The previous post in this blog is Emerald Isle.
The next post in this blog is Bonefish & Tequila Tour.

Travel : Munchen Beerfest

When: 15th - 18th September 2000
Where: Munich, Germany
Why: Why Not!
What: DRINK BEER, Eat Ox, DRINK BEER, Eat Sauerkraut, DRINK BEER, Eat Eisbein, DRINK BEER and maybe see Munich.
Who: Matthew Mottram, Nicky Purbrick, Stewart Weeple, Petra Tiaden, Brendan Purbrick, Charlie Jean Difford, Scot Sobey, Greg Fox, Richard Tucker, Ryan Proksch, Helen Patten.

On Friday evening 18th September 2000 the troops gathered at Gatwick airport for our flight to Munich. [Insert picture] Munich, the capital of Bavaria is situated near the Bavarian Alps in the center of Europe. Through the city flows the river Isar on a length of 13.7 km. The citycolors are black and yellow and the coat of arms shows the child of Munich (Munchner Kindl).

We enjoyed an early start to our beer drinking weekend as our flight was delayed due to heavy rain, so we eagerly began our beer training at the airport bar.

We arrived late into Munich and found our way to Hotel Theresia in downtown Munich, approximately a 25 minute walk from the Beerfest tents. We were contemplating going to the Hofbrauhaus to join Stu, Petra, Richard and Ryan, who had flown in earlier that day, but after half an hour of wrestling with a piece of wire to get our room keys out of a post box and the couple of hours that we lost due to our late departure, we decided a good night sleep was the way forward.The next morning we all congregated in the breakfast nook of the hotel and were greeted by a very hungover trio (Ryan, Richard and Stu). [Insert breakfast picture] After a hearty breakfast the plans were made and we set out for the first of many beers.

Before I go into the events of the weekend a little historical information to the Munich Oktoberfest is in order. It all started when Crown Prince Ludwig, later to become King Ludwig I, was married to Princess Therese of Saxony - Hildburghausen on 12th October 1810. The citizens of Munich were all invited to attend the festivities held on the fields in front of the city gates to help celebrate the happy royal event. The fields have been named Theresienwiese ("Theresa's fields") in honor of the Crown Princess ever since, although the locals have since abbreviated the name simply to the "Wies'n". Horse races in the presence of the Royal Family marked the close of the event that was celebrated as a festival for the whole of Bavaria. The decision to repeat the horse races in the subsequent year gave rise to the tradition that has now become the Oktoberfest.
It is the largest public festival in the world and was held in 2000 for the 167th time. Approximately 6 million visitors from all over the world converge on the Oktoberfest each year, and drink over 5 million litres of beer. Since the Oktoberfest is still held on the Theresienwiese, the locals still refer to the event simply as the "Wies'n". So "welcome to the Wies'n" means nothing other than "welcome to the Oktoberfest"!

At our destination, the Theresienwiese, we watched the Grand Entry of the Oktoberfest Landlords and Breweries. [Insert pictures] It begins at 11: am and lasts about 45 minutes. This is the official prelude to the opening of the Oktoberfest and involves about 1,000 participants, including the landlords' families in decorated carriages, the magnificent horse-drawn drays of the Munich breweries, waitresses on decorated floats and all the beer tent brands. At 12:00 a.m "It's tapped!" "O' zapft is!" So on that note, we decided to enter the closest beertent. This happened to be Pschorrbrau-Festhalle (Braurosl)and it was packed with locals in their traditional costumes and Lederhosen. We could not find a table at first and stood watching the activities around us. There were ladies carrying up to 10 jugs of beer at a time hurrying down the aisles and men carrying trays loaded with huge pretzels. The oom-pah band had started to play and everyone joined in singing their traditional folk songs while enjoying a delicious meal of eisbein's and roast chicken with sauerkraut.
We also watched a display of men cracking their whips in time to the music. [Insert pictures of activities in the tent] By this time our mouths were watering and we were feeling completely dehydrated. Luckily we had a German speaker (Petra) amidst us who soon organised our long awaited jugs of beer and we proceeded to join in with the festivities.....PROST!!!! Later on in the evening, after a few jugs of beer, I am not mentioning a name, decided to roll up his trousers and quite fancied himself in Lederhosen. [Insert picture of Matt]. We soon organised a table and enjoyed a delicious meal of roast chicken and eisbein's. Hint: Make sure you order grilled eisbein otherwise you will be presented with boiled eisbein. We also thoroughly enjoyed getting up and dancing on the tables during the evening.

At the foot of the Bavaria statue, the huge Oktoberfest grounds also provide carousels, roller coasters and all the spectacular fun of the fair for the enjoyment and excitement of visitors of all ages. So we concluded the evening with some exhilirating rides, full of beer courage, at the fun fair.A particular person, name begins with B and ends with N thought he had had the ride of his life, next day turned out to be harmless rotating shells, but perhaps he was confusing himself.The next morning we were all feeling rather tender and some of us weaklings had very stiff arms from holding those enormous beer jugs. But this did not deter us for a second round at the beertents and further celebrations needed to be had as it was Scotty's birthday. But firstly a little sightseeing and relaxation time was on the agenda. We visited the Marienplatz which is a square named after the column of the Virgin Mary at its center. The square is famed for its neo-Gothic Town Hall, whose mechanical clock, or Glockenspiel, plays every day at 11:00, 12:00 and 17:00. The Marienplatz is a centerpiece for the city's Founding Festival as well as for Fasching celebrations and the popular Christmas market. The Glockenspiel in Rathausturm (Carillon in New Town Hall Tower)is the largest carillon in Germany, with near-lifesize figures performing the traditional Coopers' Dance and a jousting match. [Insert pictures of square and clock here] The second beertent we entered was the Paulaner-Brauerei-Festhalle (Winzerer Fahndl). Here we enjoyed a delicious lunch outside before saying goodbye to Brends and Charly Jean as they flew out that evening. It was then time to charge those jugs for the evening, soothe the vocal chords with golden liquid and flex the dancing legs again. Scotty donned with his Lowenbrau hat was soon enjoying his birthday celebrations. He just could not keep still and was shaking and moving between tables and down the aisles. Every now and again we caught him taking a breather. [Insert picture of Scotty and others having a great time]

On the Monday before heading to the airport we visited the Hofbrauhaus for lunch. [Insert picture of us having lunch] This beloved beer hall has existed since 1644 and lives up to its reputation: beer, food, tourists, oom-pah music, druken revelry and Lederhosen. There is a wall of beer steins, personalized and locked away for their owners - a true sign of beer loving Germans.
A visit to the Dachau Concentration Camp had been on the agenda, but we had run out of time and it was closed on a Monday. So a future visit to Munich is definitely on the cards.

PROST TO A GREAT WEEKEND!!!!