Munich, Take 1

Germany has always been a breeding ground for great minds. It was once known as "The Land of Poets and Thinkers". Goethe, Kant, and Bach are just a few of the most obvious cultural figureheads of Germany. When you keep that in mind, it's a bit disheartening that when your average American hears the phrase "German Culture", he will immediately think of women in the traditional low-cut corset of a German farmer girl and massive steins of beer. We all had these preconceptions, and so as not to disappoint ourselves, early in our stay here we made the Hajj to the holy land of drinking and dirndls: Oktoberfest in Munich.

It's between 4 and 5 hours from Konstanz to Munich and we wanted to get there early, so we left at 5:45 AM on a Sunday. It was the last Saturday of the Fest, and every train we took was packed beyond capacity with passengers, many clad in Lederhosen, and even more drinking, despite how early it was. When we eventually got into the city at noon, much later than we expected, the streets were overrun with people of all sorts, almost all here for the fest, all having a good time.

Munich is an absolutely lovely city, and a few of us decided to do some exploring before we went off to the Wiesn (The name of the field where Oktoberfest is held). We wandered a while, through the garden of the old palace, before going to the Haus der Kunst ("Haus of Art"), a contemporary art museum which was doing a large exhibition about Houses and Homes. It was really interesting, and since I have been in Germany, I have picked up a fondness for modern art museums. Sure, a lot of the work in them is gimmicky, shallow, or uninteresting, but they have a freshness and exuberance that you can't really feel in a gallery full of Renoir, Rembrandt, and Rafael.

In the mid-afternoon, we eventually got to the Wiesn, which was like nothing we had expected. Honestly, I couldn't say what I was expecting, but it wasn't rows of giant beer tents on one side of a giant field, a myriad of carnival rides on the other, joined together by a swarming, seething mass of people, occasionally punctuated by a roasted almond stall. It was overwhelming and incredible. A friend who had already been there a day and stayed up all night partying had called us to let us know that he had a table for us in one of the tents. But it was to no avail. The crowds at the entrance were too thick, and we couldn't get in. In the end, we stayed on the Wiesn for only a few minutes before leaving to get dinner and catch our train.

If you are in Germany for October, and want to go get smashed and party at Munich Oktoberfest, it's going to take you a lot more time, effort, and probably sleep-deprivation than we were willing to put into it. And honestly, I don't know if it would be worth it. Most cities in Germany have their own Oktoberfest and you can go as wild as you want 20 minutes from the comfort of home. The one in Konstanz is sort of like a mall parking lot carnival, but it was still a great time. And that negative sounding review isn't trying to dissuade you from going to Munich Oktoberfest either. For one thing, Munich is a great city, and for another, it is one of those things that you have to experience and be able to understand for yourself, not just from stereotypes. Just don't be disappointed if you don't get to drink 8 liters of beer.