Last weekend, we went to Munich for Oktoberfest. Now its not something I have wanted to do, like ever, but my friends (and esp JLO) were very excited about going. So much so that we even made a groupie-like t-shirt to showcase our lameness and awesomeness at the same time.
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| Stein of Hacker-Pschorr beer 2012 copyright elainers |
This is the extent of the keen-bean friends I have: we left on Friday night and arrived in Munich at close to midnight, and flew back to London on Sunday night. We were in Munich for one weekend - literally!
Good thing we had a local friend who steered us in the right direction when it came to not having tickets for a tent! For those who have no idea what Oktoberfest is about, its basically a big carnival in one location with beer tents that people can sit around all day and drink in. The tricky bit is actually getting into the beer tents - there are massive structures which house 10K people (sure felt like it) and if you weren't one of the fortunate ones who managed to get a reserved table, you would have to queue up outside in the morning to get in. Cue us.
We had to meet our mate at 745 at the main station, but on a positive note (though I don't really enjoy beer) I had a stein of beer in front of be at 9am. Too early to drink beer you say? I have to agree. The inside of the beer tent is pretty cool; heaps of tables and decoration never to be found in my house. We hung out in the Pschorr tent, singing and drowning our sleep deprived brains with steins of golden liquid and overpriced roasted chicken.
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| Pschorr Tent 2012 copyright elainers |
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| Inside the Pschorr Tent 2012 copyright elainers |
To be allowed to serve at Oktoberfest, the beer must be brewed in Munich and have a minimum of about 6% alcohol content. The breweries that can make Oktoberfest beer are
Augustiner-Brau, Hacker-Pschorr-Brau, Lowenbrau, Paulaner-Brau, Spatenbrau and Hofbrau-Munchen.
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| Augustiner-Brau Beer Tent 2012 copyright elainers |
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| Decorated Gingerbread hearts sold over the festival which started as a wedding celebration copyright elainers |
Brief history of Oktoberfest: King Ludwig was marrying Princess Therese and there were festivities to celebrate the royal event. Citizens of Munich were all invited and had such a jolly time that they celebrated every year on the same field called Theresienwiese and from then on the festival has become the world's largest fair. Plenty of rides (seriously there were so many), entertainment, game stalls, food... there was something for everyone!
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| Rides and more at Oktoberfest 2012 copyright elainers |
Alcoholed and pork knuckled up, we returned home on Sunday night only to find the Heathrow Express closed! Kinda expected though right ;)
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