OKTOBERFEST: prost!
Due to breaking my foot I had already missed three weekend trips but there was one I knew I had to power through for….and that was Oktoberfest.
My last name is Pechmann which is quite German. My grandpa came to the United States after World War II making a new life for himself at quite a young age. Leaving behind a professional soccer career and his family he knew that he wanted to start over. Becoming an American citizen was extremely important to him and he knew he wanted to raise his children as American. His children were never taught any German and no one has been back since he left.
Until now!
What an experience. Getting to be in Munich was absolutely something that I will hold close to my heart and I cannot wait till I can go back to Germany and experience more of it. My roommates and I decided to camp out in a campground before the festival the next day. I was still in a boot and crutches at this point, and I knew that it was going to be a testament to my commitment to the German lifestyle for the weekend. It rained almost the entire weekend and we definitely were not even prepared in the slightest for the two cold nights in the tent.
Let’s just say the Cotopaxi travel bag was not prepared with any layers inside. We woke up bright and early the next day to get in line waiting at the gate to open to run to the beer tents.
We obviously know that I was not running anywhere in a boot and crutches but my roommates made the sacrifice while I got to go to the other entrance. I crutched my way to the tents as quickly as I could. We finally all made it to the tent we had wanted where we met a ton of study abroad students. By 10 am we were a liter of German beer deep. My stomach contents were…interesting all day to say the least.
What we really did not realize was that if you were not actively drinking or ordering that they could kick you out or make you get up from your table. One thing about Oktoberfest is that once you get up from a table….there is no going back or finding another spot. Our roommate went to use the bathroom and Oktoberfest security ended up shoving her out and she could not get back in. Somehow by the grace of God and her Greek persuasion she made it back in. A whole section of us ended up getting kicked out inside and moved to the outdoor patio area where we found another table.
We ended up meeting our wonderful server Florian who I kept bribing with tips to let me stay at this table all day where my crutches and foot would be safe. 3 liters, a pretzel, and two chickens later we met some really awesome people including Italian boys who also kept Florian booked and busy bringing out some more chicken and beer when we were running low.
Oktoberfest is also a huge carnival which made me sad that I could not ride any of the rides as they are my absolute favorite. Again going back to the stomach contents, there is absolutely no way that the amusement rides would have been a valid idea as Florian provided us with 8 hours worth of German delicacies….beer.
We had a blast but Oktoberfest is definitely not for the faint hearted. I cannot wait to go back in the future. I could do without the boot and crutches though.
Prost!
