I do look forward to the Oktoberfest. And then again, I hate Oktoberfest. It reminds of snow bird season in Florida. The crowd factor is out of this world for next two weeks until October 5th. Prices are jacked up, noise.. But to stay on the positive. I’ll offer you Oktoberfesters something cool to check out. You won’t be disappointed.

Plan ahead. Before you hurry by too quickly to grab a spot on bench with strangers (who will then become your singing companion) in a Bierzelt/ Biergarten or you get too overly romanced by the giant Ferris wheel, do check out Feldls Teufelsrad (Feldl’s devil’s wheel) on Schaustellerstraße on the Theresienwiesen. It’s been around since 1910 and has survived decades of trendy carni-venues. For only 3 Euro, it is a steal in all things entertainment:

• you can stay as long as you want,
• you can participate (depending on age, boy/girl, and whether or not you are wearing tracht),
• get out your aggression,
• you can brush up on your Bavarian slang

That about sums it up. It’s different every time and you’ll probably loose track of it too. It’s fun for all ages and sobriety level.

A short clip to give you an idea:

Related:

• on the Feldls Teufelsrad (in German)
• Sip your Oktoberfest beer

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It’s only fitting that I’d give a huge ‘ein Prosit’ (toast) in honor of our well-aged beauty of a host city. Locals here recently made jokes that as we celebrate Munich’s birthday at the Oktoberfest: “Wouldn’t it be a treat to have to dish out 850 cents for a liter of beer?” Hahaha…hehe… Get ready to gulp:

Last year the price for a Maß of OK-beer was already at 7,90€. Now it’s announced that during the 16-day festival (20th Sept. – 5th Oktober 2008) the price will be between 8€ to 8,30€ per liter of beer. For Americans, that’s about 13 dollars per Maß at today’s exchange. ooh Aua!

Blame it on the price of barley, so say the breweries. Not to worry. Thrifty Oktoberfest visitors can still get their ‘drink on’ by taking advantage of the fact that in Bavaria, beer is considered a food staple. That’s right. Beer constitutes a major part of a Bavarian’s diet. Along with eggs and bread, beer is also subsidized. That means you’ll pay about 60 cents (+ a tax on the bottle) for a half liter of Augustiner Helles if you buy it at the grocery store. No, you can take your beer bottles to the fest but I’m sure you can workout some pre-game plans. There aren’t any open container laws from what I’ve observed.

So happy birthday, Munich! With the higher prices, I’m hoping during the 16 days of beer mayhem there won’t be so many drunk people peeing on your trees, gardens and subway walls. Yeah. Who am I kidding?

play

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The streets proved a complicated mess while trying to navigate my bike with my hand-written directions taped to my bike lamp. I was under the gun and thus I probably missed a turn or two in the process. I nearly gave up.

Or lets just say I did give up. It’s a common story with me and this city. Sometimes I’m dead on the money and arrive on time, other times I could just shoot myself. I wasn’t entirely lost. It’s just one of those bouts of knowing where you are but not knowing how it relates to where you want to be.

So after consulting my crusty-but-trusty, city-center map, I set out to find the class without further delays and “if I make it- fine, if I don’t- I’ll know how to get there in the next week.” When I arrived at the train station it was easy to spot the course location. Hopes were rejuvenated. But when I walked in, the room was dark and an exacerbated woman just started blabbering at me.

She said she tried getting an instructor but out of her 35 subs, none were reachable. She blamed it on the Oktoberfest. Ach! Blöd-fest! My love for the O-fest diminishes once everyday life is distrupted. The first impression that flashed through my head was that the instructors were getting wasted at the Wiesn’. Later it occurred to me that these poor guys are most likely working their asses off to save the drunken lives of those who can’t handle their beer in a responsible manner.

You know, my friends? It is truly okay not to get yourself all obliterated in one evening. After the 4th Maß (4 liters) in 2 hours, you can’t even taste that good beer you are downing. How is that any fun?

Cheers to you all during your visit at the Oktoberfest. Please don’t make those first-aid volunteers get medieval on your stomachs. Stay within your tolerance. Oh and welcome to the first signs of Autumn season!

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