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Published: February 17th 2010
Pick up for "Fig"
Yeah we had to have a sign, you never know with Furby/Fig, he might not know who to look for!We drove for about 3 hours on the Monday night to get some of the chunk of the 5 hour drive to Munich out of the way. Come Tuesday morning we left early to drive the last 2 hours so we could get to the airport before Furby with a big warm welcome for him. Typical Murphy’s law the only times we have deadlines to get to places we are held up by a massive traffic jam. We edged through the traffic oh so slowly and finally when it cleared we bolted to the airport. We arrived at the airport with 35 minutes to spare - pheww! So we casually went to check where the arrivals were and it was then we found out Furby’s flight had already landed! So off we bolted again, scurrying to arrivals hoping we made it before him. Luckily we did and we even had to wait a bit for him to actually get through. Finally the furry cuddly creature named Furby came through the doors and Vince held the "FIG" sign up nice and high, just in case Furby didn’t know where to go ha ha! Vince ran over and jumped on Furby and I
followed with big hugs and even a little red eyes - awww. As to be expected after having not much sleep on the long haul flight from Brisbane Furby was shattered so we had a quick bite to eat then got on the road.
After about another hour we made it to Thalkirchen camping ground just outside of Munich. After the check in at the site (with the very rude man that worked there!) we found a half suitable spot and set up. When I say half suitable it was because the area the rude man sent us to was like a rubbish dump. There was food scraps, papers, bottles and smelly rubbish all around us. We did our best to get away from the rubbish but it wasn’t to much avail. We managed to keep Furby up until at least 10pm - hats off to him, and then we all hit the hay. Come Wednesday we decided that our site was crap and we were going to move. Not only was the rubbish gross, but we were right next to the fence at the entrance, so being Oktoberfest drunk people are coming in and out all the time,
needless to say it was very noisy! And on top of that we were always in the shade, so in the cold of the morning and afternoon we were wet and even morecold as nothing dried out. So Vince and Furby scouted the whole grounds for a new site and found an area down the back that was quiet, clean and in the sun. Once again we were packing up and on the move! We settled in again in our new spot and it was the best decision we ever made. And, being in the sun was just the icing on the cake, warming our little bones nicely.
After the big move we decided it was time to head into town to check out Oktoberfest. We had decided that Wednesday was just a looking day and we weren’t going to go too crazy. First stop was the town centre where we all searched for outfits for the big week ahead. I was extremely lucky to find a second hand girndl that was in perfect condition and only cost me 30 euros, a very nice saving compared to the new price of 100 euros plus! Unfortunately there weren’t even second
hand ones in the boys price range, most of the lederhosen was 150 euros plus, so not really worth it for the week. After our shopping we finally found our way to the festival.
Well it was just awesome. It is literally like a big Ekka but a thousand times better. No entry prices, no cow poo smell, heaps of rides that are cheaper then what you would pay comparatively at the Ekka, and last but not least loads of really amazing beer halls. I’m not sure about anyone else, but I had pictured the beer halls to be temporary set ups, more like tents set up for parties. Wow was I wrong, they look so fun and professional with decorations and all sorts of fancy figurines on the outside - very impressive (look at the LowenBrau one below!).
We then decided that first stop was food! And there was food stalls everywhere with sausage sausage and more sausage, schnitzels, all types of pork, whole chickens and much more. Furby had a 60cm long sausage in bread, and Vince and I had schnitzel the size of our head in a baby tiny roll! We continued our wander, looking at
all the halls and stands on the streets and then decided to have one pint in the Hoffbrauhaus. The inside was absolutely brimming with people, but we managed to get one of the beer waitresses to seat us at one end. We all got a pint each and then started to join in the fun. The singing, the "prost" (cheers) clunking the big heavy glasses, and just enjoying the atmosphere with the people around us. It didn’t take long for one old gross man (with beer dripping from his moustache - ewww) to come over and try and join our table, we always attract the weirdos. Thankfully we were able to shake him off and quickly finish our beers.
We headed off to explore another tent for just one more drink, after all we were just having a quiet look around weren’t we! But before we did so the boys decided they wanted to join the dress ups and indulge in a crazy hat. So Vince bought a traditional German hat (complete with the little HoffBrau stein on the side) and as predictable as ever Furby bought a pig hat - no surprises there! It was then onto the
next hall, as we tried to find a seat in the Lowenbrau (which was even more packed then the Hoffbrau) Vince spotted Adam in the crowd (one of our mates from London). Vince ran over and said hello and then Jody popped up and saw me and yelled at us to come over and join their table. Their table however was the ‘Fanatics’ group and boy were they rowdy. There was at least 20 or 30 Aussies all in their yellow Bavaria shirts singing, drinking and being the noisiest in the hall. It didn’t take long for our second and then the third and then for the boys the fourth and fifth beer to arrive and our quiet day had taken a turn for the worse (well it was actually better because it was so much fun, but stay tuned to hear the worse part).
Before we knew it we were dancing on the seats, on the tables, singing as loud as our voices could strain, scribbling on each other with nikko pens and all sorts of other shenanigans. The big band in the middle of the hall became our best friends and we sang with them all evening.
"hey baby", "seven nation army" and ‘the prost song’ were played over and over, and we all sang along more enthusiastically each time! Some other random highlights include "the twist" - which Furby and Vince did a lovely rendition of, and "hey Jude" - which went off and the band even invited me up to the stage to dance afterwards (obviously they thought my dancing was better than my singing)!
The night followed in much the same as I mentioned above but as everyone got drunker the "prosts" got harder and glasses smashed everywhere. It got very messy! In my drunken state I also managed to spill half a stein on Furby’s pants and not even an hour later Vince did the same (sorry Furby, Williams fumbles!) Finally Mrs Sensible here decided that it was time to leave, and in good time too as the beer halls closed about an hour afterwards so it was a good way to avoid the crowded public transport. Furby was having the time of his life with the Fanatics so he decided to stay for the last bit and Vince and I headed off. As we wandered back through the grounds Vince seemed
to get drunker and drunker. He wanted to go on every ride he could feast his eyes on, but like a good mother I tutted him and said it wouldn’t do his full beer belly any good. I finally succumbed and we had a few goes on the dodgem cars, but that was it, then it was time to leave.
After drunk Vince wanted to chat to everyone on the street we finally made it to the train station and onto the train. Then it hit him like a tonne of bricks. All of a sudden Vince’s little belly wasn’t feeling too good and as we pulled in to the next train stop he threw himself out of the train and begged me to take him outside. We ran back outside and Vince let rip. All that beer combined with the train ride had shaken him up enough that it wasn’t staying down. So elegantly Vince sent all his beer back out onto the streets of Munich. I soothed his back and helped to tidy him up and then we were back down to the station. Back on the train and dejavu it was happening again, Vince simply couldn’t
stand the motion of the train, so off we got at the next stop.
This routine followed for every station until finally we made it to our stop! Needless to say by that time my sympathy had started to wear thin, combined with the fact that Mr Drunk wouldn’t listen to his sensible wife (keeping on walking wherever I told him not to!) and he was so ill that he didn’t know if he was coming or going - I just wanted to get home and out of the cold! In my slightly fuzzy state I managed to get directions at the station to get home (as we came out at a totally different area and I had no idea where we were!), and thankfully we made it back to the van relatively unscathed. Straight into the showers we went and I got Vince all cleaned up and slightly sobered up and into bed.
Thursday morning I awoke to 2 bears with very sore heads. After a chat to Furby he too confessed to "losing" all his beer the night before! So they were both very hungover and feeling very sorry for themselves. After lots of water and
some more sleep we decided to head into Oktoberfest in the afternoon for ‘just a look around’ - hmm where have I heard that before?! This time thankfully it was just for some fun and an honest look around. Vince went on the 5 loop Olympic rollercoaster and then we all went on the dodgems, while Furby tried every stand to win himself a pillow - apparently the makeshift pillow we gave him wasn’t cutting the mustard. Sadly for Furby lots of euros later he still hadn’t won a pillow. Vince bought me a gingerbread gift (which are a big tradition at Oktoberfest) and then he indulged in an old school toffee apple. We went on the carousel, that was actually a bar and had one small beer each. And boy did it go down like razor blades, not being the nicest beer either it was a struggle to get through. After a few more rides and wandering it was time to head off for the night - but not before Vince had a bite to eat, a smelly currywurst! As we went to leave Furby decided that even though he’d spent half his money on games he really needed
that pillow, so he scurried off and bought it (if only he did that in the first place, oh well it’s all for fun right!).
Friday was to be a big celebration as it was Marney's 25th birthday! So we made our way into the festival and after not being able to find a seat in any hall we had to sit at the outside tables. We decided on the Pschorr hall and a found a spot and made ourselves at home. After the first stein we were ready for lunch and we all decided that it was time to have the infamous Oktoberfest pork knuckle. Well they were simply delicious, juicy tender pork, crunchy mouth watering crackling and a side of sauerkraut and a dumpling - YUM! So once again we were very satisified with our German fill and it was back onto the steins. A stein or two later and we soon had some American friends joining in on our table. Like most people we spoke to at Oktoberfest they were a little strange, but hey I guess beer does that to people.
Finally Marney, Jerry, Anna and Brad got into the festival and came to
meet us at our table. As predicted with drunk people everywhere Marney's birthday was a real hit and everyone joined in with loads of enthusiasm singing Happy Birthday in German (lucky Anna had it on paper for us not so German savvy to read!). The night continued with a few more steins, but not too many as the boys had a strict curfew of 8pm. And no, I wasn't being mean making them go home, it was actually at their request so they could have an early night to get up at 5am the next day to watch the AFL grand final in an Aussie pub in central Munich. See what's important in a man's life! Anyhow so we said our goodbyes and started the journey back to the campsite - but not before a few more games for the guys. Obviously a few pints tends to make anyone think they are a pro shooter, so Vince and Furby decided they would try the shooting game to show off their skill. So after spending a fair few euros and I have to say some pretty good shooting, the boys walked away with a nice trophy for their efforts - a
spongebob square pants stuffed toy! ha ha.
Saturday morning I woke up feeling a little worse for wear. So I decided to miss the "best day of the year" (what a shame for me) and I slept in whilst the boys hurried off to the game. Vince and Furby reported that the game was fantastic and the pub was packed, so it was a great morning to be had by all - although I'm pretty sure mine was best! They made it into the festival by 10.30am and ridiculously every hall was packed so once again we were outside. Thankfully by the time I made it in to meet them it was a fairly warm sunny day, so sitting outside was quiet pleasant. Once again Marney, Anna and crew came in to meet us and we soon filled up a whole table. The day proceeded with sausages, more pork knuckles, insanely long toilet lines and yes litres and litres and litres of beer! And when I say insanely long toilet lines, I mean 45 minute to an hour wait - nasty. But our beer waitress Irene was definitely the highlight of the day and in our drunken state we
sang to her everytime she came near us. Needless to say she loved us and we got the best service imaginable (or maybe it was just cause we tipped well)
After chatting to random German guys, Spanish girls that wanted photos of us, and all sorts of other random people (including Richmond AFL players - much to Vince and Furby's delight) we all decided that we'd had enough. So as per the normal routine we were out and about in the festival ready to take on some games. First stop was the good old dogems and with a group of 10 it was plenty of fun. The highlight of the dogems though would have to be one of the fantatics guys (who was friends with Marney, Jerry, Anna and Brad) who was so blind drunk he could barely walk. In his extremely intoxicated state he decided to plonk his butt down in a dogem car with a random guy and he then proceeded to put his arm around him for the ride. It was absolutely hilarious seeing this grown man with another drunk man cuddling up to him on the dodgems - priceless. Once we had our fill of
banging the hell out of each other it was off for more shooting for the boys. Again loads of euros were spent with pretty accurate shooting and this time they walked away with spongebob's little friend patrick - aww the family was complete! So after some more food and one last ride it was time for us to say farewell Oktoberfest. We had certainly had an amazing time, but it was time for us to continue our journey to the next city.
We woke up Sunday morning and started the dreaded packing and got on the road to Prague ready for our next adventure! Overall I would just like to say that I would completely recommend Oktoberfest to anyone, it is an extremely fun place with an atmosphere you just can't imagine, you simply have to experience yourself! The traditional dress is spectacular, the set up is so professional and the beer waitresses are inspiring! We had a fantastic time and were so glad we could share it with our great friends.
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laura
non-member comment
about time....