Oktoberfest

Finding "the fest" in Munich was easy as pie. It was happening everywhere in the city. I simply had to venture out of my hotel and the crowds sweep me along to the next beer house. From Paulaner to Augusteiner to the most sought after Hofbrau Haus; which was a bit more difficult to find. I had an address, and a map, and neither seemed to help me as I followed Liederhosen around in circles until BAM! there it was.

The crowd to get in was maddening, but somehow I slipped to the front and got in the door. I went where the stairs lead and found out what everyone was talking about... a beer hall, filled with lots of manly men drinking beer out of gargantuan mugs, an "oompah band", and the chanting that filled the room. How fun was this!

Now the art and the act of getting a beer. As I would soon learn in most German (and Austrian) spots and beer halls in particular there is not a "bar" that you would find in most American drinking establishments. You don't walk up to a bar order a beer and just stand around... instead you sit at a table and wait on the bar maid/man to bring it over to you (like you were at a restaurant) and then once you pay you can get up and mill about. And that's exactly what I did. Except I decided to venture out the to the 'biergarten' and found a stoop to sit on and watch the crowds. Rowdiness and revelry were in full effect, and I was the fly on the wall taking it all in.