Oktoberfest 2010

2010 marked the 200th Anniversary of Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany and also the 6th visit for Rob to this event. I decided that year after year of getting a phone call from Rob while he is at this event stating that... and I quote..."I am too old for this. This is the last year I am going to Oktoberfest, " that it was about time I saw what all this was about!

Now, I must caution you first by saying that I am NOT a beer drinker. Never have been, and probably never will be. So, the Oktoberfest initially doesn't have much appeal to me because it is a beer festival.  There were other items that I was interested in participating in though that would keep me busy. One being dressing in the traditional Bahrvarian dirndl and the second being the rides! I am a big carnival fan and love going on rides and participating in carnvival type games.

The forecast for our trip was grim. Rain was called for every day, and that's pretty much what ended up being delivered. Apparently, Rob said that the weather this year was the worst he has ever seen it. I am beginning to wonder if that is actually true -- or was it the alcohol warming him up all those previous years?

After landing in Munich on Friday, we set out to our hotel to settle in and meet up with Rob's other pals. While they knocked back several drinks at the bar, I wandered out to buy my dirndl!  I managed to make it to the store just as it started to rain heavily and had to take a taxi back. Here is a picture of the dirndl I purchased!

I was very happy was the purchase as was Rob and all of his friends. I wonder why?!  We didn't arrive to the Oktoberfest until around 8pm -- would have been sooner if Rob had remembered how to actually get there (considering this was his 6th visit and all...!) and only after about two hours of being out, it started to rain heavily. Needless to say, I had no umbrella and came back partially wet and Rob 100% soaked! The rest of the evening was spent right where we started -- at the hotel bar, which actually appeared to be the real theme of this entire weekend.




On our way to the fest!



Rob and Doctor D





 






The next day, after a short sleep in, my friend Michelle arrived on a red eye flight with one of her friends, Tiffany. There was little sleep to be had by these ladies, and it would be many, many, many hours before there would actually be any more!

Tiffany, Kim and Michelle at... the hotel bar of course!

The afternoon began in the hotel bar just as the day before for several hours before heading out to the Oktoberfest. I purchased an umbrella before we went out just incase it was needed (which it eventually was). Rob's friend, Gerry, had haphazardly "misplaced" (AKA threw away) my favorite little German hat the night before, which left me very sad. Luckily, however, the "hat man" as I like to call him, came to my rescue and found me a new one just the one I had! The Hat Man is my hero!

Kim and the Hat Man!

The rest of the afternoon was spent drinking... to which I actually did drink a beer... well, almost a full one. The beers they serve to you are 8 euros and are approximately 1 litre each! Of course, this pales in comparison to the beer purse Michelle brought along with her as you can see below!

Cian, Rob and Kim

Petra actually carried all 12 of those on her own!

Michelle's other friend Jodie joined up with us in the afternoon to experience her first Oktoberfest with her husband as well. 





The rest of the evening after it started to rain was spent at...you guessed it.... the hotel bar!

The next morning got off to a very late start (4pm at the Oktoberfest), 12pm at... the hotel bar. All of Rob's friends were leaving that afternoon to head back to their various homes.

Gerry, Rob, Kim, Kieran, Doctor D, Paul and Cian.

A long-time friend of Rob and Cian, Sandra, drove in from Austria to spend a little bit of time with us. She has never been to an Oktoberfest before, and like me, not a big fan of the beer fest!  After her few hours there... which consisted of eating on french fries, she had to leave for her 3 hour drive back!

Rob, Cian, Sandra, and Kim

You can meet some interesting people from all over the place at this event. This guy, Marcus, is from Berlin, lived in New Orleans for 15 years and also has operated a snoball machine. Can you believe this is who I ended up sitting next to? Later that evening, when Rob was wearing my Chimes T-Shirt from Baton Rouge, a guy there got our attention as he was from Baton Rouge and went "around the world" 21 times. If you know the Chimes, you know what I am refering to. It's a small world after all!

Kim and Marcus

The rain clouds were starting to make their approach over the festival and I knew it was my one chance to get in the rides if I was going to end up going on any. Unluckily for me it was SUPER cold on our last day. I was only able to go on two rides that afternoon because the second -- the Frisbee -- totally made me feel drunk and sick! It messed me up that bad!

Rob and I played a shooting game, which I was suprisingly good at to his amazement and all we won was this pathetic little whale stuffed animal, which I affectionatly named Frisbee.

As it was the last night there, Rob and Cian were more keen on drinking than playing games, so we headed to the Augustiner Brau beer tent and were able to get inside.  There really wasn't too much excitement going on and after a 8 euro picture necklace that Rob had to have, we decided to call it a night and left Cian up to his own devices.

On our way out, I had wanted to get a ginger heart necklace to commemorate my first Oktoberfest, so we stopped to get one. And also decided to see if we could get into any of the other tents to see what might be going on. Oh what a different world we found!

What I was finally able to witness in those tents was what I thought Oktoberfest would and should be... drinking...dancing... singing. It was really great. Especially at my new favorite tent, Hippodrom! It was packed from ceiling to floor with signing, dancing, drinking and eating. Next year (yes, there will be a next year for me) I told Rob we must get a reservation at that tent! I might not even mind drinking if I was in that environment!

After going into a few other tents, we finally decided to stay a little longer and met up with our other friends in the Paulaner Tent for a little bit more fun!

Michelle looks a tad scary here!



Sharky, Rob and Kim

All in all, a good time was had by all and I might be more inclined to try a beer every now and then without flinching in disgust after the first sip. These beers will need to be from Europe though, and preferably while I am IN Europe =)