Oktoberfest #200

This past weekend, some friends from Georgetown abroad in Strasbourg, France, and I traveled to Munich for Oktoberfest! What a weekend and a once-in-a-lifetime experience. While Oktoberfest was so much fun, it was a little tainted by my previous visit to Munich in August. After experiencing Munich on a regular day, it was difficult to compare everyday Munich to Oktoberfest Munich. One friend described it as like Times Square in NYC for New Years: something you want to do once just to say you did it but difficult to enjoy fully because of the crowds.


I started my journey on Friday night when I took an overnight bus from Prague to Munich. For just $70 round-trip, the bus was really nice and confortable and only took 5 hours each way. After arriving at one of the Munich bus stations north of the city, I made my way on the underground train to meet my 4 friends from Georgetown in Strasbourg. I was really thankful to have been to Munich before because it made navigating the crowds and public transportation much easier. Finally I met up with Katie, Lauren, Tucker, and Andrew; and we began our first day at Oktoberfest 2010.


For the 200th anniversary of the festival, the grounds were VERY crowded to say the least. Also, since Saturday was the first official day of the celebrations, we had to wait until noon for the official tapping of the keg by the mayor of Munich. This meant waiting around for a few hours before being served a famous liter of Munchen beer, but it gave us the chance to relax and catchup. After the beer wenches made their first round, we got our 5 liters of beer for the group and began Oktoberfest officially.


If you've never been to Oktoberfest before, it is important to recognize that it is basically a giant carnival with biergartens. There are lots of different amusement rides, types of Bavarian foods and deserts, and games to play. The 7 or 8 different giant Beer Tents are just one aspect of Oktoberfest. It's fun to just walk around and observe all the traditions of Bavarian culture....and all the German dressed in their ridiculous lederhosen and traditional dress. After devouring some German sausages, we made our way to another biergarten for another round of 1-liter beer steins.

After our second 1-liter (read, 3 cans of beer per serving), we were in need of a break. We made our way out into Munich to see the Marienplatz, Glockenspiel, and Englischter Garten. SInce I had been to Munich recently, I was able to show my friends some of the highlights of the city before enjoying dinner near the English Garten. We settled down for one last round at the famous Hofbraü Brew House before calling it a night. We spent the night in a campground outside the city. It was cold, and the ground was hard as rocks. But at least it was budget and time-constraint friendly.


The second day held a return to Oktoberfest. After being good tourists and seeing the St. Paul Cathedral just outside the Thereiseinwise (home to Oktoberfest), we returned to see the festivities all over again. My Georgetown friends departed in the early afternoon, and I spent the remainder of the day before my bus back to Prague exploring more of the Oktoberfest grounds, drinking some beer, and having an awesome Hendel (roasted chicken) dinner at the Chinese Tower Biergarten in the English Gardens.

Overall, Oktoberfest was an awesome experience to be shared and remembered with friends. Munich is one of my favorite cities in Europe, and I can't wait to go back on a regular day to soak up the Bavarian culture. This week in Prague brings my first actual class days and the beginnings of my internship. I will post later in the week about how my classes are, but so far they seem interesting and not-too-stressful. I have booked a trip to Ljubljana, Slovenia, for the weekend coming while most of the other program students in Prague head to Oktoberfest for the second official weekend.


Lastly, here is a link to my second Hoya column! Click here to read my article in this week's The Guide!