Oktoberfest: Munich, Beer and Football

Let us get one thing straight. A visit to Munich for Oktoberfest is a MUST DO for everyone in their lives! Stick it on your bucket list.

Sam, James and I arrived in Munich on the Sunday night at the beginning of Oktoberfest. We thought it would be a good idea to get to the beer festival on a Monday morning anticipating it would be quieter than normal. With rain hammering down we arrived at 'Wirtsbudenstrasse' at 10.30am and with the street deserted except for a number of groups of primary school trips (??!!) we thought it would be wise to enjoy a bratwurst before commencing on the beer.  

After our sausage, we picked a tent and headed in. Tents at Oktoberfest are enormous wooden structures, bigger than football pitches. We headed into our first tent and suddenly realised why the streets were empty. Most of Munich was here already. We were shocked and also unable to get a table so we headed out, went next door and found a table near the edge. Within 10 minutes or so this bierkeller was full. It was not yet 11.00 am. 

Sam, James and I - first beer.

One of the things that struck us was the immense pride that Bavarians have for Oktoberfest demonstrated by the fact that almost all locals were in traditional dress. 
   

Meanwhile, while Sam was chatting up the ladies, I had made friends with a group of Aussies...and after I had bought a hat of course.

The beer sold at the Oktoberfest has to have been brewed locally and must be of a certain strength - around 6%. I knew we could be in trouble on day one when both Sam and James claimed the beer must be weak as they could hardly feel it. To cut a long story short - a couple of people underestimated the strength of the beer and I suddenly found myself alone in the bierkeller for more than an hour holding onto coats and cameras. Eventually I found Sam who had been walking around another tent for an hour getting more and more frustrated that he couldn't find me and then we managed to get hold of James by mobile phone who had woken up in the hotel room. Sam and I finished the day on some of the fairground rides which was as dangerous as it sounds, especially after a day on the beer.

The next day and feeling a little tender, the three of us decided to visit a few sporting sites in Munich before heading back to the festival for round 2. 

 












First up was the Olympic Stadium built for the 1972 Olympics. The stadium is hardly used now so we were allowed to go on the pitch and kick a ball about. This was the stadium that England beat Germany 5-1 in 2001 so we had to pay homage and recreated some of those goals. We also had a run on the track. I didn't win.

After the 1972 stadium we headed to one of the most modern football stadiums in the world, the Allianz Arena, home of Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich.

    

This was another good tour although if I'm honest I preferred the old Olympic stadium. 

After the Allianz Arena it was time to get back to the beer festival and exorcise the demons from the day before. 






We started with a cheeky one in an outside bar and before long were back in one of the tents. We managed to get ourselves on a very international table with Sweden, France and Brazil being represented. This time though, we had the most amazing time drinking and dancing on the tables to the live Oompah band for 5 hours. It was brilliant. 

With our Brazilian friend we named 'Pele'

Oktoberfest 2013 runs from September 21st until October 6th. 

Check out http://www.oktoberfest.de/en/ for more information.