Oktoberfest

It was almost ceremonial that Jim and I decided to go have our brunch before heading to Oktoberfest so that we have some “awake” time before the beer fest overwhelmed us. We decided to have our brunch at Glockenspiel Café that is across the street from Marienplatz on the fourth floor. I was surprised that the Café was so packed with Germans eating full breakfasts on a Thursday morning like this. We sat closed to the window with a view overlooking Marienplatz , the drizzle, and the busy tourists snapping photos.

We took the S and then U Bahn and exited Goetheplatz, then followed a bunch of people in costumes to reach our destination – Oktoberfest! Oktoberfest is really something else! It is an American Halloween, July 4th celebration, and the California State Fair on a lot of alcohol that happens every year in Munich, Germany! We got in to the best tent (according to the German students) around 11:30 in the morning, and the tent was packed with tourists and Germans in Oktoberfest outfits – the boys are in lederhosen and the girls were in country maiden dresses. Jim and I joined some German university students that were waiting for their friends for some beer, food, and conversation… The German students that we met, Jenny, Robin, and Sebastian, started drinking around 10:45 in the morning and their friends are in other tents saving seats for possible tent rotations. Talk about dedication!

Jim and I sat by them from 11am through almost 6pm at night. The crowd started flowing around 5pm and the singing, drinking, shouting, and all the craziness associated with drinking beers started right around then also. We met more people that we couldn’t keep up with the names, but we’ll be sending them their pictures… According to the students, the tents reach full capacity around 5-6pm and no one is allowed into the tents. I had three one-liter beers (two of them radlers – ½ beer and ½ lemonade) and I am not sure how many Jim had but I had to carry him back to the taxi and then to the hotel…

We were surprised to find out that the legal drinking age for Germans is 16 years old and that parents take kids to Oktoberfest when they are little. Many students that we sat by had around 10 years of Oktoberfest experience under their belts already! The drinking feast was more of a festival than I expected. If you have kids and family, bring them here, Oktoberfest truly is a festival of everyone!!! Another item off of our bucket list - Oktoberfest was truly an experience of a life time!