Oktoberfest 2005
Friday, September 23: We just got back from our crazy beer drinking weekend in München. Oktoberfest attracts 6-7 million people every year, and is probably the trip of the year that all praktikants go to. We decided to rent a car for the trip, and I, being the only one able to drive standard, was adopted as the driver. Henning, my supervisor while Markus is in Australia, drove Warren and I to Zürich to pick up the car after work. There weren't any Golfs left so they upped us to an Audi A3, which had a lot more horsepower, as well as having a 6-speed transmission. We went to pick up Travis and George at the Alstetten train station and started on our way. Warren and I got lost on the way to the station, but it wasn't too bad to get out of Zürich. We drove by way of Winterthur, St. Gallen and St. Margrethen in Switzerland and then Bregenz in Austria. In Austria we were supposed to take the side road so we didn't have to pay the Autobahn fee (Austria sucks like that) but because of sign problems we ended up on the highway anyway. Didn't get busted though. After the border was Lindau, and then the huge stretch to Munich. In the stretch we had to stop for a long time because of an accident, so it was getting really late.
Once in Munich, we tried to find the campsite. Eventually after a couple gas station stops and some German speaking skills we got some directions. We made it part way through the directions, but the last road was closed due to construction. While trying to find our way around we ended up in pumpkin patches and talked to a lady with a mullet watching her TV in her car on the side of a dirt road. After not listening to her directions because she was crazy we found the campsite. And strangely enough, even though we were supposed to be the last ones there, we were the first. Everyone else was supposed to secure a campsite before the gates closed, but it was about midnight and the gates had been closed for two hours. So we settled in the car and waited to see if the others would show up. Bernard along with Henry, Richard and Olivier showed up a little while later in a nice Cadillac STS. They got a Caddy because none of them could drive standard. Then Vance with Tommy, Lindsey and Keiran and Shane with Adrienn, Jacqui and Evan all showed up. Having everyone together we went to sleep in our car. Sooooo uncomfortable with four people.
Saturday, September 24: We rose bright and early and got our stuff together because we had heard the tents fill up very quickly. Warren won the best-dressed award for his traditional Bavarian Lederhosen.
To be honest though, I was more interested in seeing all the ladies in their Dirndls. So we walked to the bus and headed to the train station. A really nice German guy told us exactly how to get to the grounds, so we made our way there, getting separated a couple times along the way, but eventually got to the entrance with everybody together. The grounds were insanely big. It was like the stampede, but way bigger and with no animals.
We made our way to the Schottenhamel tent, which we had heard was the tent to be at for young people. We got there and after some talking to people discovered that there was basically no chance to get in. So I grabbed a pretzel and Shane and I each grabbed our first Mass of beer (1 litre) to discuss the plan of action. Then we got distracted by more Dirndls and more beer and forgot our plans to get in.
After a couple beer the others got tired of waiting at the entrance and joined us for beer. We went to go to the bathroom and found more entrances to the tent. We tried over and over to no avail. Even tried going in the reservation area saying we were with different parties, but no luck. We went back to drinking for a while and then decided there was no denying the fact that we had to get inside.
We went to the side entrance and quickly made our way to the front of the line. We tried talking to security and they weren't having it, saying it was only an exit. The security lady looked more like a man, and threw one chick on the ground that tried to push her way in. Then our chance came and a bunch of kids got kicked out for being too drunk. While the security was busy we pushed our way in. Shane and Evan both got caught by security promptly, but I somehow made it in. I waited by the exit to see if they would get in again, but they had no luck, so I headed in alone.
I walked around and every person I talked to either gave me some of their beer or bought me one of my own, it was so cool. Even at the tables they had extra security that you couldn't get to a table with no security. I talked my way past one of these security guards and joined a table with some Germans. They just kept ordering more and more beer and always one for me. I can't remember any of their names, but they were all really nice. One of the guys nicknamed me Freitag, which is German for Friday and named himself Robinson Crusoe. No idea what that was about.
The band inside was awesome, constantly playing Bavarian music and other classics like Queen's 'We Are The Champions.' Everyone sang along and there was so many Prosts given and so much good food eaten. Time flew in there, I ended up being in there for almost four hours.
Then I got kind of got worried all the others would have left me. I texted Travis and they said they were still outside, so I said goodbye to my new friends and left to join the others.
We finished up our beers and made our way over to the rollercoaster to do our first ride. The coaster was visible from all over the grounds, so it kind of attracted everyone. It was kind of expensive, but at the time it didn't matter.
After the coaster immediately lost Adrienn and Shane, but figured they'd be fine. We headed back along the main strip for a while, checking out all the little side stations and ended up outside the Paulaner tent.
Everyone just relaxed and drank more beer. We ended up staying there for quite a long time and just talking to random people and having a good old time. I realized I hadn't eaten since my pretzel in the morning, so I stole Tommy's hot dog, and then bought him another one and another for myself. Tommy also ended up getting his Oktoberfest hat stolen right off his head. That sucked. After it got dark Warren and George left to check out Munich and the rest of us just hung out at the Paulaner tent and drank with Germans. I talked to some Austrian girls for a while and they were going to teach me some traditional dance, but then everybody wanted to leave, so I didn't get a chance.
We made the slow trek out, Mass glasses in hand and got stopped at the exit because of the glasses. However, instead of just taking the glasses, they gave us the opportunity to hammer them back, which was nice of them.
We all made our way back to the train station, stopped at Burger King for a quick meal, and then went back to the campground. When I got back to our car, there were a ton of people crowded around it, and opening the door. Turned out George was sleeping inside, and they had woke him up and called him Jackie Chan. Strange. We learned from the previous night and Travis slept in the tent and we dropped the back seat down so we weren't so crushed and it was a hundred times more comfortable to sleep in.
Sunday, September 25: We got up relatively early and started to make our way back home. We tried to shop for food, but on Sunday everything is closed, so no luck there. On the Autobahn I tested out the car, and the fastest I could get it was about 190 km/h, but the average cruising speed was about 160 km/h. Once in Switzerland we chose the scenic route. We drove up the south coast of Bodensee (Lake Constance in English) and it was much nicer than the highway. Part way I decided we should go to the Rheinfall near Schaffhausen, the very famous Swiss waterfalls I had yet to see. The drive was pretty relaxing, but I was getting tired, so it was nice to get out at the falls. The falls were really cool and only cost 1 CHF to get in, so totally worth it. We spent a little while walking around and taking pictures, and then bought some candy and got back in the car for the ride home.
It didn't take long to get to Zürich, but once inside the traffic was ridiculously bad, I'm still not sure why because Sundays are generally quiet. Seemed like a lot of Italians in the city though. We filled up with gas again, dropped the car off and headed home to sleep.
George and I
Once in Munich, we tried to find the campsite. Eventually after a couple gas station stops and some German speaking skills we got some directions. We made it part way through the directions, but the last road was closed due to construction. While trying to find our way around we ended up in pumpkin patches and talked to a lady with a mullet watching her TV in her car on the side of a dirt road. After not listening to her directions because she was crazy we found the campsite. And strangely enough, even though we were supposed to be the last ones there, we were the first. Everyone else was supposed to secure a campsite before the gates closed, but it was about midnight and the gates had been closed for two hours. So we settled in the car and waited to see if the others would show up. Bernard along with Henry, Richard and Olivier showed up a little while later in a nice Cadillac STS. They got a Caddy because none of them could drive standard. Then Vance with Tommy, Lindsey and Keiran and Shane with Adrienn, Jacqui and Evan all showed up. Having everyone together we went to sleep in our car. Sooooo uncomfortable with four people.
Everybody made it!
Saturday, September 24: We rose bright and early and got our stuff together because we had heard the tents fill up very quickly. Warren won the best-dressed award for his traditional Bavarian Lederhosen.
Warren ready to go
To be honest though, I was more interested in seeing all the ladies in their Dirndls. So we walked to the bus and headed to the train station. A really nice German guy told us exactly how to get to the grounds, so we made our way there, getting separated a couple times along the way, but eventually got to the entrance with everybody together. The grounds were insanely big. It was like the stampede, but way bigger and with no animals.
Willkommen!
The grounds
We made our way to the Schottenhamel tent, which we had heard was the tent to be at for young people. We got there and after some talking to people discovered that there was basically no chance to get in. So I grabbed a pretzel and Shane and I each grabbed our first Mass of beer (1 litre) to discuss the plan of action. Then we got distracted by more Dirndls and more beer and forgot our plans to get in.
Shane's first beer
My first beer
Mmmmm beer...
After a couple beer the others got tired of waiting at the entrance and joined us for beer. We went to go to the bathroom and found more entrances to the tent. We tried over and over to no avail. Even tried going in the reservation area saying we were with different parties, but no luck. We went back to drinking for a while and then decided there was no denying the fact that we had to get inside.
I love this place!
We went to the side entrance and quickly made our way to the front of the line. We tried talking to security and they weren't having it, saying it was only an exit. The security lady looked more like a man, and threw one chick on the ground that tried to push her way in. Then our chance came and a bunch of kids got kicked out for being too drunk. While the security was busy we pushed our way in. Shane and Evan both got caught by security promptly, but I somehow made it in. I waited by the exit to see if they would get in again, but they had no luck, so I headed in alone.
Inside the Schottenhamel tent
This is awesome
I walked around and every person I talked to either gave me some of their beer or bought me one of my own, it was so cool. Even at the tables they had extra security that you couldn't get to a table with no security. I talked my way past one of these security guards and joined a table with some Germans. They just kept ordering more and more beer and always one for me. I can't remember any of their names, but they were all really nice. One of the guys nicknamed me Freitag, which is German for Friday and named himself Robinson Crusoe. No idea what that was about.
Nu-nuh
These guys were getting me drunk
Our table
The band inside was awesome, constantly playing Bavarian music and other classics like Queen's 'We Are The Champions.' Everyone sang along and there was so many Prosts given and so much good food eaten. Time flew in there, I ended up being in there for almost four hours.
The band
Wave your arms
A few beers later
The boys
Then I got kind of got worried all the others would have left me. I texted Travis and they said they were still outside, so I said goodbye to my new friends and left to join the others.
Back outside; Tommy, Travis, Evan
We finished up our beers and made our way over to the rollercoaster to do our first ride. The coaster was visible from all over the grounds, so it kind of attracted everyone. It was kind of expensive, but at the time it didn't matter.
George and Olivier on the rollercoaster
View from the top
After the coaster immediately lost Adrienn and Shane, but figured they'd be fine. We headed back along the main strip for a while, checking out all the little side stations and ended up outside the Paulaner tent.
Ich liebe dich!
Don't remember this...
Vance and Jacqui
Outside the Paulaner tent
Everyone just relaxed and drank more beer. We ended up staying there for quite a long time and just talking to random people and having a good old time. I realized I hadn't eaten since my pretzel in the morning, so I stole Tommy's hot dog, and then bought him another one and another for myself. Tommy also ended up getting his Oktoberfest hat stolen right off his head. That sucked. After it got dark Warren and George left to check out Munich and the rest of us just hung out at the Paulaner tent and drank with Germans. I talked to some Austrian girls for a while and they were going to teach me some traditional dance, but then everybody wanted to leave, so I didn't get a chance.
German guy
Prost!
Hanging with the Austrian girls
We made the slow trek out, Mass glasses in hand and got stopped at the exit because of the glasses. However, instead of just taking the glasses, they gave us the opportunity to hammer them back, which was nice of them.
Leaving the grounds
We all made our way back to the train station, stopped at Burger King for a quick meal, and then went back to the campground. When I got back to our car, there were a ton of people crowded around it, and opening the door. Turned out George was sleeping inside, and they had woke him up and called him Jackie Chan. Strange. We learned from the previous night and Travis slept in the tent and we dropped the back seat down so we weren't so crushed and it was a hundred times more comfortable to sleep in.
7'2" tall Polizei
Sunday, September 25: We got up relatively early and started to make our way back home. We tried to shop for food, but on Sunday everything is closed, so no luck there. On the Autobahn I tested out the car, and the fastest I could get it was about 190 km/h, but the average cruising speed was about 160 km/h. Once in Switzerland we chose the scenic route. We drove up the south coast of Bodensee (Lake Constance in English) and it was much nicer than the highway. Part way I decided we should go to the Rheinfall near Schaffhausen, the very famous Swiss waterfalls I had yet to see. The drive was pretty relaxing, but I was getting tired, so it was nice to get out at the falls. The falls were really cool and only cost 1 CHF to get in, so totally worth it. We spent a little while walking around and taking pictures, and then bought some candy and got back in the car for the ride home.
The Rheinfall
The Audi A3 crew; George, Warren, Me, Travis
The falls
It didn't take long to get to Zürich, but once inside the traffic was ridiculously bad, I'm still not sure why because Sundays are generally quiet. Seemed like a lot of Italians in the city though. We filled up with gas again, dropped the car off and headed home to sleep.
posted by Devon at 21:32
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