Oktoberfest

In hindsight this is a pretty big deal in Germany (although seemingly more for everyone except locals) although, it wasn't really on my radar as an event I had to do while I was over here. However, a group of former ultimate teammates from Ottawa had been planning a trip for over a year and I figured I was too close not to attend. I met the group at around 11 on a Friday morning on the grounds and the place was packed. Sometimes things aren't what you think they will be, but Oktoberfest was exactly what you think it will be. A packed beer hall (and I mean like sardines), beer wenches (although all of them were old), an oompapa band and loads of lederhosen. The only thing I didn't expect were raddishes being sold by the bushel. Seemed kind of out of place. The beer is obviously the big draw, but there is also a huge amusment park set up at one end of the grounds. This also seems like a terrible idea with all of the inebriated clientale (scenes from the Sandlot keep running through my head).

The atmosphere was interesting to experience, but not something I would seek out again. I think the city of Munich must also take in a lot of cash from these three weeks (I heard a cool billion), because there is a lot of drunk people everywhere. I would really like to go back to Munich though and take in the city not during Oktoberfest.

The top three tips for you if you are may want to attend in the future:

1. Get there early - the more popular tents are full at 9 AM on the weekends but you definitely need to arrive by 1 PM every day (yes, even Wednesday).

2. Pace yourself - a litre of 6% beer is not something to drink 3 of in 2.5 hours. Results = not pretty.

3. If you're with a group, stick together - at least I knew the name of the place I was staying (although I didn't really know how to find it).

Other than that, I don't really have much advice because I don't remember much (although I'm confident there were no random international beerfests that I stumbled across, speaking of which).