As the train climbed towards Munich, the beautiful German countryside was on full display! Bathed in sunshine (probably for the last time in quite a few months), the pine forests and agricultural fields rolled by…
The entry into Munich station was fairly undramatic, and it looked like a cleaner version of CST station (!!) at around 5 in the evening on a weekday. The rush was of course for the last summer weekend and the last 2 days of the OktoberFest!!
By the time I stopped at the tourist info shop, bought my train tickets and made it to the hotel, it was nearly 3pm! Its best to take a day ride ticket in Munich, and if traveling in a group a group day ticket for 2-5 persons (9.80 euros). But after 2 days of roaming around I didn’t remember anybody asking for the ticket. I’d imagine the adventurous ones would opt not to buy one or buy a cheaper one and pass it off as another.
Once Richa & Tanvi were also in and ready, Munich awaited!
Saturday 4.30pm, and the agenda was quite clear. Get into the Oktoberfest and get out on Sunday morning. The crowd, as we reached the ‘English Gardens’ was maddening! The Oktoberfest has several ‘tents’ and each tent can house more than 2-3000 people I’m sure…! There’s the usual fare of giant ferris wheels and rides which will make your stomach really woosie, but ALL of that was to be for *after* of course!
As we excitedly got into the line of one of the tents, after about 1 hour of waiting, we realized something was amiss. The line wasn’t moving, and the 2-3 people that were getting in in about every 10 minutes were all holding some tickets!! This was NOT good news. Mustering courage to go and talk to a massive guard, we asked him what the scene was? And when were we going to get in? He replied, in typically curt, to the point, economical thickly German-accented English “NEXT YEAR.”… I was shocked! Surely there’s not SO much of a crowd that they can’t let people in!?! Tent after tent it was the same story. Hordes of people queuing up only to realize that they weren’t going to get in! I sensed the making of a disaster, that I went allll the way to Munich and did not get into the Oktoberfest!!
Someone suggested that our best bet was to come and queue up early next morning. Disheartened, but with the determination to not go back ‘empty handed’, we swore to try our luck again the next day. But before that we still had the entire evening to walk around the main Marineplatz area of Munich. Its absolutely littered with cafes and bars and people are out having a fantastic time. We had a relaxed sit-down drink followed by dinner. By the time we headed back to the hotel, it was nearly 2am and the early morning next morning looked ominously impossible!
My jetlag was luckily still not completely gone, and I woke up sprightly as a prairie dog on a savannah morning, at 6 a.m! After several minutes of pestering so that everyone was up, we finally got ready and were out by 7.30! It was 8.15 by the time we reached, and the crowd in the train just made my heart beat that bit quicker. It was going to be touch & go…! As we entered the festival grounds, the difference versus last evening was quite clear. The crowd was much lesser, but there were huuuuuge lines in front of EACH tent. We picked the first one and just joined it. Fingers crossed. We waited for about 15 minutes, and then there was a huge collective roar. The gates were open… What was going to happen? Were they going to ask for tickets? Were we going to go back ‘dry’ from the OktoberFest???
Within 2 minutes, literally, the entire line had emptied out into one of the biggest tents you will ever see. With rows upon rows of tables & chairs, much like a school mess!
And we were IN!
No questions asked.
We just went and grabbed the seat closest to the entrance and swore never to let go! After about a 10 minute wait, the band started, to a thunderous roar from the crowd!
The waitresses in their Bavarian dresses swarmed in with the first round of stuff to eat before the beer. White sausages are supposed to be the specialty but I didn’t quite feel up to trying one. I got more of the salty vegetarian stuff and a fish sandwich.
And then, came the beer. In tall glasses of 1 litre each, with a waitress carrying upto 6-7 at a time! ‘Prost!!’ we shouted, and off the mark we went! Within a few minutes, we witnessed our first ‘entertainer’.
So basically, anyone can just stand up on his table and announce to the rest of the crowd that he’s going to go ahead and down his, or her, beer in a single go! Luckily the first one to do it was sitting right next table to us, and as he started, the roar from the crowd was unbelievable! As he swiftly gurgled down his 1 litre (mega-) glass, the crowd went ballistic! THIS is what I had come for. NOT for the 400 different kinds of beer. NOT to see the Bavarian women (well ok, a bit, yes :P ).
And then another went up and downed one. The cheers kept getting bigger. The loudest ones were, of course, reserved for the women. There were a couple of guys who also lost their way mid way and they were greeted with laughs and boos. I’d imagine these people would be pretty scarred like for life! J Surely, their friends would continue to take their case for some time to come!
Now the beer was flowing and this is where my memory starts to fail me. The period from the end of the 2nd litre of beer to lunch at 4pm is QUITE hazy. I remember, hmm, lets see, the pavement…, the metro ride…, and an inordinately long time in some toilet.
Then there was the BMW Museum and the hugely impressive OlympikStadion! On a clearer head day, I’d probably have been able to appreciate these EVEN more than I ended up doing. That said, Munich left me with some fond, fond memories.
Next stop, Berlin!
No comments:
Post a Comment