“Man spricht vom vielen Trinken stets, doch nie vom vielen Durste!”
Joseph Victor von Scheffel
Roughly translating to, “They make much of our drinking, but never our thirst,” we certainly must have been thirsty at Oktoberfest. You hear a lot about Oktoberfest, but it was even better — and way bigger — than I had even imagined. Each of the main “tents,” which are really giant wooden buildings, is massive, holding thousands of people (the largest holds nearly 10,000), every single one of those people in a great mood. Thousands of them singing, servers carrying comically large amounts of beer, all the sausages and pretzels you can eat — it’s the most festive atmosphere you’ll ever experience. But, while there are plenty of inebriated people, you’ll find and meet all sorts of people at Oktoberfest, because it also functions as a sort of state fair, with families stopping by after work to ride the rides and eat some delicious roast chicken (and drink a huge beer, of course). Luckily the beer is ridiculously fresh and generally pretty low in alcohol, so you can drink until your stomach is full and then drink some more. The mood throughout Munich is also festive during Oktoberfest, with locals wearing traditional dirndls and lederhosen on the trains and streets (you’ll even see fancy versions for sale in the department store windows). If you have a chance, wake up early and get there for the ceremonial tapping of the first barrel by the mayor, which kicks off Oktoberfest. Just know you have to wake up and get in line really early, and then you sit in your designated spot for hours eating sausages and noodles for breakfast, but the moment the barrel is tapped and the lines of servers bring out the beers to screams and cheers is worth it.
Bavaria itself is also beautiful. As you drive through the countryside you wind through small towns filled with traditional farmhouse-style buildings covered in flowers. My friend Matt and I went to Neuschwanstein Castle, the inspiration for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella castles. It’s worth it for the stunning views of the castle rising up from the forests, as well as listening to the tour guide dance around the fact that King Ludwig II was obviously gay (“for some reason he called the wedding off, but luckily he had his good friend Prince Paul”) and murdered (“so odd they found both him and psychiatrist dead in the shallow river”). Sadly, when we tried to head up to see a view from the Alps on our way back, the man at the ticket booth told us the “Alps are closed for the day.” Luckily there is always beer to wash down your sorrows, so we stopped at Kloster Andechs, a monastery and brewery, for some more beer and pickled herring.
A trip to Bavaria shouldn’t be all beer and castles, though, because if you go I hope you’ll take a day to visit Dachau, though it will be difficult. Getting there is slightly surreal because it’s in the middle of a working town. You can walk from the train station to the former camp along the “Path of Remembrance,” the route the prisoners were forced to walk, which is well worth it, though you’ll also see locals going about their regular day, which can be jarring. Once at Dachau give yourself time — we spent nearly the whole day here because the grounds and museum are educational, affecting, and haunting. It was more overwhelming than I thought it would be, but also essential.
