There is no better sound than the clanking of steins as the word “prosit” echoes throughout a lively group.
There is no better sight than a server carrying 14 steins filled to the brim with beer to a rowdy table.
There is no better feeling than cinching your blouse and zipping your dirndl, or hiking up the lederhosen and giving your Tyrolean hat a final tap on the head.
There is no better taste than a fork full of schnitzel, potato salad and cranberries after a long day of traveling.
There is no better smell than the deep whiff of a vendor’s giant pretzel or a street stand’s extra large bratwurst.
There is no better festival than Octoberfest in Munich, Germany.
I traveled from Galway to Munich with seven other friends from my study aborad program to experience opening weekend at Octoberfest 2019.
Thursday night entailed little to no sleep as we began our travels at midnight from the Park Lodge Hotel. That meant a 30 minute taxi ride to Galway, a 2.5 hour bus ride to the Dublin Airport, followed by a 2 hour flight from Dublin to Munich.
We were exhausted by the end of it yet relieved that all of our modes of transportation went smoothly.
But we didn’t let our sleep deprivation stop us.
With a triple espresso, sugary Starbuck’s drink in each of our hands, we walked out of the airport ready to conquer the day.
Our first stop of the weekend was the Dachau concentration camp. Discussing our visit to the memorial site in my Octoberfest blog is not the appropriate place but I will say that visiting the camp brought to reality all of the horrors and sadness of the Holocaust that I previously learned about in school. It was difficult to process and witness but it was a visit that was imoprtant to experience.
We left Dachau with heavy hearts and walked away in silent reflection.
The next place we went was the uplifting stop that we all needed – buying our traditional German outfits for the festival.
In an attempt to be nice to my wallet, I purchased a dirndl on Amazon before leaving for Munich. But when I walked into the store, I felt like a kitten in a yarn shop. There were dirndls of every color and style lining the wall, blouses of varying degrees of puffiness and necklines, lederhosen of every shade hung from the racks and accessories of every sort were stacked in every corner.
I did not just want an authentic dirndl, I needed it.
A cream-colored dirndl with floral accents and a blue apron caught my eye immediately and my restraint gave out. I told myself I was just gonna try it on to see what it would look like.
Every girl knows that this type of “dressing room game” is dangerous… and I definitely lost. The second I zipped up the dirndl I felt that the dress was made specifically for me.
The “oohs” and “aahs” of my friends sealed the deal. And let me tell you, it was the best item of clothing I ever bought…I never wanted to take it off.
Time in the dirndl and lederhosen store escaped us. We ended up staying there for over two hours but we had fun trying on outfits and the dressing room attendants taught us some great lessons – the #1 lesson being that if you can breathe in your dirndl, its definitely too big.
When we finally stepped outside with our bags in hand, our hunger hit us.
We made an easy, unanimous decisions to eat an authentic German meal for dinner. And what better place to experience German food and culture than at the Munich Hofbräuhaus.
The atmosphere inside was incredible – people standing on benches, chants being called across the room, an oompah band playing in the center, ladies walking around with overflowing baskets of pretzels, servers carrying trays of mouthwatering food and steins of beer in every person’s hand.
It was overwhelming in a good way – I was thriving off of the energy. It made me forget how hungry I was, which was a good thing because we spent about 45 minutes walking around the place hunting for an open table.
Being the night before opening day at Octoberfest, the Hofbräuhaus looked like the inside of a beehive. To put into perspective the enormity of this place, the capacity is 1,300 people.
And somehow, someway we scored a table. And this table was truly meant to be because the people leaving were the parents of a College of St. Benedict student who graduated the previous year with a nursing degree.
What were the odds.
Those Bennie/Johnnie connections really do pull through in times of need.
We celebrated our gem of a table with steins of beer and a resounding “prosit.”
Without shame, we ordered five pretzels for appetizers because we hadn’t eaten since that morning at the airport and it was now past 9 p.m. I think we were the pretzel seller’s favorite group because she always made a pit stop at our table when fresh pretzels came out.
For my actual dinner I ate veal schnitzel, potato salad and cranberries. Whether it was because I was so hungry or because the food was really that good (it doesn’t really matter), it was one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten.
Feeling beyond satisfied, we went back to our lodging to get some much needed sleep. We stayed at a camping site called The Tent located just outside of Munich.
My description of The Tent likely won’t do it justice and your going to be left wondering why on earth someone would want to stay there. But I promise it wasn’t bad and I would stay there again considering the convenient location, nightly camaraderie around the campfire and the inexpensive price.
Our sleeping arrangement was in a large “tent” filled with about 100 bunk beds. There is no true heating inside the tent but we were provided with wool blankets and I layered up on clothing. I was actually warmer sleeping in the tent than I was in my cottage in Ireland.
The bathrooms were community style and just a short walk away. They were surprisingly very clean – cleaner than our community style bathrooms back on campus.
The Tent had a strict 1 a.m. silence policy so I slept just fine throughout the night and was ready to take on Octoberfest when I awoke in the morning.
I didn’t really know what to expect when we arrived at the festival grounds. It kind of felt like a state fair but on steroids.
Souvenir and food vendor stands lined both sides of the street. Everything from t-shirts to steins to hats were being sold and the smell of pretzels, bratwurst and ginger bread cookies filled the air. The massive beer tents were stationed every couple hundred feet and carnival rides were featured toward the end of the street.
We hopped around from beer tent to beer tent to experience the different atmospheres of each. The first keg was not going to be tapped until noon at the Hofbräu Tent, but tables at each tent were already packed by 10am with people who must have arrived at the crack of dawn. Other tables were booked with reservations. I overheard one person say that their company paid $5,000 for a table reservation.
The tents were filled with anticipation – it was all one big waiting game as people were counting down the hours, minutes and seconds to the first steins of the Octoberfest season to be served.
Seeing that we needed to find a place to sit soon, we grabbed bratwurst from a street vendor (absolutely delicious) and found an outdoor table at the Löwenbrau Tent.
We snagged this table just in time too. As soon as the opening processional parade to the Hofbräu Tent for the keg tapping was over, swarms of people came flooding in to see what seats were left… and there was nothing open.
But out butts were sat comfortably at a table in the beautiful sunshine. We soaked in this moment of true accomplishment.
Then, Bang!
A firecracker went off and an explosion of cheers erupted inside the beer tent. Let the beer flow!
Watching the servers carry the steins of beer was like watching an olympic sport. Each server carried a minimum of 12 steins of beer and keep in mind that each individual filled stein weighs about 5 pounds. ( I looked up the carrying record and its 29 steins of beer over a 40 meter walking distance!)
Back and forth the servers ran from keg to table with minimal spilling. Dropping a stein seemed taboo.
For the fun of it, we tried to see how many empty steins we could carry in one hand. The result was only 4 (and the steins were drained of beer). Obviously none of us would be training any time soon to be an Octoberfest server.
If you’ve never witnessed a server carrying steins of beer, you should google it. It really is a sight to see – a true sport.
We enjoyed every minute of sitting at our table drinking our steins. But we didn’t realize the value of our table until we stood up and left in an attempt to find friends from another study abroad program who were also visiting Munich for Octoberfest.
We majorly regretted our decision to leave our beloved table as we ended up standing in line for over 2 hours waiting to enter a different beer tent.
Just when we thought we only had 10 minutes left to wait, every one of the big tents locked their doors for the night. The turnout for opening day was too great and the tents were so crowded it was becoming a fire hazard, so no more people were allowed to enter.
We had to make a speedy change of plans – we wound up at smaller tent location called the Wildstuben. Though they were selling pints of beer instead of steins, it satisfied our craving for a fun atmosphere, people to talk to and beer to drink.
We stayed at Octoberfest for as long as our stamina remained. I think I speak on behalf of our whole group that we left not because we wanted to, but because we kind of had to(;
The weekend went by way too fast (cliché but true) and I was really sad to leave. Taking off my dirndl broke my heart – I wanted to wear it forever. I had spent so many months looking forward to Octoberfest and now it was over.
To humor myself I looked at flights back to Munich for the following weekend, but my wallet wasn’t willing to entertain the thought. Thankfully, I am heading back to Munich for post-traveling so I can actually explore the city more!
But I will say that stepping foot back in Galway was a relief – I felt like I was home again. This feeling also made me realize that 1) I truly picked the right program for myself since I felt this strong connection of home in Galway and 2) my semester abroad was/is going by way too fast.
My director for the program presented us with a thought provoking question to reflect on each day while we are abroad: Why was I given this day?
Its a great question to think about. My response to the question involved setting up a goal for myself: I want to live every day abroad intentionally and in the present moment. I want to recognize that each day has a purpose, each day has its ups and downs to learn from (or as our group likes to say “dopes and nope”) and each day opens new doors to seize opportunities and experiences.
I believe that I definitely fulfilled this goal for myself while in Munich for Octoberfest.
So I will leave you with one more very important question to think about: Who wants to come with me to Octoberfest next year?
BRYNN ADELINE 