the red beret at Oktoberfest

The Red Beret at Oktoberfest!

As I said, not many pictures from Oktoberfest.  It was an interesting time, though.  A group of us left Berlin around 7pm on train.  The first train was relatively quiet and we switched in Frankfurt am Main for the train to Munich a little after midnight.  Most of us really just wanted to sleep on the second train, but with inexpensive places they keep the lights on, so it's not easy.  But we knew we were on the right train when, around 2:30 or 3am, a huge group of Germans dressed in Lederhosen and Dirndles came on the train and started drinking in preparation for Oktoberfest.

Yes, really.

We arrived a bit before 6am, already exhausted, and headed over to the festival.  A friend and I were couchsurfing, so we got into a Biergarten early but left before noon to go meet our host.  Upon arrival, we took a nap and then spent the afternoon exploring Munich a bit.  We went back to the festival the day after and actually got in some of the tents, which was pretty cool.  It's just a fun atmosphere.  It's not as bad as I expected, really, though I was shocked to see small children there with their parents.  But in the tents there was music and everyone was just singing, talking, eating, and, of course, drinking.

Germania looking over the crowds.  Mind you, it's about 8:30 AM.