Markus & I wearing traditional garb in the Louwenbrau tent
This past weekend I went to Oktoberfest for at least the 5th time (I’ve lost count). I always love going because I get to combine three things I love: Travel, spending time with good friends, and a good time! So, to take full advantage I flew down on Thursday to take part in the festivities. I stayed with my good friend Markus who lives within crawling distance of the entrance.
First, did you know that it takes most commercial airlines approximately 25 to 30 seconds to get off the ground? It takes slightly longer for the 747s and 777s, but generally it is between 25 and 30 seconds. I know this because I time it every time I take off, which has been 25 times in this year alone. Yes, I am a geek. And one travel tip, I always use Seat Guru to help me find the good/bad seats on a flight. It is especially helpful on those long international flights.
Second, I got to hang out with another one of my best buds, Markus. (You might remember him from last weekend's post as well.) He is German and has been hosting me for a few years of Oktoberfest now. Markus is the kind of guy who you can always count on to be a good friend and be in a good mood. I am happy that I got the opportunity to see him two weeks in a row.
Now, let's talk about Oktoberfest. In one word, HUGE! I don’t think people realize how massive the grounds are or the humongous amusement park that accompanies it. My impression is that most people see it is has an opportunity to get very wasted. While that does happen a lot, there is much more to it than that.
Some facts about Oktoberfest:
• There are roller coasters, fun park activities, and 15 huge beer tents that cover the grounds.
• The grounds are approximately 105 acres.
• It takes places for two full weeks including 3 weekends.
• It is the world’s largest fair with 6 million people attending annually (I can attest to the number of people!)
• It takes place mostly in September, even though it ironically called Oktoberfest.
• It tents opens at 10AM and stays open until 10:30PM.
• You must be seated at a table when inside a tent to get a drink. Therefore, you usually want to have reservations well in advance of attending.
• There are seating for 100,000 people in or around the beer tents.
• They serve liters of beer (that would be 34 ounces) called Mass.
• If you don’t want to drink beer you can drink radler, which is a combination of beer and Sprite.
And so here is an introduction to the grounds of Oktoberfest:
Me on the grounds
One of the many roller coasters
And a look at some of the tents from the outside:
Hacker-Festzelt
Augustiner
And a quick look on the inside:
Inside Lowenbrau
The Band
For the last two years I have been to Oktoberfest with Steph and her husband Bryan. It was great to go with them again this year.
Steph and I
Comments (4)
Beer and rollercoasters? That sounds like a recipe for disaster! Just thinking about getting on a rollercoaster drunk makes me feel a little queasy.
Posted by Brandon | October 8, 2007 7:24 AM
Posted on October 8, 2007 07:24
SO CUTE!!!
It looks as though you had a great, groovie time!
Posted by me-nikk | October 9, 2007 12:03 AM
Posted on October 9, 2007 00:03
this brings back wonderful memories! note to brandon ~ dawn dragged me onto one of those rollercoasters plenty of beers into it. it was fun!
cheers!
Posted by schmoops | October 11, 2007 4:01 AM
Posted on October 11, 2007 04:01
What Dawn says about the time planes need to take off is dead on. As in: she is *totally* a geek.
But I digress. Actually, I don't. Because since she told me about it, I now think about it (and her - Curse you, woman!) whenever I'm in a plane taxiing down the runway.
So, imagine me at the Hobart, Tasmania airport where I spend a bit of time. It's a small airport - just one runway, so the planes have to taxi out to the runway, trundle down to one end, then pull a u-turn (how does one spell u-ie?) and take off in the other direction.
So there I was yesterday. We pull our u-ie, the engines rev up, and we accelerate. To about 20 miles an hour. I see more and more of the runway pass by at this slow speed. Previously I just would have been oblivious, but nooooo! Now I have to wonder why we're cruising the Hobart runway scene, and inevitably have to wonder: how long would it take to drive from Hobart to Melbourne, Australia at 20 miles/hour (ok, I'm in a metric world. 30 km/hour?) That whole Bass Strait water thing could be a problem here, I'm starting to think.
We get to the other end, and the pilot comes on saying "You're probably wondering what's going on. At least those of you interested in how long it takes this Airbus to launch itself into the air once it starts rolling" - perhaps not quite verbatim, or not even anything close to what he said, but it's what he *should* have said. Turns out the wind shifted suddenly, so we had to go the other end of the runway, pull another u-ie, and take off that direction.
Only saving grace: *I'm* not quite geeky enough to be able to report how long it takes to cruise the Hobart runway at 30 km/hour!
Posted by Dan | November 1, 2007 4:13 AM
Posted on November 1, 2007 04:13