Munich & Oktoberfest, Oktober 2002
On this page:

Nothing Less than a Liter Served!
      Other links:
Friday Oktober 4th - Paris to Munich
Matthias, our German friend from Paris, offered to take us to Oktoberfest in Munich.  His girlfriend Sabina and close school friend Armin lived in Munich at the time.  Armin offered to let all of us stay at his apartment for the weekend - a generous offer considering the nature of the event.  Our group consisted of the usual Schlumberger characters from Paris - Mike, Doug, Matthias, Cecilia, and I - everyone except for Marc, who was on his way to Mexico for a business trip.  We were also joined by Kirby, a Schlumberger friend from our days in Houston, but who now was located in Moscow.

We left Paris on Friday afternoon from work, and arrived in Munich at 10pm.  We went directly to Armin's house in Munich, and met up with Armin, Sabina, and several other of their Munich friends.  We hung out for the remainder of the night at Armin's flat, and went to bed around 1am.  We planned to wake up at 8am the following morning, to assure that we would get a table at Oktoberfest - priority #1 for the success of the day.

Saturday Oktober 5th - Oktoberfest
We woke up as planned on Saturday morning, had a quick breakfast, and took the metro over to Oktoberfest.  At this point I realized that Oktoberfest only occurs in one official location - similar to a state fair or a carnival in the U.S.  The Oktoberfest grounds are open year round, but the complete festival only occurs for about three weeks at the end of September and beginning of October.

We entered the festival grounds, and walked to what had already been chosen as the desired beer tent.  There are fourteen tents on the festival grounds, each tent holding several thousand people.  The tents are wall-to-wall full with picnic tables - each table with two benches, big enough to hold about 8 people.  We arrived at our tent at 10am, to find that all of the table were full!  The tents had opened earlier than expected that day - at 9am - and the crowds had already filled the tables.  We loitered around the aisleways for a bit, and were lucky enough to find two tables open up within ten minutes.  We quickly claimed our spots at the tables, and then started to think about food and drinks.

We ordered the traditional (and only available) breakfast in the tent - white sausages and sweet mustard.  Being a sausage fan myself, I was very pleased with the breakfast.  The sausages were quickly followed by our first round of beers, which are only available in the one-liter glass steins, marked with the insignia of the test owner.  Thus started our Oktoberfest. Images from the morning:
 
9:30am, Entering Oktoberfest Grounds
After Selecting a Good Tent, Find a Seat!
Breakfast of Champions, Course #1
Breakfast of Champions, Course #2

As the morning progressed so did the number of beers, and we decided to buy giant pretzels.  Just before lunch the band arrived, and took their places on a stage in the center of the tent, high above the level of the tables.  They started to play what sounded to me like Polka music (it was a traditional German tune), and they never stopped for the rest of the day.  We watched as various tables around us danced, banged their glasses to toast, and sang along with the band.  We did not hold back, and followed suit in our best lip-synched German.  Images from mid-day:
 
Late-Morning Snack
Hanging out at the Table
More Table Excitement
Doug....

In the early afternoon we decided to order lunch, which consisted of more "lunch" sausages and sauerkraut - another satisfying meal.  After lunch the afternoon progressed in similar fashion - more liters, more singing, and more dancing.  Most of the groups who had arrived at 9am were still at their tables, and did not plan to leave anytime soon.  The tent doors had been closed sometime around 3pm - no one was allowed to enter unless someone left the tent..  Images from the afternoon:
 
More Sausages for Lunch
Dancing on the Tables
The Canon IXUS is very Popular among our Friends
Matthias with an Afternoon Snack

The afternoon progressed to early evening, and we finally started to tire.  Many rounds of liters had been finished, and even several rounds of lemonades had been ordered.  At 10pm, twelve hours after arriving in the tent, we decided to leave.   It was quite refreshing to breath some fresh air outside the sealed and smoky tent.

We decided to stroll around the festival grounds before heading home.  We signed up for several carnival rides, including the bumper cars, the strongman hammer, and the giant slide.  We each ordered a brautwusrt from a local stand, our third official sausage meal of the day.  After about thirty minutes it started to rain, and we decided that it was time to head back to the metro.   The drizzle turned to a heavy rain before we reached the metro, and we got quite wet.  But, we were home within minutes, and there was no question what would happen next - everyone was asleep by midnight, after a long day of festivity in Munich.  Some images from the end of the day:
 
Bumper Cars
The Big Slide!

Sunday Oktober 6th - Touring Munich & Olympic Park
We woke up at around 9am , found the nearest coffee and breakfast, and debated what to do.  Another day at Oktoberfest was not considered - twelve hours of celebration from the previous day was more than enough Oktoberfest for the year.  We decided to walk through central Munich, and then head over to the Olympic Park.  It was still drizzling, so there were no tourists around when we arrived at the park.  We took an elevator to the top of the olympic tower, and admired the cloudy surroundings of the greater Munich area.  After tolerating the high winds and rain drizzle at the top, we descended and headed back to Armin's flat in the late afternoon.

We said our good-byes to Armin and Matthias - who was staying to spend a vacation week with Sabina.  We caught a 7pm flight back to Paris, and were home by 9:30pm.  A good festive weekend with a great bunch of people!  A few images from Sunday:
 
Touring Munich Olympic Park
View from the Top of the Tower

Did you find a mistake in this page, or do you want to add an image?  Please submit your new information.