Raffi was insistent that we go in traditonal dress. As a girl that means I should have worn a dirndl. I wasn't game. a) I didn't know of anyone with one b) I definitely wasn't going to buy one. Instead I borrowed some lederhosen. very much cue feeling like a pratt for a very long time, pretty much until sufficient beer had been consumed. It was very easy to pick out the foreigners. They were they ones not in traditional dress.
Finding it involved following some people from the train station, in such clothing (very easy to spot). Hey presto we made it to what very much looked like a fairground at first. We made our way to a tent and sat down at a table. Not a very hip table mind you. There was a couple, minimum age of 60 sat opposite. The woman was drinking coffee. Far too civilised for Oktoberfest! A Canadian guy was later seated at our table. He was on his own and clearly sparked the interest of the aforementioned couple so that Raffi and I had to act as interpretors for his life story/their questions. The table over was hosting far more English speakers so we made a sly shift onto their table.
This hat seemed to be being passed around. I think it looked best on me. It may have belonged to the only other Brit I found all day! That's a Maß in my hand. There's lots of clinking of these glasses, especially when singing along to the live bands playing what I can only assume is traditional/Bavarian/folk music. Being my sociable self, I was befriending anybody and everybody so Raffi, the Canadian (may or may not have been called Brad - I forget) and 2 German guys, decided to change tents for a livelier one. The thing about Oktoberfest is that you need a seat at a table to get served and these tables are often reserved and if not, fill up easily. The idea being that you find a table and stay there all day long.
Our solution to this? We ambushed a table that a company had reserved for its staff. There weren't many of the staff there yet you see and they didn't seem to mind. I think they liked my lederhosen. By this time it was getting towards evening, everybody was a little bit merry and there came a point where it suddenly seemed socially unacceptable to be sitting down. Everybody was standing on the benches, singing, stamping, clinking glasses and having a jolly old time. Sitting down was at your own peril really. If your head is lower than someone's glass/foot/hand you will end up covered in beer, stomped on and possibly getting an accidental left-hook to the chops. Really, it's for your own safety that you stomp and sing along with everyone else!Somewhere among all the joviality, we lost our table to the employees of the company it was reserved for (probably fair) and I found a group of Australians on an extended trip around Europe (anglophone radar in full swing) We joined the throngs of people not at tables, simply milling around, dancing to goodness knows what music. It was so packed, that it would be an absolute miracle if anyone was able to a) catch the attention on a waiter/waitress to order anything and b) anything ordered actually reached it's intended recipiant.
Either way, we forsook our places in the tent and went outside to explore the fairground bit. I dragged anyone and everyone on any rides that took our fancy. So most of them. Being majorly overpriced didn't seem to deter anybody. We rounded the night off with an ungainly helter-skelter, takeaway, lost wanderings around Munich and finally a snooze on the floor in the train station before catching a very early morning train back to Bregenz.
So Oktoberfest...
Was it as I expected? Not quite.
Was it good? Oh definitely.
Would I wear lederhosen again? Never. Going to the bathroom has never been such a pain.
Was it expensive? Naturaly, but entirely worth it.
Would I recommend going? As the travel expert that I am (ha!) I insist that everybody, particularly anyone who speaks/learns/likes German goes at least once in his/her lifetime.
It is AMAZING.
No comments:
Post a Comment