Octoberfest!

I'm so so glad that I made it to Octoberfest last weekend, it was one of the best weekends ever, I was miserable coming back to Paris! Being the 200th anniversary was even more special. Rachel & I caught the bus from Paris (meant to be at 7pm but it only arrived at 8pm!) to Munich which is only about 8ookm but we managed to only get there at 10.30am! Admittedly we had a bunch of wankers at the back of the bus that had already started partying so insisted on stopping for a cigarette break for what felt like every 45 minutes! However after a sleeping tablet and sharing a bottle of wine I soon got to sleep. We didn't have any accomodation booked for the Saturday night that we were there so we were distinctly aware that this may be the last decent sleep we would get somewhere warm until Sunday night! We were super super excited on the bus, I was worried that we had our hopes so high that the weekend would only be a disappointment..boy was I wrong!The first thing we noticed about Munich is that everyone is so friendly and helpful, we were stopped on a corner to try and find where we were and where we should be going and this really nice guy with a baby just stopped without asking to help us. Such a big difference from when you are in Paris, where taking out a map as a tourist is a sin against all Parisiennes!

Arriving in Munich at 10.30am we knew we were not going to get into a tent so wondered around Munich and stopped for our first litre of beer and Pretzel for lunch!
Arriving at Octoberfest was like arriving at a fantasy world, there was so much going on, people everywhere, the smell was amazing (roasted sweet nuts and sausages and pretzels....scrummy when compared to the sewage smell that you get walking around Paris!). We walked past a few of the beer tents but since there was so much else to explore we decided to just wonder around absorbign and try and get a drink elsewhere. Found a little area serving Weisbeir which didn't look too appetising (it was cloudy) but actually tasted alright for a beer! We met some Germans wearing real lederhozen -everyone wears traditional dress there (so cute!).



They took us to the traditional area that was there for the 200th anniversary with all the traditional events and food etc. We were lucky and managed to find a corner of a table to perch and were lucky enough to get the best waiter who brought us beer and food whenever we caught his eye. He was lovley, our table was good fun and we ended up staying there until closing time which was quite early!



afterwards we decided to go on a few of the rides, the most scary ones we could find, a big roller coaster and one of those flicky things that spin you around and around, all very fun!



Then it was time to try and find a place to sleep! We decided to try at least to ask the hotels if they had a spare room. The first hotel we walked into had a free room for 120 Euro walking distance to Octoberfest...but it gets even better, we managed to find a single room to share for 70Euro (no shower, but a sink and a shared toilet). It was all under the table and we had to leave before 7am so the receptionist wouldnt get into trouble but you couldn't find a hostel for that much and we were considering paying 65Euro a night for a tent! The world definately wanted us at Octoberfest!
After a decent (albeit quite short) nights sleep we headed to Macca's for breakfast, then the train sttaion to drop off our bags in a locker which were now dead heavy from the beer mugs we stole! We arrived at Octoberfest at about 8.30pm and chose our beer tent. By 9am we were sitting in side ready to party!
The beer and pickle for 2nd breakfast pretty much defines the rest of these photos!



The atmosphere in the beer tents is amazing, its the biggest party ever, everyone is there to have a good time, there is no queing at a bar for a drink, the music is great, there are games and songs and yes it is awesome and everyone needs to go at some point!
The bus trip back was absolute torture, instead of getting back at 9am, we only got into Paris at about 12pm. Sitting on a bus with a hangover for 16hrs is not fun but was still totally worth it!