Last year, I spent almost 3 weeks in Europe. One of my favorite stops was Munich, Germany, for the opening day of Oktoberfest! (The picture at right was published in a 2008 calendar for the month of, well, October...)
This was one of my favorite experience of my life. If I was going to live somewhere based on the food, drink, and people, the Bavarian section of Germany would be it. The food was phenomenal, the beer even better, and I had possibly the single best day of my life here. (You'll see some of the pictures are actually of me, rather inebriated...) :)
The Oktoberfest begins with a parade through town, and each brewery uses horse-drawn carts to bring their large kegs of beer into the festival grounds. Each brewery has its own tent, where only that beer is served. Nobody is allowed into the Oktoberfest grounds until the final cart enters, carrying the mayor of Munich, who then taps the first keg to officially open the festival. At that point, it's a mad rush to get a spot in a tent! The tent we ended up in was on the smaller side, and probably had 15,000 people in it. Over the opening two days (Sat/Sun), they had 500,000 attend!
Once you're in the tent, you need to find a seat. Once you have a seat, you DON'T MOVE, or you might lose it! (It took us 2 hours to get into the tent, and another hour to get a seat.) There are tons of waitresses that bring you all the food and beer you can consume; they just keep bringing it, and bringing it, and every now and then she'll stop and ask for money. Everyone just throws cash at her, and she goes to get more beer. :) These are some truly talented women, carrying a dozen or more 1-liter beer steins at a time!
Outside the tents, there is an entire festival going on, with carnival rides and lots of food and drinks. We got there early in the morning, and left well after dark at night. All in all, some of the best hours of my life.
The end of the gallery, starting at picture 166, was shot the next day around Munich. Shout out to my friend Verena, a native German who was my tour guide around the country. She also took many of these pictures, and got hooked on photography herself... :)
To see the entire gallery, click the title link above, or click here:
http://www.michaellandry.com/gallery/3622933_UUNgk
I want to point out some of my favorite pictures and stories:
If you ever get a chance, you need to go to Oktoberfest. There's simply nothing else like it...
-- Michael
This was one of my favorite experience of my life. If I was going to live somewhere based on the food, drink, and people, the Bavarian section of Germany would be it. The food was phenomenal, the beer even better, and I had possibly the single best day of my life here. (You'll see some of the pictures are actually of me, rather inebriated...) :)
The Oktoberfest begins with a parade through town, and each brewery uses horse-drawn carts to bring their large kegs of beer into the festival grounds. Each brewery has its own tent, where only that beer is served. Nobody is allowed into the Oktoberfest grounds until the final cart enters, carrying the mayor of Munich, who then taps the first keg to officially open the festival. At that point, it's a mad rush to get a spot in a tent! The tent we ended up in was on the smaller side, and probably had 15,000 people in it. Over the opening two days (Sat/Sun), they had 500,000 attend!
Once you're in the tent, you need to find a seat. Once you have a seat, you DON'T MOVE, or you might lose it! (It took us 2 hours to get into the tent, and another hour to get a seat.) There are tons of waitresses that bring you all the food and beer you can consume; they just keep bringing it, and bringing it, and every now and then she'll stop and ask for money. Everyone just throws cash at her, and she goes to get more beer. :) These are some truly talented women, carrying a dozen or more 1-liter beer steins at a time!
Outside the tents, there is an entire festival going on, with carnival rides and lots of food and drinks. We got there early in the morning, and left well after dark at night. All in all, some of the best hours of my life.
The end of the gallery, starting at picture 166, was shot the next day around Munich. Shout out to my friend Verena, a native German who was my tour guide around the country. She also took many of these pictures, and got hooked on photography herself... :)
To see the entire gallery, click the title link above, or click here:
http://www.michaellandry.com/gallery/3622933_UUNgk
I want to point out some of my favorite pictures and stories:
Picture 2 is my speedometer on the rental car, exceeding 200 km/h (125mph) on the AutoBahn (where I promptly got a speeding ticket). I topped out at 222 km/h. Poor Audi turbo... :)
Picture 45 is when we first got into the tent. Notice how far the tent goes; that's a balcony with a second floor in the distance, to give an idea of scale.
Picture 47 is (unfortunately) blurry, but I still wanted to point it out. That is an oxen, on a spit, similar to a pig roast. The oxen is revered there, and a sign over the booth (which is inside the tent) tells you all the oxen's vital stats: place of birth, age, weight, farm, and yes, his name (August). He was delicious...
Picture 69 shows the live band that played "humpa music" the entire time! Lots of dancing ensues...
Picture 90 is an example of these highly-skilled waitresses that carry 10 or more beers at once... ALL DAY.
Picture 101 shows some of the stunningly beautiful women that were there, most in traditional Lederhosen! (Picture 121 has the same women, with her mom, both traditionally dressed...)
Picture 136 shows me leaning on a steel beam for support. :) Later pictures show me smoking a cigar; I don't smoke...
If you ever get a chance, you need to go to Oktoberfest. There's simply nothing else like it...
-- Michael
