OKTOBERFEST

Oktoberfest 5, Jeff 0

We left Salzburg bright and early at 5am on Sunday (September 27th) morning and headed toward Munich, Germany with one thing on our agenda: Oktoberfest. It was a pleasure to enjoy the sunrise over the German countryside as I sped through the autobahn.

One side note about the autobahn - it's awesome. There isn't really a speed limit; just an advised maximum speed. However, it is extremely orderly - if you aren't passing, you are in the right lane - no exceptions. Drivers are very aware and I felt safer driving there than I do in the States - despite going 175km/hr (around 110mph - the fastest our car could go).

Anyway, because Munich was booked up, we were able to get a room at the Holiday Inn Express at the Munich Airport, 40 minutes north of the city. We checked in (and got free breakfast - German style!) and caught the train (S-Bahn) into the city.

We arrived at Oktoberfest and it looked like a carnival for adults. Brightly colored tents, vendors selling food and souvenirs, and people dressed in traditional German garb and other outfits were everywhere. We strolled down the main drag, deciding to go in the Hofbrau Festzelt (tent) (right), the largest tent at Oktoberfest.

While the details became a little less clear as time progressed, we spent the next few hours meeting new friends from Germany and England (below), inventing card games, singing (Heeeeey, Heeey baby....I gotta knoooooow, would you be my girl?) and dancing on tables, participating in cheers and chants (Ein Prosit), listening to the German band play traditional music and, of course, enjoying the bier (Above left)!

After a long morning and afternoon of Oktoberfest, we went to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner and spent the rest of the day wandering Munich. Oktoberfest = WIN!