It's Finally Oktober

Since most of these posts have been fairly time-independent, you might think that we've just been traveling pretty consistently and I do a (somewhat) good job of keeping up with them. However, while I'm not posting in order, it's been a while since some of these trips actually happened. Sometimes I need to let things mull around in my head before I know what to say about them. We did a lot of traveling before coming to Cambridge, and though we've done some since, I felt the spacing of the posts would work out best if I put lots of detail into every place we saw last fall, since when we're in Cambridge it's far easier to blog than to hop on a plane to the Continent.

So anyway, this post is about Oktoberfest, in Munich. We went. You might think to yourself, "Well, Oktoberfest - that makes him only 5 months behind." You're wrong - the majority of Oktoberfest takes place in September, so I'm really 6 months behind. Oktoberfest is the world's largest fair, and began in 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Therese (for whom the Theresienwiese, the grounds where the festival takes place, is named).

Laura puts her heart into jumping over the Theresienwiese

In fact, because of another monument to the Princess that was mentioned on my diminutively-insufficient map of Munich, I initially led us astray to the other side of the river, where the parks were quite beautiful, but the large crowds we'd expected to see were conspicuously absent. Eventually Laura, my better half, managed to catch my mistake and we soon emerged at what looks a lot like the Illinois State Fair TIMES A BILLION.

Laura keeps the precepts of Oktoberfest written on her heart

I mean, it's big. Make no mistake about that. It's also (during the day, at least) quite family-friendly. Granted, there are people walking around consuming large amounts of beer, but that's very different in German culture. Also because Bavarian beer is very light, other Germans are less affected by it (my brother's landlord says it's the same as water) as they usually drink stronger stuff.

There are many stereotypes about German culture which all come out at Oktoberfest. For instance, they actually do wear traditional Bavarian clothes - lederhosen and all. It's considered important in Germany to own a set of these clothes for occasions such as these, and they seem to have built up the critical mass of people necessary for it to seem almost 'cool' - we saw several high schoolers in lederhosen, which, I'm fairly sure, would signify the Apocalypse in a modern American high school.

"Fine, Mom, I'll wear the lederhosen! You don't have to twist my arm..."

Getting inside one of the large tents is a must - we didn't have any trouble getting in during the day, but the reservations get booked up for the evenings pretty far in advance. Inside, you will be treated to a variety of sausage, chicken, and other meats. In addition, the tents usually have what for lack of a better term I'll call "um-pah" bands - complete with accordionists, tuba-ists, and the occasional alpine horn-ist. The bands play some contemporary music, but tradition dominates the music lineup (and everything else about Oktoberfest, for that matter).

Our cruisers can't repel tubas of that magnitude!

There are rides as well, but if you're fully enjoying the food and drink, you probably wouldn't want to take part in them. Just walking around the Theresienwiese takes the larger part of an afternoon, and it's well worth seeing once in your life. I wouldn't take a trans-Atlantic flight just to see it, but I know several people who would.

We saw a bit of Munich coming back from Dachau, and a bit more trying to find the Theresienwiese, but I don't know if I've seen it well enough to give it a fair rating. That being said, most of what I saw was very beautiful. I think I'll give it a peremptory 7.0/10.0, with the caveat that I may move it up or down slightly if I ever come back to see the city itself.