Oktoberfest

Every year around September/October, beer festivals start appearing in a lot of cities.  They usually call themselves Oktoberfest.  However, there is only one original Oktoberfest; and that is in Munich. Locals called it Wiesn, the fairground where it's being held.  You can learn more about the history and other factual information by clicking on the Oktoberfest link above.

Entrance to the Oktoberfest fairground

Coming to Oktoberfest has been on my bucket list for a number of years.  But, I heard that it's very difficult to find a hotel room in the city during that period or you have to pay a very high room rate.  In 2014, while traveling in South Africa, I met a friend Paul and he invited me to stay with him at his student apartment.  I missed 2014 because I was running in the NYC Marathon and in 2015, I had to go to Singapore for some family matters.  However, while at a food court in Singapore, I struck up a conversation and became friends with a German expatriate.  By coincidence, he is from Munich and I told him that my goal is to one day attend Oktoberfest.  He graciously invited me to stay with him and his family, and so here I am in 2016, visiting and staying with my friend, Tobias Fausch, and his family.

Getting dressed up in traditional German attire

I am missing my lederhosen

Standing in front of the Paulaner tent where we celebrated

Waitress carrying many mugs of beer

Extra large pretzels, just for Oktoberfest

Six million people visited Oktoberfest last year.  Getting a table reservation is a big, big challenge, unless you have some connections.  Tobias was able to get a table reserved at 5 pm on October 1st.  What if you don't have a reservation?  For most people, it means getting there early and get into one of the tents and secure a seat at a table.  You will not be served beer if you do not have a seat at a table.  This means that you will likely be seating with strangers or in an open public area.

Open seating area with bandstand in the background

Having fun drinking with friends

Before I came to Oktoberfest, I had the impression that you pay an entrance fee to get into a big tent, find a seat, and you will be served beer.  That's not how it works.  It's actually a big carnival, with rides, games, toys, souvenirs, etc, like you would see in any carnival.  Entrance to this area is free.
Within this Wiesn area are 14 tents belonging to the biggest breweries in Bavaria.  You pick which tent you want to go to or you may have reservation at a specific tent.  Entry to the tent is also free but admission gets harder as it gets later in the day.  Advice: start in the early afternoon or even earlier.  When we arrived, most of the tents have long lines.  With our wrist bands, we got into the Paulaner tent without any problem, and was shown to our table.
There were 10 of us at our table, all friends of Tobias, who worked and met in Singapore.  So, all of us have a Singapore connection.

Tobias and I

The waitress came and took our orders for the beer and food.  It's amazing how many 1-liter mugs of beer each waitress can carry.  There is a band playing in the tent, playing a mix of German music and English pop music, including Abba's Dancing Queen and Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline.  It's a very noisy place but not at all rowdy.  Some people are dancing on their tables.  Security is very tight.  Any hint of anyone getting rowdy or violent, gets immediately thrown out of the tent.  Everyone is in a very happy mood.  Strangers greet one another and start conversations.  I walked around the tent and probably talked to at least 20 strangers.  The tent is an amazing operation.  They have a big kitchen preparing food and 4 beer stations.  They have booths that sell souvenirs, pretzels, and vendors walking around selling flowers, hats, etc.   Security folks are constantly getting people moving in the corridors to allow the waiters and waitresses easy access to the attendees.

1-liter beer mugs getting ready to be filled

A very well-equipped kitchen to serve food

It's a night of fun, conversation with friends and strangers, dancing on the benches, singing with the band, eating German food, and of course, drinking lots of beer.  The beer brewed for Oktoberfest has a higher alcohol content - about 5.5%.   I drank 3 liters of beer!  You control your own drunkenness.  When we left, there were many who drank too much and laid down on "puke hill."

One of the amazing things I learned when coming to Munich is that the locals really enjoy coming to Oktoberfest as well.  Many of them don't come for just 1 evening.  They come multiple times during the 2-week festival.  I heard some even come every night!  This is their event and part of their pride of being a citizen of Munich and Germany.   Tourists come from all over the world.  The second weekend is heavily patronized by Italians.  So much so that the Italian Police come and help control the Italian crowd.

The place shuts down at 11 pm and the mass of people start heading towards the trains to go back to wherever they are staying.  Crowd control and security was superb.  I was told that this year the crowd is smaller but nevertheless, there were a lot of people there.  And they run this for 17 days!

Drank too much.  Sitting next to "puke hill"

This two won't be going home tonight

München

I came to Munich for one big reason:  Oktoberfest.  That has been on my bucket list for a long time.  But I heard that it's near impossible to get a hotel room unless you book months in advance.  I met a couple of friends, Paul and Alina, while traveling in South Africa.  They invited me to stay with them but I could not make it in 2014 because I was getting ready to run the NYC Marathon.  Then I met another German friend, Tobias, at a food court in Singapore.  He graciously invited me to stay with his family.  How can I turn this down?  So, here I am in Munich, getting ready to go to Oktoberfest this afternoon.

But, wait a minute.  There's more to Munich than Oktoberfest.  This is a city that has been around for hundreds of years.  It's the third largest city in Germany and is a major center for technology, business, education, finance, culture, etc.  Of course, it's where Bavarian Motor Works, popularly known as BMW, is headquartered.  I have 3 days to explore Munich before we go to Oktoberfest.  With Tobias' help, here was my itinerary:

Day 1:

1. Buy a 3-day Tourist Pass, so you can ride all public transportation and not have to waste time buying tickets each time.  They also have the 1- and 4-day passes.  Costs:  21.9€
2. Go to Marienplatz:  at 11 am and noon, watch the Glockenspiel display at the square. 
3. Stop at the Tourist Information office, just below the Glockenspiel and pick up whatever tourist information you need.  More importantly, buy a city map (half an euro), and have the staff explain the orientation of the city and point out where the important landmarks are.  The map is very useful because it numbers the important landmarks.  It also give you a S-bahn and U-bahn map.  With the 3-day pass, you can ride anywhere for free within the "Inner Ring."  Don't be caught without a valid pass.  I heard the fine is 60 euros.
4. Next go to the Viktualienmarkt, where you will find a variety of local food, produce, beer, etc.  It's sort of like a Farmers' Market.  Spend about 2-3 hours here to enjoy the sights and tastes.  It's not a tourist spot but the locals shop here too.
5. Find your way to Hofbräuhaus, the city-owned historical beer hall.  Here you can find the same beer that they serve at the Oktoberfest plus popular German food.  If you are thirsty or hungry, have a beer and same wurst here.  If not, at least walk through the beer hall, take some pictures, and come back later.
6. Across from the Hofbräuhaus is a Starbucks.  I know.  I know.  Why Starbucks?  Two reasons:  toilet and wifi.  As many tourists there are in the city center, it's very difficult to find a toilet or WC (stands for water closet).  At Starbucks, you can get your caffein fix, check your email or messages, and with the receipt, get the code to use the toilet.  You will have to ask the friendly staff where the toilet is because it's around the corner from Starbucks.  Keep the receipt so that you can come back and use the toilet later or the next day.  I don't think they change the code.
7. Take a short walk to the Residenz Museum, where royalty and the power elites of the city used to live.  Like many European palaces, that have been turned into museums, it features a lot of the ornate and ostentatious decor of the old days.  You need about 2 hours to through the museum.  I recommend getting an audio guide.  
8. Stop at the Cathedral Church of our Lady, near Marienplatz and take a peek inside the church.  You can also climb one of the towers and have a very nice view of the city, although I did not do it.  It also has the legendary devil's footprint in the floor of the church.
9. For dinner, you can eat at any of the restaurants around Marienplatz or even go back to the Viktualienmarket, where some of the restaurants are opened until 8 pm.

Marienplatz

Viktualienmrkt or Farmers' Market

Maibaum - a traditional German "May Tree"

Varieties of Olives

Historic Hofbrauhaus or Beer House

Traditional German food:  pork, sausage, schnitzel, pork knuckles

Oktoberfest Pretzels

Glockenspiel, performing at 11am and noon

Residenz Museum

Day 2:

1. Start at Hauptbahnhof, the Central Station, and then take the U-bahn or walk north towards a group of museums called the Pinakothek Museums.  Start with the classical, called Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek (new), then if you have time or not too tired, the Pinakothek Der Moderne and Museum Brandhorst.  You can buy one ticket for all four, if you can see all in 1 day.  Otherwise, it's better to pick perhaps 2 or 3.  Expect to spend about 1-2 hours at each museum.
2. If you are "max-out" on Museums, this is a good time to walk or take one of the trains towards the English Garden.  This is a beautiful park not far from the city center.  It's sort of like a Central Park in New York City.  At the time when I visited in late September, the weather was beautiful, sunny and warm, about 20C or 70F.  I told my hosts that I brought sunshine from Arizona but not the heat.  At the English Garden, you can stroll around, read your book, or stop at the Chinese Tower, which I did.  Here is a big beer garden and there was a brass-instrument band playing music on the second floor of the tower, so called because it's shaped like a pagoda.  You can buy your 1-liter beer stein and have a nice German meal here.  Between reading my Kindle, drinking a non-alcoholic beer (I picked it up by mistake), a traditional Oktoberfest pretzel, German music, watching the crowd and full sunshine, well.....Life is Good!

Start your day with a stop at one of the many excellent bakeries

Inside the Alte Pinakothek, with classical paintings

A painting by Van Gogh in the Neue Pinakothek

A stream in the English Garden

Chinese Tower or Chinesischen Turm, in German

Large beer garden at the Chinese Tower

Day 3:

1. Take the train to the Isartor station.  From there, walk to the Deutsches Museum or German Museum.  Unfortunately, I did not have time to go there but I understand that it's like the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum.  A lot of technology: automobiles, flight, ships, science, etc.  It's worth spending an entire morning or afternoon there, if you are a geek like me.
2. The museum is on an island on the Isar river.  After the museum visit, you can stroll alongside the river, where there are walking, running or biking paths.  There are also beaches along the river where you can sun yourself.  I thought of picking up one of those bike-share bikes but since I have the tourist card, I thought I can get around faster with the train or buses or trams.  But here, biking is a good option to enjoy views of the river.  You can also stop at a beer garden along the bank of the river and enjoy a genuine Oktoberfest beer and pretzels.
3. From the Isar river area, either walk or take a train to the Marienplatz station and then take the U3 train to the Olympia Sentrum station.  Walk about 100 meters to the BMW museum, where you  can see the history and vehicles by BMW since its inception in the early 1900s'.  You get more than models of old BMW cars, motorcycles, and engines.  It talks about its history and its present-day corporate philosophy and responsibilities.  Unless you are a die-hard BMW fan, I am not sure if the 9 euros is worth it.  After this, you can walk across the street to see its showroom of modern-day BMW cars, including a couple of Rolls-Royces, which it bought several years ago.  You can also go on a factory tour.  Unfortunately, during the Oktoberfest season, it's fully booked.  The lady at the Information Desk told me that you have to book about 6 weeks in advance.  
4. Munich hosted the 1972 Summer Olympic Games.  It built a new stadium at that time to host the games.  The stadium is still there, although not much in use.  At that time, it was hailed as a technology break-through in the stadium's construction.  When I went there, it was closed and I could only see it from the outside.  I did look closer at how the roof was constructed and secured.  

Along the bank of the Isar River

BMW Corporate HQ and Museum in the foreground

An old BMW car

Olympia Park

How the roof structure of the Olympia Park is secured

You noticed that I did not include the actual Oktoberfest in the itinerary.  That's because I assume that you have more than 3 days to enjoy Munich.  If you only have 3 days, then you need to squeeze in a few hours, maybe 4-6 hours there.  If you have an extra day, well....you can go in the morning, take a break and go again in the evening.  Oktoberfest is best enjoyed with a group of friends, so make some friends and have fun.  I will be writing about it in my next post.