside and Bill stood on look out outside. After some heavy lurking and fast maneuvering, Bill secured us a table. Excellent practice for the table hunting that lay ahead in the tents. We enjoyed a hearty Belgian Breakfast (scrambled eggs with bacon on toast) with some lattes and a delicious almond croissant. All the food was pretty reasonably priced as well. If you find yourself in the center of Munich this place was worth seeking out.

With a solid base in our stomachs we were ready for round 2 of Oktoberfest. Paola and Vartan had again found themselves in the Hacker tent so we made our way there. When we arrived we found our way to the barricade and began to wait. There is no way to tell when they will let you in so you just have to be patient. Not a strong skill of mine but nothing we could do about it. At one point someone did try and make a break for it. He made it pretty far but eventually got stuck in a crowd and the security guard caught up with him at which point the burly bouncer showed him the way out with a certain amount of force. With the security guard out of his post a few girls at the front of the line saw this as their opportunity to also attempt to make a break for it. They made it about 10 steps before the bouncer was back. These security guards are no joke. They looked like they could snap you in half so merely the look of this angry giant man was enough to scare the girls back behind the barricade. Eventually our patience paid off and we were allowed into the tent. Originally, Paola and Vartan had a table but unfortunately the table was reserved starting at 12:30 so they had to give it up. We found them standing in one of the designated server areas I previously mentioned, however, so it was all good. Eating dinner did prove to be a little interesting and my feet are now throbbing from all the standing but it was fun to be in the tent. We made friends with a couple guys from Düsseldorf who were standing with us and that paid dividends later when they found a table and invited us up. At our new location we met some more Germans who were super friendly. They even invited us to their hometown to stay for their local festival. Don’t know if we will take them up on their offer but it was nice to make friends for the night at least. From our new table we danced the night away before returning home after the last song played.

Sunday was the travel day home. Three day trips are kind of the sweet spot we decided. You get two full days in a city – usually plenty of time to see the main sites – then a day to travel home and you can plan it so you get home at a decent time. On the plane home I came up with my list of suggestions for anyone planning on heading to Oktoberfest which I will leave you with to end the post:

1) two days is a good amount of time. One day, I would go to one of the tents early so you can see the morning experience. Then before you drink too much, leave and walk around the actual grounds, ride some rides, eat fair food, etc. The second day start a little later so you can make it to the evening.

2) You don’t necessarily have to go to the tents right when they open. If you have a smaller group (2-6) and can be patient, you can wait outside for a while and eventually they will let you in.

3) If you’re doing 2 days, Thursday and Friday I think are good choices. I would have your late night be Friday. Saturday was insane. Looking back I would not have gone on a Saturday.

4) Eat a big breakfast or lunch if you’re planning on drinking.

5) go to the atm before going into the fair. The tents are essentially cash only and the lines for the atms are long. Just go before.

6) Dress up. At least 75% or more of the people there were in lederhosen and drindels. You will feel weird if you aren’t wearing one. Plus it’s fun.

7) wear comfortable shoes. Chances are you will be doing minimal sitting and dancing on the benches can be treacherous. We saw many a spills.

8) plan ahead. As soon as you know you want to go book an Airbnb or hotel and flights. We booked 6 months in advance and there was not a lot of options even at that point. If you plan early enough you may even be able to get a table.