Oktoberfest

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From one happiest place on Earth to another, this next one purely for the adults, I headed off to Munich for Oktoberfest! I had started planning this when I went to Berlin and although it was always on my bucket list coming over here Berlin cemented that I definitely had to attend the world’s biggest beer festival so I had flights booked shortly after I returned home. It also looked as though I wasn’t going to be doing this trip solo as I’d been talking with Michael, who asked if he could join as he was also in the process of planning his own Euro adventure at the time. Due to the festival, we organised our beds in a hostel at a highly increased price in April/May otherwise we would have risked missing out or paying even more than we already had as Michael found out when he got his dates wrong and ended up arriving a day before me.

So on the 1^st October, I flew out to Munich from Luton airport on an early morning flight. So that I could make my flight, I ended up arriving to Luton on the last train the night before and spent it in the airport. I sat up for the majority of the night, drinking plenty of coffee from the 24 hour café and reading my book before being able to go through security and board my flight, where I finally slept. Once landing in Munich and being allowed in after a few questions of my purpose being there, I took the train into the city centre which took approximately 40 minutes where I was meeting Michael at the main train station, which was also a short walk from the hostel we were staying at. The plan was to meet at the McDonalds in the station because it’s pretty easy to spot on wherever you go. Seems pretty simple, right? We did not meet at the McDonalds. Instead as it turns out I went the opposite direction then I needed to and had no idea where I was going in the huge maze of a station. But I was able to describe where I was and was found by the backpacker. Our hostel was less than a 10 minute walk from the station however we were too early to check in so we dropped our bags off and headed towards the city centre. After going in the wrong direction thanks to google maps and me still trying to get my bearings, we eventually made it to Marienplatz and found a bar to have a beer and catch up on life and travels. A few beers later, we started heading back to the hostel stopping at Marienplatz to watch the Glockenspiel show with the crowds. We also stopped back at the train station so Michael could get suited up in his lederhosen for when we hit Oktoberfest the next day – there’s stores everywhere selling the traditional Bavarian wear however I had bought my dirndl off Amazon a few months earlier to make sure I definitely had one. I also bought my obligatory magnet however, as I’d already been to Munich before and didn’t need one I made sure to pick one that was specifically for Oktoberfest. Back at the hostel, we checked in properly, given our wristbands to wear much to Michael’s dismay and got settled in our room then headed out to dinner at a restaurant Michael had been the night before. The place was quite nice and the food was tasty and afterwards with full bellies, we went back to the hostel and cashed in our free beer voucher at the bar. And this is where the night goes downhill…thanks to classic shenanigans. Someone thought it would be a great idea for a jager shot to which I made a jager bomb because who enjoys straight jager? We then met some other people staying at the hostel and proceeded to drink with them before retiring back to our room for the evening and potentially having our roommates hate us because we were quite loud after Michael had already annoyed the guy at the front desk of the hostel.

The next day we awoke bright and early and followed the signs painted on the ground (as well as a Top Deck/Contiki/other tour group) to Theresienwiese where Oktoberfest is held. The place is massive! There are a total of 14 main beer tents as well as so many different food stalls and carnival games and rides. The whole atmosphere was amazing and for Oktoberfest 2017, we were going to play a part in helping drink the 6,900,000 litres (approximately) of beer that was had over the course of the festival. Oktoberfest starts mid-September so we were able to attend the last 2 days of the festival and leading up to it, I will admit I was a little worried that things would be dying down slightly by the time we got there but that wasn’t the case at all. We spent the morning in one of the tents (I can’t remember the name but have a feeling it was the Spatenbrau one – they’re all named after the breweries that the beers are from as only beer brewed in Munich can be sold here). It was a quiet tent but a good way to grab ‘pick me up’ stein of beer whilst listening to the band pump out some tunes, stopping every few songs for ‘Ein Prosit’ (a German drinking song which plays every 15 minutes and chances are you’ll probably be well sick of it after the first hour) and tried one of the half chickens for lunch. Afterwards, we went for a wander around the fairgrounds before heading to the Lowenbrau tent mid-afternoon and grabbed a table to grab another stein and here we stayed for the rest of the night until we left. We made friends with Germans, we probably drank too much beer and we also sang along to the songs we knew and quickly caught on to sing along to the songs we didn’t.The Bavarian Oompah bands in the tents play anything from German songs that are catchy and will get stuck in your head despite not knowing an ounce of German to covers of modern English songs that everyone knows and can sing along to. We eventually ran out of cash so went to find an ATM so that we could get food. Somewhere along the way to an ATM Michael lost me – one minute he was behind me, the next he was gone. I stood where I was for a while but in the middle of the walkway so hopefully he’d be able to see me. I then desperately needed a toilet so decided to continue on my quest for the ATM and also, stopping at the toilets, which were placed right at the entrance of the grounds. Still no sign of Michael so I decided to walk back up the main stretch back to where we were separated and decided that if that failed then I’d just meet him back at the hostel at some point. Despite there being people absolutely everywhere and knowing my chances of spotting him were slim, I did end up running right into him stuffing his face with food. It then started raining so after taking cover for a bit, we decided this was probably a good point to go back to the hostel and rest for the next day. Instead of walking home, we got home back in style by taking one of those bicycle taxi’s you see everywhere with their pumping tunes and lights. It was fun – and we were back at the hostel within 10 minutes.

The following day was quite similar to the last – wake up, get dressed and head to Theresienweise for the last day of Oktoberfest 2017. It was still raining so we went straight to the same tent we’d started in the day before and grabbed a stein, which was so hard to finish due to the copious amounts of beer I had drunk the day before as well as feeling slightly hungover. We also had lunch here and shared a pork knuckle because neither of us would have been able to finish one by ourselves. It was pretty tasty – as well as very filling. By the time we had finished lunch and I had managed to finish my beer (without being sick might I add) the rain had stopped so we were able to walk around a bit and get some fresh air. Once lunch had settled we went on one of the indoor rollercoasters for a bit of fun as well as being one of the only rides that Michael would agree to. Afterwards, we stopped by the Hofbrauhaus tent for a couple of beers and watching the young hooligans nearby stand on the table and attempt to skull a whole stein before heading back to the Lowenbrau tent for the night’s festivities as we’d had such a great time there the previous night. This night was a little crazier than the night before, possibly due to the fact that it as the last night of Oktoberfest (which had been running for the last 16 days) and we along with the rest of the crowd ended up standing on our seats, dancing and singing to all of the songs that were being pumped out. Abba may or may not have been the cause of this but it definitely kicked off from there. We stayed there until closing despite Michael wanting to leave earlier (possibly because they were playing Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys) but we ended up staying (thank you Kings of Leon). Towards the end of the night, the band got all the workers to come up around the stage in the middle of the tent with sparklers and they did a thank you and farewell, it was quite nice to watch. As soon as the band finished playing, the crowds left and all the tables and seats in the tent were being packed away. They let us finish our beers and we were on our way back to the hostel. This time we walked back and saw some pretty little sights along the way.

The next morning we both woke up feeling a little worse for wear. Today was always going to be a low key day after the massive days we’d had at Oktoberfest but since it was our last full day in Munich, I still wanted to get out and make the most of the day despite not feeling the best. We went back to the pub we’d gone to on our first day to try the food for lunch. By this point, I was getting a little sick of the heavy meat based dishes so opted for frankfurts and potato salad, which was supposed to be a starter but was still quite large that I didn’t end up finishing it. After lunch, we walked to the Englischer Garten (English Garden) which is one of the world’s largest public parks. We watched the river surfers by the entrance for a little bit before wandering through the park. With both of us feeling a bit under the weather, it was nice getting some fresh air and to just sit in a nice area for a while. We made our way back to the city centre and back to our hostel to relax, where we ended up staying for the rest of the evening and ended up having an early night to catch up on all the lost sleep of the last 3 nights.

We packed up our bags the next morning and left the hostel, leaving my bag in the luggage storage to pick up later as my flight wasn’t until late in the evening so I still had another day ahead. Michael however was continuing on his Euro trip and catching a train out mid-morning so we went to the station and I bid him farewell after figuring out which train he was meant to get on. It was crazy meeting up with Michael on the other side of the world, (given our history, I never would have thought this would have happened whilst over here) but at the same time it was really good to experience Oktoberfest and all that Munich has to offer with a familiar face. I then went to the S-Bahn, passing the McDonalds we had planned to meet at (I’d been so close – went left when I should have gone right) and hopped on a train to Dachau, which is approximately 20 minutes outside of Munich. Once here I then hopped on a bus to the Dachau Concentration Camp, which was the first concentration camp that was set up. Again, like all previous visits to the camps, it was such a harrowing experience. I spent about 2-3 hours here, mostly in the museum building as there’s so much information to take in of the history of the place, especially since it was the longest running.

Back in Munich, I had a late lunch and a wander through the city centre to waste time, stopping to watch the Glockenspiel in Marienplatz one last time before picking up my bags from the hostel to head to the airport. I also picked up my own souvenir 1L glass stein that I’d been eyeing off every time we passed through the train station over the last couple of days. And in no time at all, I was back in London with the memories of Munich and Oktoberfest a distant memory. And I was so happy to have been as I’ve always really enjoyed going to Brisbane’s Oktoberfest as it’s always such a fun time but going to the original Oktoberfest was definitely a bucket list item and one I can now tick off.

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