Monique and Tony wake up early to go shopping. They hop the tram and then the Metro to Marianplatz. We saw an outdoor cafe right in Marienplatz so we sit and have breakfast. Our bellies are full and we are ready to shop. Tony wants a stein and other items. Monique wants an outfit for another night at Octoberfest and some souvenirs. Dave M (DM) ends up sleeping in and doesn’t come out of his room until 11 am. He planned to go to a museum today but as it turns out most museums in Munich are closed on Mondays. Monique and Tony return to the apartment around 1:00pm. We make a quick change and soon all 4 of us are on the Metro headed for Octoberfest.
It’s Monday afternoon which means it will be much less crowded than a Saturday (we hope), so our plan is to go into the major tents and get a pictures of the tent interiors. Each one is decorated with its own unique theme and has its own personality and music style. After we visit five or six we decide to go back to the Hacker Pschorr tent. We enter through the backside and find space in the reserved area. We can see that table is reserved and know that someone will be coming at five thirty. It’s only three so we have some time. We meet the people around us and the party begins. There are four young people looking for a table and everything is full so we ask them to join us. They are all in school and in their early twenties. There names are Rebecca, Nicole, Simon and Lucas. We laugh and attempt to sing the songs like them. They are German so they know all the words to just about every song. Tony meets his true doppelgänger and his name is Alex. We get pictures and now call our Tony his new name—Alex. To make things easy we tell people we are from Chicago. Very few people know where Milwaukee is and when you say you are from Chicago everyone reacts positively. So we all yell Chicago when someone asks where we are from. We have a blast.
At 5:30 they come in and empty all the people from the tables in the very large reserved section. We are told we can go up front and find a new table so DM leads the charge right into the other area and carves out a new space. Some of us have to stand but most of our new group of 8 has a seat. The place is crazy and we meet a whole new group of people around us—we sing and dance and drink.
After a while, we decide we want to check out the fairgrounds so we leave the tent to go ride the very large Ferris wheel to get a birds-eye view of the grounds at night. We also attempt the famous and very difficult Toboggan ride. It is a tradition where you try to run and jump on a moving belt. If successful you ride to the top and then sit on a mat and return to the bottom via a winding slide. Everyone is watching and laughing—this ride would be difficult when you are sober but most people attempting the Toboggan are drunk. For girls, if you want help one of the guys grabs your hand and rides up with you. Most people wipe out in funny ways and a crowd is always there watching the entertainment. Tony (Alex) and Monique loose some elbow skin and Dave D comes away unharmed. We stop in a rotating round bar for a shot of schnapps with a piece of pear in it and attempt to win money from scratch offs.
We eventually get our drunk selves out of the grounds and walk to the Central Station. There is Metro stop closer but we for some unknown reason cannot seem to locate it. We finally catch the train and make it home. Three days of drinking wears on us older people. Tomorrow we are doing a side trip outside of Munich and the day after that we leave for Prague. Our Octoberfest experience is over for now. We did it in true fashion and need to recover from the experience.
The Breweries have their own fanciful horse drawn Carriages used to transport the Barrels of Beer to Oktoberfest. They have a parade at the festival opening and show them at various times during the 16 day fest.
Figure of Aloysius, "The man from Munich in heaven," decoration in the Hofbrau tent
The Ochsenbraterei is located at the Oktoberfest in Munich. At the Ochsenbraterei ox meat is served in many inventively delicious ways and combinations.
This is inside the Ochsenbraterei tent. It has a seating capacity of 5,900 persons inside the tent and 1,500 persons outside. The brewery is Spaten.
Inside the Augustiner tent. The capacity is 6,000 inside and 2,500 outside.
Inside the Pauliner tent. “Gemuetlichkeit” (relaxed fun feeling) is a very important feature of the tent, and the proprietors Helga and Willi Kreitmair ensure that stays that way.
This is a huge party for someone - we are thinking maybe a wedding. The entire tent has a capacity of 8,450 inside and 2,450 outside.
Bavaria is the name given to this monumental, bronze 19th-century statue. It is a female personification of the Bavarian homeland, and by extension its strength and glory.
The statue is part of an ensemble which also includes a hall of fame (Ruhmeshalle) and a stairway. It was commissioned by Ludwig I of Bavaria. It was cast at the Munich foundry of J.B. Stiglmair between 1844 and 1850 and is the first colossal statue since Classical Antiquity to consist entirely of cast bronze. It was and is up to the present day considered a technological masterpiece. It is 18.52 metres (60 ft. 9 in.) high and weighs about 87.36 tons. It rests on a stone base which is 8.92 (28 ft.) metres high.
An internal circular staircase leads up to a platform in the head, where four openings in the helmet provide a view of the Theresienwiese and downtown Munich.
The Hacker-Pshorr tent is where we decided we would stay - there's really good beer here. The slogan is integral to the Hacker-Festzelt philosophy: when surrounded by clouds and stars with a cold Maß (liter of beer) in the hand, you may feel as though you are truly in a "Bavarian Heaven". The capacity is 9,300 people!
Big D, Rebecca and Nicole
Tony and Alex. Two brothers from another mother.
Monique and Tony - may our steins always be full.
Drinking with our newly made friends at the Hacker Pshorr tent in Munich - Rebecca, Nichole, Simon and Lucas and many others.
A view of the Octoberfest grounds at night - we were in the giant ferris wheel ride.
Tony and Monique trying to avoid losing more elbow skin on the way down the Toboggan ride.
Let's do a shot of Schnapps!