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2003-10-05
Oktoberfest!

5:15 p.m.

The best adventures are the ones that you embark upon at the last minute. Friday night, we met to decide where we were going to go for Oktoberfest and how to get there. More people wanted to go to Stuttgart, which was closer (2 hours away, as opposed to Munich's 4), and said that they weren't going to go if we went to Munich. Ollie, who has a car, said that if he was going to go, he was driving, and he was going to Munich. Will and I were also holding out for Munich; if we're doing this, we're doing it right. In the end, what started out as about 15 people wanting to go, ended up being only five: Nick, Ollie, Will, Kelly, and me, which meant that we could all cram into Ollie's British Peugot car.

The next morning, we left around 7:30. Of the five, only Will spoke any decent amount of German. I was armed with my Berlitz German phrasebook and we spent a good deal of the trip trying to memorize some useful phrases and words, the only one of which that I remember right now is the word for tire. In addition to my oh-so-handy phrases of "I am a pineapple" and similar. and planned to get to Munich around 11:30-noon because we were told that it's best to get there before noon as otherwise it really turns into a zoo. We were right on schedule, when, about an hour out of Munich, the left rear tire blew its valve. Let me tell you, there are few sights more entertaining than a Scotsman in a kilt changing the tire on the side of the German Autobahn. Undaunted, we continued on and reach Munich around 12:30 where we found a decent parking spot and hop the tram (after much discussion about where we were and we were needed to go) to the center of the city.

The first place we headed to was the Hauf Brau House, but we waited in line until about 2PM with only about 10 people getting in. There was a mass of drunk people wandering around singing at the top of their lungs, most of them wearing big, fuzzy, Oktoberfest hats, and a good deal of them dressed up. Sort of like a Renaissance Faire.

We talked to some other people in line and they said that before noon, you could walk right in. So, that thing about arriving prior to twelve was pretty accurate. While in line, a guy threw up next to us (Ollie and I were splashed a little) but noone paid any attention. Then, a guy starts screaming and banging on the door to get in and his friends are holding him back. We were pretty close so we could see what was happening. One guy was inside and was arguing with the security guard to get his friends inside but the guard wasn't letting opening the door so the guy and another friend jump the guard, which is when the guy outside started hollering and banging on the door. Kelly, Will, and I (Ollie & Nick had tried to go find a better way in) were afraid for our lives as we were in the line of the guy's backswing, and as we had been waiting for so long with noone getting in, we decided to leave. At that point, a whole troop of security guards came up.

We wandered around and finally ended up in the Pauliner tent around 3. You had to be in a tent to get beer, but by the time we arrived, most tables had been claimed. I wasn't planning on drinking, but yeah, well...it was Oktoberfest. Those of you who know me well, please hang onto your seats because I got drunk. Or, at least as close to drunk as I have ever been. Kelly originally ordered three beers for her, Ollie, and Will, but Will decided that I couldn't come to Oktoberfest and not have a beer so he got one for me, too. Since they were liter mugs, I told Will that I'd do my best, but I would be lucky to drink half and then they could have the rest (which they didn't consider to be much of a hardship).

So, yes, I had a liter of beer. I managed to drink the whole thing, and was very, very tipsy by the end of it. Will, Kelly, and Ollie, on the other hand, seemed to be doing okay. They had another round. Nick had a coke. The people next to us left, and some others came. A guy sat down next to Will and realizing that we spoke English, decided to practice his by talking to us. So, he spent most of the time talking to Will, who responded in German. We ordered some sort of soup thing which was really good. Nick had another coke, got bored, and wanted to go wander around. It was raining outside, we were inside having a great time, there was a band playing, and besides, none of us were really in much condition for walking around. ;) So, he left with plans to meet up later.

The rest of the group ordered another beer, of which Kelly and Will gave me some so that I effectively had another half-liter. To be honest, I didn't like it any better than when I started, but I still drank it. Then, I had about a quarter-liter of Rotweine, red wine, which was REALLY good, or maybe it just tasted that way after having choked down the nasty beer. By that time, we were VERY happy. The guy who had been talking to Will, though machinations resulting from various bathroom trips, was now really hitting on Kelly, so Will pretended that they were dating. Then, Kelly and I left to "go to the bathroom" so that Will would be sitting between them when she came back, and then the guy starts hitting on Will! After that, he grabbed a waitress who immediately called security over who, thankfully, threw him out; he was really getting quite obnoxious. There were some other people sitting on the other side of us, however, who were quite nice and we exchanged business cards.

Well, I have to finish the project, and this is plenty long enough for today, so I will finish it tomorrow.

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