TOP: Oktoberfest beer wagon (like the Clydesdale's)
2nd: Inside an Oktoberfest tent
3rd: The "Beer-Go-Round"
4th: Oktoberfest fairgrounds entry sign
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We spent the day today at "The" Oktoberfest. It's an insane festival. We arrived at 9am, on a subway car full of (already drunk) germans, and about 200 other nationalities. Although we expected the beer tents, the sheer magnitude of the festival is astounding. We've been to many "big" festivals (DelMar Fair, NYS fair...), but this one blew them all away by at least several orders of magnitude...those Germans know how to party!
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We arrived a 9am when the fairgrounds "officially" opened. The beer tents were already filling up. A beer tent, unlike in the US, holds thousands (perhaps tens of thousands). They are like a building; "tent" does not do them justice. By 11am they were completely filled (I would estimate 10,000/tent x 20 tents at least), and the lines were starting to form outside. And this was a SUNDAY MORNING!
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Alongside the ubiquitous beer steins (at least a liter each), there are scores of carnival rides, and endless food kiosks. Now the Germans are noted for their beer, but not for their food. Pseudo-meats are not my idea of gourmet cooking. But, that said, the sweets at Oktoberfest were really, really good. They had names like snowbalensteinenhammer, and Hohovonluptenmarten, but it was OK if you could point and make an eating motion. We ate for hours, had a few beers, and by noon were stuffed, soused, exhausted, and overwhelmed by the crowds. It even took us hours to get back to the hotel at noon...the subway stations were packed beyond belief.
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I gotta recommend that everybody live through Oktoberfest at least once before they die....and expecially try the Cupcakenluptenschmorgen...they're quite delicious.
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(Returning to) Lumpy (form), out
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