While we were on the tour bus to Neuschwanstein Castle, we met a couple from Goodyear, AZ, Gerri and Russell. We chatted with them off and on during the tour and took photos for each other on the bridge and at other photo ops. They have a time share for a week at Salzburg, but are staying a couple of nights in Munich. By the time our tour today had ended, we had decided to go together to Oktoberfest tonight at the end of the tour. They want to see it and so do we, and they leave in the morning. While still on the tour bus, I asked the guide to tell us about how to get there and what to expect. She picked up the microphone and gave her answer to the whole bus. She started by saying "It will wear you out!"
The four of us got off the tour bus, tipped our guide, who really was excellent, even if she fretted about people getting back to the coach on time at every stop. We decided it would be less expensive to eat before we got to the Oktoberfest, so stopped at a small restaurant at the train station. After we ate, we tried again to buy metro tickets at the machine, but could not get it to work, even though a German man went through it with us. He finally said the F word and suggested we go to the window. There is a special offer for three day passes, and they can include up to five persons, so we bought one pass for the four of us. Now we are ready to go. We know from last night that the metro trains are jammed with Oktoberfest visitors. The population of munich is 1.3 million. During Oktoberfest, there are over 7 million people in the city. The metro trains double the number of cars to try to manage the load. We warned our friends to be ready for the crowds, went down the escalator and managed to squeeze onto the first train that came though. Oktoberfest is just one stop away, so when the doors open everyone pours out and jams the escalators going up to street level.
When we walk out of the metro exit the Oktoberfest spread out before us. It covers an area of several square blocks, and my best description would be state fair on steroids. There are neon lights flashing everywhere, throngs of people, dozens of rides, kiosks selling souvenirs and food, games of skill, and deafening noise. Of couse, there are huge beer tents, seating 5,000 or more each. But more about that later. There is no admission, just walk off the metro and into the crowd. We keep close tabs on each other so as not to be lost among the crowd. We walk along just watching the people. Everyone is laughing and having fun--obviously drinking a lot. Most are dressed in the traditional costumes. Men have red or blue checked shirts and laderhosen, which can very in length from walking shorts to ankle length. Women's styles are more varied, but all have a white blouse and a full skirted jumper. The bodice of the jumper comes under the breasts. Most of the styles show lots of cleavage. Some jumpers are solid color, but most have embroidery of flowers or some other pattern. These outfits are worn by woman of all ages.
There are lots of police and we see paramedics dealing with people down, whom we assume have passed out. Some of the souvenirs are crazy hats, and lots of folks are wearing them. Simple ones look like felt Bavarian hats, but silly ones have yellow or maybe even blue yarn braids hanging down, or look like a giant beer glass. They also have large cookies (like we see at the mall in the states) with Oktoberfest sayings written on them. These are suspended by a cord which women hang around their necks, so some women may have two or three of these cookies around their neck, and they also wear them during the day on the street in town.
Groups of young men hang out together, shouting or singing. Couples are necking. Everyone is buying food or playing games or just walking around in the crowd. The beer halls (tents) are filled with huge long tables, where you sit at an empty space and be glad to have it. You are afraid to lose your spot if you get up to go to the bathroom. These halls have striped tape (like police tape, but colored) across the entry area about ten feet in front of the door. There are also several guys, like bouncers, whose job it is to keep people out of the hall. So if anyone tries to duck under the tape to get inside, one or two of these guys will come to tell him or even shove him, back on the other side of the tape. We never did figure out the system of getting in. We thought at first that it was just crowd control--when so many leave, that many more get in, but that did not seem to be the case. We stood at a tape, hoping to get inside, just to see what was going on. Finally a woman "bouncer" decides to let Gerri under the tape, not to go inside the building, but to have a place at a table in front of the building. She let the rest of us in when we said we were together.
A young man trying to get in had a strip of lavender fabric which he thought would get him in as a wrist band. He asked me to try to tie the band on, and I tried, but it was too short. While I was trying to do this, the woman let us in, and this young man came under the tape with the four of us and got inside.
We sat at an empty table just outside the hall, against the front wall of the tent and a beer maid came to take our order. Russell ordered 4 beers. These mugs are a full liter, and cost 10 Eoros each. Gerri looks at me and says " I don't drink", and I said "Neither do I"! But I guess this is a place where the maids expect each person to order a beer. Not that I plan to drink it, but it now it sits at the table in front of me for photos. A couple joins us and we learn he is a pilot and she is a flight attendant for Continental airlines. We enjoy talking with them and hearing about how they travel all over the world on a daily basis. He lives on the east coast and she on the west, but they are a couple and commuting across the country is apparently not an issue.
But we still have not been inside a beer hall, so I take the camera and try to get in for photos. The guard at first says no, but when I show the camera and say I just want a picture, he lets me in. I am amazed to get in, and even more amazed at the huge size of the hall. What a mob scene! Many people are dancing on the tables, and everyone is singing the same loud drinking song. I take some photos, but there is so much action that I do not know if any of them will be good--maybe just too blurry.
When I go back to the table outside, it is about 10 pm, we decide we are ready to leave, and walk back to the metro stop. David bought me some kettlecorn on the way. There is a huge crowd at the metro entrance. We hear an announcement in German and suddenly we see these big doors sliding closed which closes off the entrance. The actual station below must be too jammed, so likely a few trains go by to deplete the crowd below, and after a few minutes, the doors open and we go down the escalator and board the train. It is a crush of people and the train takes off. When we get to the hauptbahnhof (central train station) which is our stop, it is so crowded we can hardly push our way off the train. Gerri says "I never dreamed we would have trouble getting OFF the train!" We go up the escalator into the station and say our goodbyes. I give Gerri our card with contact info. Even though there is a metro stop right beside out hotel, David and I decide to walk back. We are ready for a good nights sleep after a long day to the castle and the Oktoberfest.
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