Where do I even begin!! Oktoberfest is out of this world… Back in September, I travelled down to Munich with my friend Catie from Bremen to meet up with my cousins Rob and his wife Jess, and Samantha and her brand new fiancé Geoff. Joining us was were two of Rob and Jess’ friends Dave and his wife Steph. The day we arrived we didn’t have much planned except a good hearty German dinner and after, some beers as a group at Hofbräuhaus to all get to know each other before the real party began the next day.
Schneider Weisse Brauhaus
Rob made the dinner reservations for the 6 of us at a place called Schneider Weisse Bräuhaus which is just outside of the altstadt of Munich and right around the corner from the famous Glockenspiel. Samantha and Geoff were on a little day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle that afternoon and wouldn’t be back until later that evening so we planned to just meet up with them after dinner. The restaurant Rob found was great and as we weren’t entirely sure on what we wanted to eat (except for Dave who was 100% sure that he wanted wiener schnitzel) we decided to get a bunch of plates and we’d just try everything as a group. We ordered some sausage platters with all kinds of Bavarian wursts, a duck platter and of course 3 plates of Wiener Schnitzel, as well as some boiled potatoes a few potato dumplings, sauerkraut and potato salad.
Eventually, I got a message from Samantha saying that her and Geoff had somehow snagged a table at Hofbrauhaus! I’m not sure how they did it as Hofbrauhaus is normally pretty busy on a regular basis and I was positive that during Oktoberfest the place was going to be packed… But sure enough she had found us a table big enough to fit everyone and we settled down with our first litres of the weekend. After a few hours though we headed back to our beds so we could get a good sleep to prepare for the fun day ahead, but not before a souvenir or two were smuggled out of the hall..
Before I get into the fun though I want to explain just a bit of what Oktoberfest is all about. The first Oktoberfest was held in 1810 and was actually a wedding celebration for the Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig) to Princess Therese of Saxony-Hildburghausen (say that 5 times fast). The citizens of Munich were invited for partying and fun in the fields outside of the city gates. The celebrations went on for a couple of weeks and people came from all around the region to observe the occasion. The party and wedding were so entertaining that a year later people were invited back to continue drinking and singing with their fellow Germans, and thus a tradition was born. For over 200 years now, people have been coming back to the famous Theresienwiese (Therese’s Fields) grounds to celebrate Oktoberfest (the exact same location for 200 years), except now, instead of just Bavarians, the grounds welcome millions of people every year from all corners of the globe.
Oktoberfest in all it’s glory
The next morning we woke up bright and early (11 for me) ready for the day. I put on my lederhosen and did my warm up stretches and sang a couple of scales to prepare myself for many “ein prosits,” and “ziggy zaggys,” as well as a few “sweet carolines.” As Catie and I walked into the park I felt like I had a decent idea of what to expect after going to Frühlingsfest in 2016 (which is like Oktoberfest, just in April), I thought it would be like that just a bit bigger. I was kind of right… I just didn’t realise how much bigger it was going to be…
When you hear people talking about “the tents” at Oktoberfest you think of big outdoor tents that you can put up and take down with ease… That couldn’t be farther from the truth… “The tents” are more massive buildings than tents… They’re made of steel and wood and each one can house at least 3,000 people, actually if I had to estimate I’d say it’s probably closer to around 5,000. AND THERE ARE 14 OF THEM!!
The crowds lined up between the “tents”
Each tent is home to it’s own traditional Bavarian beer. The only breweries allowed to have their beer at Oktoberfest are Hofbräu, Paulaner, Löwenbräu, Hacker-Pschorr, Augustiner, and Spaten. Yet each brewery has 2 or 3 tents each, and Hacker-Pschorr splits into two tents of “Hacker Bräu” and “Pschorr Bräu.” The biggest and busiest tents belong to Hofbräu and Löwenbräu as they are the most well known worldwide of the big Bavarian breweries. Each tent has it’s own unique style or flair and if I could, I would have tried to see all of them. But because the grounds or so busy we were only able to get into 4 of them and we were only able to get seats at 3 of those (Paulaner, Pschorr-Bräu, and Spaten)!
Löwenbräu-Festhalle (unfortunately we couldn’t find a table here)
Our first day at the grounds we all met up and tried to get into the Löwenbräu-Festhalle tent but as I just said, it was so incredibly crowded that we couldn’t even find a place to sit! We had heard the it was one of the most popular tents though so we left to hopefully find a table in another. We were lucky enough that across the street at the Paulaner tent (Armbrustschützen-Festhalle) we could squeeze in next to some nice French guys and before long we all had our first Oktoberfest liters in our hands.
Armbrustschützen-Festhalle (one of Paulaner’s tents)
After a liter or two we headed out to explore more of the tents and we were lucky to be able to get into the Pschorr Bräu (Pschorr-Bräurosl) tent as well. We had another few beers and spent some more time catching up and sharing stories before we decided to check out the grounds a bit more. We were told to check out something called the teufelsrad, or “devil’s wheel.” The teufelsrad was just a smooth, conical shaped, spinning disk on the ground that everyone tried to stay on as long as possible. The last person to slide off would be the winner. We watched as they called up children, boys, girls, drunk men and tipsy teenagers.. It was pretty entertaining for awhile.
Without further ado… here is the teufelsrad
We walked to the different vendors, and bought bratwurst, pretzels, and all kinds of sweets and german treats. We got a bit to eat for dinner and once finished, guess what… We headed back to the tents for our “after dinner beers.” We headed this time to a tent run by Spaten, called the “Ochsenbraterei.” It had come highly recommended by a family friend of Catie’s and while it wasn’t one of the bigger tents it had it’s own unique flavor and style and we figured we’d be able to grab a table. Unfortunately it was so busy we ended up walking around for 10+ minutes or so inside trying to see if anyone would let us share but there just wasn’t any room anywhere! Until finally the girls found a table upstairs on the balcony that two old german men had reserved and when we asked if we could share with them, they smiled and told us we could have the entire table!!! We seriously could not have found a better table, we could look down over the crowds and still be a part of the action but we had our own space to breathe as well, so nice of those two men. Rob pulled out a deck of cards while I ordered a few pretzels and we began to play some card games with our beers as we ate, sang, and were merry.
What a table for our first night!!
It was a great end to our first day at Oktoberfest, we had a few more beers, played some games and finally, when we were all “beered out” we went outside to ride a final ride or two before we all made our way home for a good night’s rest. Unfortunately Rob and Jess would not be able to meet up with us on the 2nd day, so we had to say goodbye to those two… 😦
Thanks for meeting up Rob and Jess! (excuse the selfie)
We had heard that, on Saturdays, the park is the busiest, which makes complete sense, but I don’t think any of us were ready for just how busy. Normally, you can walk in and out of the tents to see the atmosphere and maybe grab a table, and when things begin to get too crowded, the security guards at the doors close off the entrances and only allow those who’ve reserved a table inside go inside. This probably starts happening around 6 or 7 normally as the night begins to get started. Well, Catie, Dave, Steph and I arrived at the grounds at 2:00 and they had already begun to regulate who can go in and out of the tents… We tried to get into a couple of different tents but all were the same! Luckily each tent also has an outdoor biergarten as well, but as those were already full we were beginning to get nervous about whether or not we’d be able to find a table for the 4 of us, not to mention the addition of Sam and Geoff later in the afternoon once it got REALLY busy.
Our table that we monopolised Saturday… Plus the lady at the end of the table.
We walked around and around until Catie and Steph were able to squeeze onto the end of a table outside of the Ochsenbraterie again. Dave and Steph had actually found out that, to be able to order beer you have to be sitting down at a table, after that you can stand up and walk around and as long as you’re not in the way nobody will really say anything. So, with the girls able to order beers Dave and I hovered and continued to scan the biergarten for people that looked to be about to stand up and leave so we could grab their seats. But, AGAIN we got incredibly lucky and the group at the table that allowed Catie and Steph to squeeze in, told us that they would actually be leaving and we could have their seats!! We were thrilled but also knew that we got really lucky and that if we abandoned these seats at all today we would probably not be able to get another table anywhere else in the park. And we were right, as when I went to go to the bathroom I walked by the entrance to the biergarten and found it entirely roped off!
The “line” to get into the Biergarten outside of Ochsenbraterei
As the day went on we were able to capture two more seats at our table for when Sam and Geoff arrived and we anchored down for the long haul. Beers were drunken (drinken? drunked? dranked?), songs were sung, and massive ox sandwiches (ochsensemmel) were eaten.. I can’t say enough about that sandwich… It was so good I actually ordered a second one a few hours later!! It’s what the Ochsenbraterei is known for, and along the inside of the massive tent they have a huge kitchen roasting multiple oxen (boxen) for their sandwiches. It was absolutely delicious. All in all it was a fantastic afternoon in the beautiful Bavarian weather. The day could not have gone any better, and when Sam and Geoff arrived around 6 we had spots for them to join us at our table.
Me and my love (ochsensemmel)
We stayed at our table until about 8 or so that night, when we decided to get a little daring… It was time to try and sneak into the tent. We tried one entrance and said we all had to go to the bathroom, and we were turned away… We tried a different entrance and said we had a reservation, hoping they’d just let us in and not double check, no luck.. We went around the back of the tent and tried “the bathroom” line again and as this was strike 3, we thought we were out. But, we tried one more entrance and to our surprise the guard didn’t even try and stop us, Catie walked right past him, I followed and soon enough all 6 of us were inside without even a sideways glance from the security guard…
Singing “Sweet Caroline”
The atmosphere inside the tent was completely different than the night before. The band was playing, people were on the tables dancing and singing and the place was absolutely PACKED with people! It didn’t look like people were really sticking to tables at this point so we just asked a group that seemed about our age if we could sit with them to order our beers before heading off into the crowds, and they ended up just making room for us to join and to drink with them! Being inside one of the big tents on a Saturday night at Oktoberfest is one of the craziest experiences I’ve ever had. Everybody is happy, and everyone is your friend. It doesn’t matter if you speak German, English, Spanish or Italian. Everyone is there to cheer you on if you want to stand on the table and chug your beer, or sing “sweet caroline” with you at the top of your lungs. I am now a firm believer that Oktoberfest is the key to World Peace. Let’s just gather the world leaders, (Trump, Putin, Merkel, May, Un…. etc etc) make them all wear lederhosen, put them in the middle of Oktoberfest with a couple of liters each and I’m sure in no time they’ll all be singing happily, just like we were (hopefully).
But… All great things come to an end and soon enough the hall began to empty out as everyone slowly began their slightly wobbly walks home (some more wobbly than others).
It was so great being able to meet up with my cousins Rob and Sam as well as Jess and Geoff who is soon to be part of the family as well. Dave and Steph were so much fun also and I’m so glad they could join us, because at Oktoberfest it really is “the more the merrier.” It was a great atmosphere and everyone got along perfectly, not to mention everyone looked great in their traditional outfits, and of course Rob rocked his feather like he was born for that hat! And now, I just have one question… When do we start planning our trip for next year?? Until next time!!
PROST und AUF WIEDERSEHEN!!!!
My new life in northern Germany 