Post – Oktoberfest Munich

Munich campground. Only us left and abandonned tent

Oktoberfest is sadly over, and the city is returning to normal. The campground, too. It started to clear out Sunday, when a lot of people left to drive or fly back to Berlin or Rome or London. The festival ended Sunday night, and by Monday evening, there were only a handful of tents left. By Tuesday morning, only us, Jarrad and Jon, and an Italian couple.

The remarkable thing about the clearing out of the campground is not what has gone, but what has remained. There was an unbelievable quantity of tents left behind. Empty. Abandoned. They give them away the following year to anyone that needs one (or so they say). Then there are the mattresses and sleeping bags, camping chairs, ropes, lines, bags. Most anything you can think of. On Monday morning, when they started the clean-up, I realized that every single one of the tents around us were empty. I had thought that their owners were out sight-seeing. Apparently, many people just buy a cheap tent and find it eaiser to leave it behind than to worry about packing it up and taking it on the airplane with them. With the heavy rain this year, people probably didn’t want to take down the tents in the rain or pack them up wet.

The men working at the campground said we could take anything we wanted. We went on a search. It was like a treasure hunt. People left behind new equipment, as well. It wasn’t just old junk. We found several mattresses for Jon and Jarrad, and a sleeping bag, even a new tent for Jarrad. For ourselves, we found new ropes and tent lines, tent stakes, a candle, a box of cereal bars, several unopened packs of toothbrushes, a mattress to use for the week, and even money!

One of the campground workers found a shower token and gave it to me. I was thrilled. I had been taking cold showers every morning since our arrival, and although I was clean, it was anything but enjoyable. Washing my hair was painful, as the freezing water pummeled my scalp. Water that cold really does hurt. It gives you a headache, which thankfully stops when the shower stops. So, you can believe me, the showers I took in Munich were the shortest I’ve ever taken. The man seemed incredulous that I had been taking cold showers, but we were staying for longer than just the weekend, and 1€/hot shower adds up after a while. Especially during a long trip such as ours. So I was thoroughly appreciative to the camper who left behind his token and gave me five minutes of hot water.

John, Jarrad and us at the campground

Aside from dodging raindrops this week with Jarrad and Jon (our friends from New Zealand), we visited the Deutsche Museum, one of the foremost science and technology museums in the world. My favorite section was the one with the musical instruments. There were harpsichords and pianos from the 17th-18th centuries, all the way up to modern-day models. They had all sorts of instruments that I’ve never seen before: forerunners to the modern-day guitar with assorted numbers of strings; instruments from the East; an instrument that resembled a trumpet, but that had about ten horns protruding in different directions. There were also great sections on ships and sea navigation, bicycles and coaches, aviation, and bridge construction.

We went to the Hofbrauhaus on Friday night to meet up with Angela and her boyfriend Andi, whom we had met at the Oktoberfest. The Hofbrauhaus is known as the world’s most famous beerhall. It is gigantic, filled with people eating and drinking beer at picnic tables. There is a band in the center of the room playing Bavarian and English songs, and people sing along and sometimes get up and dance in the aisles. The atmosphere is reminiscent of Oktoberfest. Some groups of men still wear the traditional costume – knickers and suspenders, white shirt, knee-high socks. Very festive. Very Bavarian.

We’re heading towards Austria now. See you in Vienna!