September 21 – Octoberfest

October Fest...one of the two main reasons we are visiting Germany this time of year.  

It’s a lovely day to visit the Octoberfest.  Sunny blue skies with light clouds.  It is “cold”…but only in the shade.  When in the sun we get hot pretty fast.  So we are all alternating between hot and cold.

We caught the subway at a nearby station to take the train to the fest location.  Then a short walk, a bag check and we are in. 

The grounds are like a large midway with lots of rides and game stands and souvenirs and lots of places to get walk-away food. 

Chickens seemed to be a bit of a theme.

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Video of chicken hat
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There is food everywhere.  Our travel agent, Tara, is on this trip with her German husband, Claus.  And he is showing us all the various local foods, especially things he remembers from his childhood.  Some looked great.  Others were definitely a pass.  And we even tried some. 

One of the highlights for us was the beer wagons and horses.  There were two sets that wandered back and forth along the main street of the fairgrounds.  Reminded us of the Budweiser Clydesdales although a different breed.  

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More Beer Wagons
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The beer served is brewed specifically just for the fest.  AND, we found out that everything at the fest location is temporary.  That's why they call them beer "tents" instead of beer halls.  While the fronts all look like a regular building they are in fact only a facade in front of the tents...and all of the tents, shops, rides and eateries, are all taken down after the fest.  

Lots of huge beer tents that appeared to seat hundreds (or more) inside.  They were all different in color and décor and some specialized in certain foods...like chicken or the place that roasted whole cows on a spit.

We headed to a couple of the beer tents to check them out.  They are massive.  And they all had a German Oompah band playing…and frauleins carrying lots of steins of beer. Not too crowded yet, as we were there early in the day.

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Video of beer hall
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We visited several and they all had very different interior décor. 

We had a really great time.  Funny thing though, out of the six of us only Claus (good German that he is) drinks beer.  Our table looked pretty pathetic with the sodas and water mugs and only one beer.  But it is all in good fun.

Claus told us that all of the buildings…the beer tents, the shops and kiosks and rides are all dismantled and the entire area cleared out by about 2 weeks after the end of Octoberfest.  Amazing.  And even the beer is specially brewed for Octoberfest.  How interesting.

Near the end of the day all of us but Claus headed to the big Ferris Wheel for a ride.  Had great views of the crowds and the fair grounds.

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More Octoberfest
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As we headed to the metro station the two horse-drawn wagons were headed out.  We saw them several times on the streets as we worked our way to the station. 

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Video of beer wagons
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We had eaten so much at the Octoberfest that we decided to not bother going out for dinner.  We bought a banana and had that and nuts from the fest. 

While working away in the hotel room we suddenly heard a major racket in the streets near us.  Paul managed to get a couple of shots with his telescopic lens.  Seems it was some sort of protest march.

Then it was time to pack as we are headed out tomorrow for some sightseeing and eventually to Oberammergau.