* ~6.2 million visitors
* 103.79 acres of festival grounds
* 521,872 chickens served
* 142,253 pork sausages
* ~ 950 million EURO spent during 16 day period
* 450 million EURO on food, drinks & entertainment
* 205 million EURO for shopping in and around Munich
* 300 million EURO spent for hotel accommodations
* 12,000 people employed
* ~100,000 seats in the festival halls
* > 7 MILLION LITERS OF BEER SERVED
Welcome to Oktoberfest, held in Munich, Germany and this is where I was this past weekend.
Copenhagen (Blue) . Zurich, Switzerland (Yellow)
Munich, Germany (Red)
The weekend started Thursday (9/25) when Alex and I met at the airport for our 20:00 flight to Zurich, Switzerland. Upon arrival we grabbed some dinner and then scouted out a place to crash for the night. After surveying the airport, we decided that the "couches" outside of the Starbucks looked the most comfortable. We played some cards and then called it a night, however we were unaware that the night-time custodial crew would be deep-cleaning our little section of the airport! So needless to say, we didn't get much sleep and to make matters worse, we were woken up at 5 am by the Starbucks employees! We ordered some coffee and then went to our 7 am flight to Munich.
We arrived in Munich, Germany at 8 am on Friday morning (9/26) and took the German S-bahn train to the central station. On the train we me these two guys from LA who flew into Munich that morning for Oktoberfest (that's dedication!). We transfered onto a local train and showed up to the hotel at 9:30 am. After taking showers and changing, we got back on the subway and headed for Oktoberfest!
Rising out of the subway via escalator I was shocked at the sheer massiveness of the festival! There were thousands of people everywhere I looked. Alex and I went to the Hippodrom Tent (one of the more traditional tents at Oktoberfest) and we were seated at a table with two Italians and four Germans. Our waiter brought us each a liter of beer and the festivities began at 10:30 am!
Around 14:00 Brandon and Nate (friends from Cal Poly who are studying in Barcelona) arrived and took a seat at a nearby table... The hours went by and by 19:00 we had drank a sufficient amount of beer and decided that we should head back to the hotel. We went to the pool and then took a much deserved nap. We woke up around 22:00 and had dinner / investigated the hotel lounge.
Day 2 (Saturday 9/27):
We somehow woke up at 07:30 and were out the door by 08:30! We arrived at the festival around 09:00 and repeated from the previous day. The tents that we visited on Saturday included: Hafbrau, Schottenhamel, Schutzen, and Lawenbrau. We spent the majority of our time at Schottenhamel and Hafbrau. Then after another FULL day of drinking we headed back to the hotel for another power-nap. Around 20:00 we woke up, got dressed and took the train to downtown Munich for dinner and clubbing. We had the most amazing meal at this traditional Bavarian restaurant. After dinner we met up with Allison (a good friend from Cal Poly) and some of her German friends to check out the club-scene in Munich. It was really good seeing Allison (see is studying in Pau, France for the semester). Then in the wee-hours of the morning we dragged ourselves back to the hotel.
Day 3 (Sunday 9/27):
Brandon and Nate woke up around 08:00 and headed back to the festival, as their flight back to Barcelona did not depart until 21:00! Alex and I on the other-hand, slept in, checked-out of the hotel, cruised by the festival to buy some souvenirs, and then took the train to the airport for our 14:10 flight back to Copenhagen.
Waiting to depart Copenhagen
Sleeping Arrangements in Zurich
So comfy!
Yea, we got umm maybe 30 min of sleep
Arrival in Munich, Germany
Hotel Room -- should be able to fit 4 guys on 2 twin beds
Oktoberfest!
Every German was dressed in traditional German clothes
I was so jealous
Hippodrom Tent
Inside the Tent
Beer #1 of ???
Cheers
Live Band
Our Table
Alex . Brandon . David . Nate
Reunited in Germany
Schottenhamel Tent
A lot of people (some 6,000+ seats in this tent)
Ridiculousness
Outside of the tents - still daylight
Train ride back to hotel
** DAY 2 **
Haf Brau Tent
Server
We sat outside for a change of scenery
10:30 am
Lunch Break
Happening place
Our flight back to Copenhagen
Overall, we had an amazing time, drank a lot of beer, didn't sleep, spent a lot of money, and experienced the largest beer festival in the world! If you ever have the opportunity to make it to Oktoberfest, GO! it will be an unforgettable experience.
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