The European Adventures of G & A

The 1-Liter Beer Mugs

Early in The Evening

A Little Bit Later in The Evening

On the second of October, which is the second to last day of the infamous festival, we found ourselves in Munich at Oktoberfest. It was purely by chance that two beer lovers had stumbled on to such a golden opportunity. We had taken the train from Prague to Munich in order to get a cheap fare to Dubrovnik in Croatia the next day.

The Oktoberfest is as crazy as one would imagine. It actually starts on the train a few hours before arrival in Munich as people get on the train in their Oktoberfest costumes. Lederhosen for the guys and drindle skirts and braids for the girls. Everyone dresses up, even the oldest and the youngest. Half of them were already heated and entertained the rest of us with German folk songs. The fair is held outside in a huge open space. At first glance it looks like a cheesy carnival with roller coasters, game booths, and ever kind of crappy food you could ever dream of. The real action takes place inside the huge tents that are set up by various beer companies and others. Apparently the inside area is full by 1pm, as this is where the band and kitchens are located. The rest of the crowd tries to jam into one of the beer gardens attached to the tent. The one we got into was called the Hippodrome. We had to wait in line with a bunch of other people, and watch as the bouncers passed certain people in and made the rest of us continue to wait. We were pretty irritated, as it had a hipster vibe to it like we were at a club where they only let the cool kids through. Only this time the “cool kids”, were fat, drunk, German guys who smelled like Bratwurst.

We finally made it in and then basically drank beer for five hours. The beers we were drinking were one liter, and I know that we each had more than one, but I cannot reveal any other details for fear of an “intervention” when we get back to San Francisco. The food is served on huge platters. We had Weiner schnitzel with potatoes and sausage with sauerkraut. The spirit and camaraderie of the event were so much fun. We met a sweet couple that took us under their wings. I danced with Miller, and his wife Kristiana taught me the folk songs so that I could sing along. She asked me to teach her an American song. I didn’t want to sing anything patriotic, so I tried to teach her “Love in an Elevator”, by Aerosmith, which for some odd reason was the first song I thought of.

The band is typical accordion party music, and everybody dances. We took a lot of pictures, and people were generally receptive when I asked to photograph them. One woman pointed at my chest and said, “With your panorama, you should BE in the Oktoberfest”. I’ve never heard them referred to as a panorama before. All I can say is that the view ain't what it used to be,

We stumbled back to the hotel somehow and tried to get some sleep before our early flight to Dubrovnik. We didn’t feel much like breakfast the next morning, which was a shame. It was the fanciest one yet with figs wrapped in prosciutto and trays of fresh shrimp and smoked salmon. We had tea and toast while rubbing our temples. When will we ever learn?