Three Days at Oktoberfest 2011

Two weeks ago, a group of us embarked on a crazy road trip to Munich for Oktoberfest (and then on to Amsterdam). Guess how long it took to drive from London to Munich? Just guess.
17 hours. SEVENTEEN.
I nearly killed myself and ALMOST regretted going on the trip.

We were delayed as we got to Dover too early ahead of our scheduled train – get this, you can actually take a train across the channel to Calais as in your car drives INTO the train. A CAR train! It was amazing!

There were also road blocks and we got stopped by German police (immigration check) at a random section of road in the dead of the night, at which point everyone took turns to run into the pitch-darkness to pee.
I have to say, I found this part really exciting.
It was drizzling as well!

Predictably, we arrived there exhausted, agitated, and lacking sleep

But two hours later, we were at the festival grounds – time must not be wasted!
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The first tent we visited was a relatively new one and sold beers in 0.5 litre portions instead of the full litre, for the same price of โ‚ฌ10.

To be precise, it’s โ‚ฌ9.10 but it’s common practice not to receive change for a tenner and let it be the tip.
You do get what you pay for though – this was my favourite of the whole fest
I love its smooth orangey colour
It tasted smooth, too, and rich

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Me and a giant salted pretzel
There’d be girls with baskets walking around to sell them in the tents
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Emma managing to hold two litres
Which is NOTHING because you’d see all these crazy waitresses holding up to a dozen of these mugs AT ONCE
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The rest of our first evening was spent outdoors in a beer garden

Where we witnessed a beautiful sunset – a blanket of thick cloud lit by golden rays beneath
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Of course, you can’t get the full effect from a mere photo.. :p

Days Two & Three

I was going to do each day separately but my memories of both have melted into each other.. it’s quite hard to recall what happened when..
The following day we were all much fresher
And got dressed in our ‘Oktoberfest Gear’
By this I mean ‘cheap beer wench outfit from eBay that you think is what girls will wear at Oktoberfest but in reality they’re all tastefully dressed in traditional dirndls, making you feel just a BIT silly’
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Still, I liked the costume and really enjoyed wearing it!
Then again, I like looking silly..

I got myself a a red felt hat from one of the numerous souvenir stands
Which I later LOST in Amsterdam.. I’m so bummed.. don’t even talk about it..

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The interior of our Day Two tent

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Outside one of the tents
Each one is very elaborately decorated, both inside and out, and have a unique feel or vibe
For example, the Hofbrau tent is supposedly the ‘international tent’, where you’ll find a truckload of people from all around the world.. mostly Australian, I’m guessing.. hahaha
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Me, Aysh, Emma in our matching costumes hehe
I drank my beer so fast that day I felt so tipsy after just one
I think this was the drink that spurred me on to buy my red hat
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Sausage and sauerkraut
I love sauerkraut!
I used to pile it on at the bratwurst stand at Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne that I used to visit regularly for my sausage fix
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A little bit drunk
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This is obviously a drunk face (Ryan)
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Mark and Dave in their matching festive shirts
Lederhosen are expensive to buy!
In the evening, we managed to get a table in a really lively tent
We perched ourselves on the benches
Sang along to loads of cheesy songs performed by the live band
They play a lot of really cheesy/universal stuff.. I’m not sure why.. but probably cos everyone will recognise the songs

We shouted ‘Prost‘ (that’s ‘cheers’ in German) a bazillion times to plenty-a-stranger
And heartily yelled the words to a popular German singing toast which goes ‘Ein prosit, ein prosit der Gemutlichkeit’ even MORE times.. the band would play this every 10 minutes or so
It was one of my favourite things!
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Aysh & Ryan.. not sure what happened here
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The atmosphere was absolutely buzzing
You really had to be there
Everyone was HAPPY and loud and smiley
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Emma & I
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Me and some randoms we drank with!

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Outside the tents, the scene was like a giant carnival/fun fair
Full of colour and things to make you feel like a kid again
We went on a  good number of rides

SO EXHILIRATING
Especially when you’re half-drunk and your bladder’s about to burst ๐Ÿ˜€
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It was quite a sight – to see so many people dressed for the occasion

By the end of it I kind of wished I had a lederhosen..

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Yes, we wore our outfits two days in a row.. ha!
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I LOVE Oktoberfest!!

And I’m not even a beer person!

I had so much fun
The atmosphere was incredible and nothing like I ever imagined
For some reason, I imagined it to be something similar to a music festival – muddy and kind of rowdy – but it was nothing like it. 
It’s hard to describe
If you haven’t been, GO! 
Special thanks to the German dude, Bene, for putting us up for a couple of nights at his apartment ๐Ÿ™‚
German people are awesome!

10 Comments

Winnie |

Ooooh I love your photos! Hard to believe it took a full 17hrs to get to Munich, how crazy! Loving your outfits and the giant pretzel, you are always having the best time!

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Proctor&Cruz Designs |

wow 17 hours to get to Munich, thats crazy!
But it looks like you had a good time in the end. Your outfit is so cute too.
Lovely blog, we will be back to read more.
Feel free to come and check out our new post
P&C x

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