Oct. 3, 2010

Today marked the last day of the bicentennial celebration of Oktoberfest and guess who went? I did! Our group left at 9:40 in the morning and barely caught the train to Munich. Most of our group had to Stand the whole way there (around 1.5 hours), But Phil and I found some make shift seats. I was amazed by how many Germans possessed traditional garb! I’m talking about Dirndls and Lederhosen! We were also amazed by how many people you could fit on a local train to Munich! However this wasn’t nearly as insane as the metro to the festival location… We were all sardines and were forced to get uncomfortably comfortable with one another for about 5 minutes (thank the Lord!) The train spewed us out when we arrived at the awaited destination. There were millions of people there from all across Germany and all across the world. We could all already smell the beer, although it might have been psychological. And no we didn’t drink any. But we didn’t have too. There were enough people there drinking, to be sure! I witnessed one unfortunate throwing up. I felt bad for him. I actually went and got him some napkins. Fortunately his friend (who was sober) was there to help him and make sure that he wasn’t going to wear his spit for the rest of the day, it was roughly 3 o’clock! One thing I did enjoy tremendously was the abundance of awesome rides at Oktoberfest! Due to the price of each ride, however, I only went on one; Cyber Space! Kacey Kristen and I decided this was going to be the one ride of the day. Just watching it we got nervous. It was basically this giant swing (it held 8 people in roller coaster chairs, 4 and 4 back to back) that went back and forth getting higher and higher with each swing until you hung upside down for a moment and swung over to the other side! AHHHH! I am reliving it now! I had to hold my necklaces in my mouth because they were going to come off my head! You saw the most amazing view of the city when the whole platform you where sitting in began to turn on its own. On the next swing around it was almost as if you were doing a face-plant into the earth. It was crazy and totally worth the 7 euro! We also went to a beer tent just to see what was inside and oh my word! You could feel the energy of thousands and thousands of people crammed in here (but they surprisingly had enough room)! I don’t understand how they could be called tents! More like nations! We made a circuit around the main floor to take it all in. Insane I tell you! I can’t even imagine being part of the cooking staff or waiting on so many tables or constantly filling up beer classes! It would be never ending for sure! And there were a large number of these tents, all for major beer breweries in Germany. There were 14 to be exact. 
Immediately after the ride Kristen and I bought 1/2 meter long bratwurst! It was so stinkin’ good! The rest of the day at the fest I bought a few souvenirs, but my main purchase was food. I had a Nutella crepe, the wurst, some fresh squeezed juice blend, white chocolate covered strawberries and a well earned Sprite (if you know me, you’ll know that I really don’t like soda all that much, but there are a few that occasionally strike my fancy and Sprite is definitely one of them). After spending way too much money but having an unforgettable experience I was ready to “make like a baby and head out.” What a great day though.