Sollen wir noch einmal trinken? Ja, danke!

Jochen is telling me: "It's so funny watching the Italians here at Oktoberfest, they don't know how to drink" We're in the Schall & Rauch bar in Schwabing, the university district of Munich. I'd come to meet him about midnight on Sunday after a short power nap. He continues: "All the tourists try to drink too fast, they get too excited". And the Germans? "We drink nice and slowly, just 5 or 6 litres is nice." Well said, Jochen. Although that doesn't go for a Bavarian friend of his who happens to study Brewery at university, who once saw the bottom of 13 1-litre "Mass'" of Germany's finest. His party trick at Oktoberfest is to outdrink a whole table of guys so that they have to leave; the table is now his!

And what a prize that is! Saturday was "our" Oktoberfest day, and we arrived at the sprightly time of 9am to get into the Hacker-Pschorr tent. It was full already, and lining up until midday still didn't get us in! We hung about in the beer garden next to the Lowenbrau tent, hopeful. Having just avoided the projectile beer from an unfortunate Italian sitting with us at around 2pm, all was lost and we were about to leave. Enter Ang! Some of the girls from work were in the tent - a group of 12 - and Ang made it her mission to get us inside. I was snuck in, and Al and Martina were helped in by some well-timed tears and well-practiced eye-flutters. Cheers! The place was madness, a cacophany of clanking glasses, singing and benchtop dancing.
There's no more to say apart from see the pictures, and imagine yourself there, a beer in one hand and a Pork Knuckle "Schweinehaxe", all fatty and salty, staring up at you from the table. It's better when you're there!