Oktoberfest.... survival of the fittest

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Hi all,
I finally made it to an internet cafe.... it has been an exhausting, but fun trip thus far. I am going to summarize.....
We made our flights on time and even landed in Munich early. There was 8 of 11 of us on one flight. We spent an hour or so looking for the other 2 at the HUGE Munich Airport. After finally finding them, we bought our train tix (even though we have yet to have to show anyone them) and went on our way to try to find the condo. We only took one train by mistake, so that wasn't too bad, and we met up with Courtney at Hofbrau Beergarten (which is just across the street from where we are staying.). So we all made it! YAY US!
I am totally sleep deprived by this point, but have to power thru because we are supposed to be in the Hippodrom tent by 3:30 Munich time. None of us really slept on the plane.
We get into the condo (after struggling to get the key out of a realtors lock) and throw our stuff down. The place is A LOT bigger than we imagined. We even found a hidden loft with an extra bed, so it really slept 8.
We then take off for Oktoberfest. We get to our tent in time and I get our bracelets. There is a line for people who do not have reservations. If people leave, they let others in. We get to our table and there are two big platters of german food waiting for us and HUGE beers arrive soon after. They must really love their radishes because there are radishes EVERYWHERE. Also big ole pretzals (which are yummy and all I ate).
We drink there for 3 hours (that was how long we had the table reserved). At 6:30 we head out and I am pooped. I struggle to stay up for another hour then Greg and I head back to our place. Sleep was not good that first night due to a few people in our group getting lost and coming in at all hours. Plus my body was rejecting sleep to get even for what I put it thru.
On Friday we have another reservation in Hippodrom tent. The tents are HUGE... probably at least 1000 or more people in these things. Tables are really small benches where we fit 5 to a side. They have live bands and we cheer PROST! I was exhausted so after one beer, I go to bed for a nap.
I meet up with the group around 6 and we have fun at the fest.
Greg and I rode the ferris wheel and got some great pictures of how huge the fest is and how crowded. It is like a huge state fair with the theme of beer and sausage. They really like it here. At 9am, we passed someone drinking a beer this morning. The germans do not fear carbs!
We also rode the bumper cars! That was fun, but not safe with all the drunks! haha
Yesterday was more low key. Greg and I toured the city for a while. Went to a marketplace and had our first brat. Yum! We also walked up about 20 or more flights to the top of this St. Peters Church clock tower and got some great pictures.
We also saw the Isar River and Deutches Museum before heading back for a nap. We tried to go to this pub (Arc Pub) to watch college football, but apparently it was no longer running. 😞 We ended up stumbling upon this Max Emanuel Brauerei (www.max-emanuel-brauerei.de). Food was fantastic! Mehr Bier, Bitte!

Today we are going to see the Olympic Stadium from 1972 (I think). Shop a little. And drink some more bier! 😊

We head out early tomorrow for Prague. I will send one more of these later this week. I will also upload pictures at some point. We are having a blast.

Ich leibe dich! (I love you)

Auf wiedersehen!
Mamie

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Comments

[Kerry]

Sounds like a wonderful trip! Looking forward to seeing the pictures - have fun, some beer, perhaps some more fun, and a little more beer --- it's funny how they go hand in hand like that.