The next few hours are a bit of a blur, but the jist of it was lots of (very cold) walking around in Munich. We trekked across to some of the typical tourist sites, but really there isn’t too much to see at 2:00am in the morning. We stopped into a couple bars to warm up and have some more beer (and see a scary trans-dressing guy). We even found a bar open at 6:00am. We froze our butts off getting there (musta walked 2 complete circles in Munich already) but it was warm and we had breakfast. The other two continued to have yet more beer, but I wussed out at the point and had some water.
We eventually figured out that there was no way we were going to be able to stay up for another whole day so we headed back to the car hoping we’d figure out someplace to crash for a bit (hotels were booked loooong before we arrived). Even after 24 hrs of being awake we were wary of sleeping in our car in the garage, but our fears were alleved when we got back to the garage). Not only had we seen parked car after car with people sleeping on the streets, but the there were tons of people in the garage already sleeping in their car. The real kicker was the guy who was sprawled on the concrete outside of his car, with his car door wide open! I guess he passed out at a really inopportune time :)
We woke up (rather unpleasantly) a few hours later and were thinking there was no way we were going to be able drink at 9:30 in the morning (much less last a whole day). But what did we go to Oktoberfest for… to drink beer of course! So we sucked it up and headed toward the tents. Our spirits were picked up by the surprising yet glorious sight of thousands and thousands of people making their way past the Oktoberfest gates (man these guys don’t play around!)
We looked around and started getting worried that we wouldn’t be able to get seats, but there was still a some space in the Hofbräuhaus. We sat a little away from the thick of things, where the dedicated were already in full swing, and started to soak in the atmosphere. When the waitress came we sheepishly ordered our first beer and pretzel. But when we tasted it… oh my, definitely the best beer I’ve had in my life! And the pretzel was just as good — warm, crispy, soft, salty, and yummy.
From that instant the day went swimmingly. We forgot about our lack of sleep and had good times with the Germans and Americans that were seated around us. The German guy right next to us was hilarious. He told us all kinds of stories — his times in America, why there was a large statue of a saint in the Hofbräuhaus, and how Oktoberfest beer is specially brewed. Really, the beer seemed to have magical bladder controlling properties . But the funny part was his stereotypes. The Colorado natives near us were goldiggers and cowboys, I (the programmer) was Bill Gates, and the Japanese guy was “sushi samuri”.
As the day moved on and the party heated up the band joined in on the fun. While the music in the Hofbräuhaus wasn’t as contemporary as the previous night, it was still pretty familiar. The two tunes that stick out in my mind are Country Roads (by John Denver) and a europeanized version of “Be my girl”. I don’t quite understand why the germans would be singing about West Virginia. My best guess is that they have a fondness for drunken tunes and there is nothing better than raising a glass and belting “Take me home/To the place/I BELOOONG…” :)
The other song though was a bit more weird. I knew the tune well enough and some of the words, but had no idea why “If you’ll be my girl” could be so popular. It was definitely the hit of Oktoberfest and crowds all around were singing it (well before any of the bands played it). The biggest change (other than a general “popification” of the song) was a twist on the chorus. There was a bouncy musical run added on to “know” and a few grunts added after “my girl”. That probably sounds pretty preposterous, and there has to be some reason why everyone in Oktoberfest knew (or quickly learned) the song, but really there is something to be said about drunken guttural noises :). “I wanna kno oh oh oh ah oh, if you’ll be my girl EW AH” will be burnt in to my memory for quite some time.