Oktoberfest (The one you have been waiting for!)

Bright and early on October 2nd, Amanda and I rushed out of our apartment to catch the tram to Mannheim central station. We managed to catch our first train with less than 1 minute to spare, no doubt a result of Amanda running like a bat outa hell once our tram finally arrived at the central station. From there on out it was smooth sailing to Munich; we slept, ordered coffee and stared at two fairly animated Italians that were seated in front of us.

Our first mission when arriving to Munich was to acquire the proper attire for the festival. Enter random side street vendor selling overpriced liederhosen and durndels. After each of us got to try on an outfit (don't worry fellas, the durndel didn't fit me), we paid the nice street vendor and made our way to Daniel & Mila's apartment (the fine folks who hosted us for the weekend). Mila showed us around Munich; we saw the Englischer Gardens, Amanda's university and the Chinese Tower biergarden. Once the evening rolled around, we went out for dinner at a very nice Peruvian restaurant, where we experienced 'ceviche' for the first time. We topped of the evening by heading to a really nice bar inside of an art museum.

Now, to set the scene for Oktoberfest proper, you need to know a few details. Daniel managed to wheel us a table reservation (something that is quite difficult to get, especially on a Saturday!) which guarenteed us a seat from 10:00-2:30 in the Schottenhamel tent (which is apparently one of the more traditional tents). Our group (Daniel, Mila, Harry, Uta, Philipp, Amanda and myself) got started on the task of crushing one liter beers immediately. The music in the tent was great, the food was delicious and the beer was flowing. We danced on our chairs as a big brass Bavarian band played German songs with a few North American hits mixed into their set. We ended our stay at Oktoberfest with a ferris wheel ride, which really showed us just how big the festival was (check the gallery to see what I mean!).

After saying our goodbyes, we made our way to the train station to catch our lift back home. Little did we know, we chose a cart that had no air conditioning nor any form of ventilation. We were both a disgusting mess when we got back to Mannheim.

We are pumped to do it all again next year. Thanks to the Harry, Ute, Daniel, Mila and Philipp for making our trip so great.