Eins, zwei, souffa! Oktoberfest Fun.

The day finally arrived. I was to sit in a tent at Oktoberfest. I was the guest of a friend of a friend of an acquaintance from the Brewery in Bend... but I got in and it was fantastic.

We were at Käfer's, one of the medium sized tents known as the after hours party tent as it stays open till 3. We were seated about 12 hours earlier...

The spread:

Happy Nancy face in new hat:

I had a lot of fun with the Krones, Inc. people but I felt I was missing the essential Oktoberfest experience. So I went back Monday night.

First I hung at the Spaten tent, where I was reminded that you had to have a seat, at a table, before you could get a beer. A nice server found me a place to stand and got me a beer. A €10 beer (that's $13.07). Oh but it's a liter. Not so bad, really.

I travel alone a lot and love it. I like meeting people and moving at my own pace.

But Oktoberfest in Munich, alone, not speaking German, was a little weird.

Anyhoo, you're not allowed to just stand on the perimeter and drink beer, you have to keep moving.

So I moved. I went on to the Paulaner tent. By now I knew that you had to troll for a seat then flag down a server. I was having an awful time finding a spot so I asked this tall, cute German if he spoke English. Well, he's a tall, cute Brit and spoke fluent English, thank you very much.

So I grabbed his hand and said, "Look, let's find a table. It's easier with two people and I want to have a conversation. In English."

Hullo David.

 We found a spot, had a beer. David was restless so I asked, "Is it time to go? (I wasn't sure if he wanted to continue to hang with me so I asked -- something like -- See-ya-later-go? Or shall-we-find-another-tent-go?" It was (enthusiastically) the latter so we went to Hofbräu tent.

He comes to Oktoberfest yearly, and has done so for ages. What he said, and my limited experience confirms, is that each tent has a vibe. Some feel like old German, lots of drunk old men and women, dancing in the aisles.

New friends.

Hofbräu has a lot of German 20-50 somethings who speak fluent English. It also has a lot of Kiwis, Aussies, Brits and just a smattering of Americans. We had a blast, made lots of new friends ;-)

 

Hofbrau tent, note the hops on the ceiling.

 

 I took a horrible movie, sideways, of the scene. Here it is:

 

Peace out!

 

 

Well, a splendid time was had by all. I have a wicked hangover and am sore in all sorts of places (from dancing and whatnot), but I had fun, fun, fun.

I think I'll go back tonight....