This weekend I was excited to stay home, sleep, clean, prepare for Mama's visit, work the Aviano marathon Sunday morning, and watch the UT/Florida game on TV. I got home from work on Friday, went for a run and came in to have my house phone ringing, missed calls from Taylor on Skype, and our friend Kika sending me messages over and over on Facebook to call her ASAP, HURRY, NOW!!! So I called her and she said, I have an extra ticket to Oktoberfest if you want to go, the bus is leaving in 2 hours. I couldn't decide what to do and I called Taylor. He thought that I was QUITE crazy to even think about NOT going. He said, "Kate, it's OKTOBERFEST...GO!!!!" So I agreed to go. I jumped in the shower, packed my backpack, and headed out the door to meet the bus.
This was another, sleep on the bus Friday night and arrive on Saturday morning. It was Kika, her husband, Greg, me, and a few other captains in the squadron (among a bus load of others). It was quite the experience! Saturday was opening weekend of the 200th annual 3 week festival. Oktoberfest is a HUGE festival in Munich, Germany. Think like a state fair times ten. There were tons of rides, carnival games, food stands, booths, and MASSIVE beer tents. The tents are all decorated and have long tables and benches in them. The tents each hold a few thousand people. We arrived there at 630am...nothing was open, but people were already starting lines to get into some of the beer tents.
And when I say nothing was open...I mean nothing. Including the bathrooms. By 8am Kika and I both had to use the restroom since we had been riding on a bus all night and when asked we were told that the women's restrooms opened at 10am. Are you serious? So we left in search of bathrooms elsewhere in the city. We left the festival and saw a building with public restrooms...we went around to check all the doors. The men's were wide open and ready to be used and if they weren't urinal troughs...we would have used them. But sure enough the women's was locked. How crazy is that? We eventually found a cafe and bought some pastries for breakfast and used their "WC" (as it is referred to all over Europe).
Anyway, back to the tents. I didn't understand the point or appeal of the tent until we entered. You have to have a table to be served but everyone stands on the benches and cheers and sings and chants. There is a band playing drinking songs and other popular songs everyone sings along to. It's just an overall fun, festive, and slightly crazy atmosphere! But the kicker was we got a table at 9am, and drinks weren't served until noon. Kika and I decided we didn't need to sit around that long, so we left the guys at the table and we went to see the festivities. There was an opening ceremony parade where each tent brings in the kegs and their wenches (the girls who are the servers), and the tent band comes in. So we watched the parade, went in all the other tents to take pictures, bought our magnets, tried some sweets, and walked through a part of Munich. And finally headed back to the tent around 1230 when the guys were just getting their beer and recovering from 3 hours of boredom sitting at a cramped table together!
Then all the fun began. Everyone was standing and singing and taking pictures and it was so much fun. I have to say that the German band even played Country Roads and the whole place was singing along to it! Granted, they weren't singing along to every verse like I was...just the chorus...but still! Who knew the song was so universal? I was thinking of all my camp friends and was temporarily back at treats singing in a circle! Anyway. I got a few people who liked my Tennessee shirt and we met other people from Italy and a big group from Australia next to us started the Aussie, Aussie, Aussi, Oi, Oi, Oi chant. Of course I thought of you, Ian!
After about three hours in the tent we moved out to the festival (before people started getting stupid). We wandered the festival, ate some delicious chicken, rode the ferris wheel, and wandered through the city until we found the Munich Hard Rock where we met up for dinner. After dinner we wandered back through the festival for awhile being fully entertained by a few out of control people (shocking I know) and finally settled in a beer restaurant just outside Oktoberfest for a few drinks before meeting the bus at 1045pm to drive back to Aviano. Such a fun trip and experience. We're already making plans for next year, except they won't include two nights on a bus. It will include a hotel room which we will have to book in the next few weeks in order to get one. But it should be a good time.
So needless to say, I didn't see the Tennessee game, I didn't catch up on sleep, and I didn't clean my house, but I went to Oktoberfest 2010! And I did make it back in time to work the marathon at 830am then go to volleyball at 1pm. What a busy weekend!
And Weekend 5 is next to be blogged. Kika and I left the following Friday for Nice, Monaco, and Cannes in the French Riviera!
Bonjour, Francais!!
Think we can get Taylor and Greg to wear the Lederhosen outfits next year?? It's a challenge!
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