Oktoberfest - Part 1: The real thing

It's the end of September, I am at my lovely home in Franconia (Northern Bavaria) and Munich is not to far away. And with a few free beers and food - courtesy of Paulaner - those were enough incentives to visit the biggest fairground in the world.

So we went there - me being the designated driver. This turned out to be a good decision, especially because Stev, the friend I had spent my last Christmas with in New Zealand, was really, really drunk by 6 p.m.

First of all, we had some great food and our first beer in the Winzerer Fähndl tent - for free. Networking is everything nowadays. :) We then went on to check out the fun rides and a few more tents, namely Hofbräu, Hippodrom and Armbrustschützen. Lucky me not being forced to drink 5-6 liters of beer. I had two Radler (shandies) and was able to enjoy the show. Thus, I still contributed to the one million euro profit (yes, earnings, not revenue!) every owner of a tent at Oktoberfest makes every year. And it turned out to be a good one (see pictures) - I won't link you on those in Facebook, Stev, don't worry. :) But this is to good not to share.

The first beer of the day.



In this stand I spent a summer when I was sixteen - my first summer job.



Munich atmosphere.



Barrel on a faux-traditional horse-drawn carriage.



Fancy a big bite?



Fun in the tent - at around 2 p.m.



My well deserved "Radler". Prost!



In the Hippodrom - I like the decoration, but not the in-crowd.



No, he didn't pee himself, it is only beer. We made him clap so we wouldn't loose him. ;)



Way home - please don't vomit in my Mum's car.