Willkommen zum Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest has come and gone, and here are some pictures:


First entering the fair grounds.


After a couple litres of beer we thought it would be a good idea to buy some Bavarian hats.


Ryan pokes at the remains of the half chicken he ate for dinner. These were very popular...


After some more beer buying souvenir t-shirts seemed like a good idea!


I bought my shirt the next day.


The waitresses are quite aggressive in bringing the beer to the tables (you have to be when it's that crowded). This was an average amount, some would carry 10-12 beers.


Ryan mows on a 1/2 meter Bratwurst sausage.

All of the beer is in massive 1 litre steins, and you drink it in one of many giant tents that house probably 5 to 10 thousand people. They get pretty rowdy with singalongs (we quickly learned the "I'm toasting" song in German).

You have to be seated to get a beer, and it's very difficult to get a seat without reservations. After a while we figured out the best way to get one was to budge into a place we called "Stand up city" where you stand at the tables instead of sitting. Actually, once people get drunk they stand on the sit down tables. After a few giant beers we would hit the festival grounds for food and roller coasters. As you saw above, some of the food is strange. Half chickens are popular, so is schnitzel, bratwurst, and lots of chocolate.

Here's a couple videos of us in one of the tents. Don't laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o25LhvpSPoc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92fMPREA1mM

Now we're about to get on a day train back to Venice to make up for what we missed.