Oktoberfest

where to BEGIN?! how about a little background information on what Oktoberfest is... Oktoberfest held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany and is a 16-18 day beer festival.  It starts in late September (not October) and goes until the first weekend of October. It is considered the most famous event in Germany and is the world's largest fair in which over 5million people attend every year.  Although many cities hold Oktoberfest celebrations, Munich Oktoberfest began way back in 1810.

Only beer that is brewed within the city of Munich is allowed to be served.  There is a certain criterion, called the "Reinheitsgebot," in which the beer must pass before it is designed Oktoberfest Beer. Almost 7 million liters of beer are served during the event. This year there were six Munich Oktoberfest-breweries. There's 14 beer tents to choose from, each serving a specific beer. Some of the most famous tents include Hofbrau, Armbrustchutzen and Paulanergarten.

Okay now for the goods, my Oktoberfest experience! I could sum up my weekend in one sentence. We looked into prices to go back this weekend.

Over the summer some girls that I knew from freshman year, and that I am currently studying abroad with decided to book two trips ahead of time. We booked the Amalfi Coast (which was incredible, and if you didn't catch my post about it.. I suggest you go back and look and some of the beautiful pictures from the weekend!) and Oktoberfest. We decided to book the second weekend of Oktoberfest, September 23-25th. Little did we know that all the Italians go to Oktoberfest the second weekend! I think I spoke more Italian the first day in the tents than English! Florence to Munich is roughly an 8 hour bus ride, our bus left at 11:30pm on Thursday September 22 and arrived in Munich at 8am Friday morning....

Checking into the hostel wasn't an option.. check in time was at 3pm. So we freshened up (yes all 120+ kids raced to the bathrooms) locked up our luggage, ate some breakfast and had the day to do as we pleased. Some people ventured into Germany, some on a bike tour of Munich, others straight to Oktoberfest. Friday there were no lines to get into the tents (since it was still a work day for all the Germans). Walking to the festival we were told that it looks like an adult Disneyland. this was no exaggeration.. 

Sanja & Christine at the entrance 

Cody decked out & ready to go

We started out Friday morning at one of the largest tents, Hofbrau tent( yes that giant building is referred to as a "tent") The Hofbrau tent is the biggest beer tent at Oktoberfest, the only tent with a standing only area and has a capacity of 4,500 people. 

little old ladies still going strong

1st Oktoberfest Beer!

some cute Canadian boys we met

Oktoberfest isn't all about drinking beer in the tents, it involves lots of dancing, singing, meeting new people and eating. Common foods in the tents were giant pretzels, sausage, chicken, and bratwurst. 

 Day 1 in HB tent was a huge success, a lot of us left around 5pm, and got dinner some ventured back to the tents to experience oktoberfest at night while some went back to the hostel to get some shut eye since we had set a goal to get into the Hacker tent for Saturday. To hopefully accomplish this goal we had to leave the hostel no later than 7:15 Saturday morning. Saturday is the rowdy, crazy day - all the Germans come out in their traditional dress and are ready to drink! We were outside the tents by 7:30 and couldn't even get in line for the Hacker tent. So we had the option of waiting for the HB tent to open again or get in line somewhere else! Although we practically ran, we were in the begining of the line for the half hour wait to get into the Paulaner tent. 

Day 2 - first beer @ 9:10am

The Paulaner tent was so much fun, we took over three tables that we up right by the band. People were literally running into the tent trying to grab tables, and make sure they had room for all their friends. 

inside the tent

another view of the tent

"cheers!"

demonstrating how the glasses break 

everyone getting into the singing

We thought day 1 was fun - day 2 was a whole other level of fun and pure entertainment. Some people left with beer bellys, my abs were in pain from laughing all day! Sunday the boys headed back to the beer tents and the girls and I headed to Dachau Concentration camp to more of an educational experience. Located about a half hour outside of Munich Dachau was the first Nazi concentration camp opened in Germany. 

The camp, established by the Nazi Party, opened in 1933 and served as a prototype and model for other Nazi concentration camps.  Sources say that in the twelve years of operation the camp held over 200,000 prisoners and over 31,951 were believed to have been killed at Dachau. Unlike Auschwitz there is no record of mass murder occurring at Dachau, poor sanitation, deprivation of medical care, withholding nutrients, medical experiments, beatings or shootings would lead to death. 

Dachau Concentration Memorial

foundations of barracks 

memorial in front of the museum

After touring the Concentration Camp we headed back to Munich, swung by the Oktoberfest for a final goodbye stein. Then jumped on a bus for the 8 hour trip back to Florence. Driving from Germany to Florence during the day was completely different than at night. The views we had of the Alps were incredible! I will find my way there at some point this semester, just wait!