wies'n nacht

It was obvious just by being on the street that Oktoberfest (called Wies'n here) had officially started today. Men and women in Leiderhosen and other traditional Bavarian dress were everywhere. I decided to wander over to the Wies'n grounds and see the sights and grab some fair food for dinner. Though tomorrow is the big day for the Braurosl beer hall experience in Oktoberfest, I expect that day to be completely in the hall, because everyone has warned me to be there as early as 8 or 9am if I want to get in. (yikes.) Instead, I'm going to join my friend Richard and his friends for brunch at 10 and tag along with them to the fest. I figure there has to be some safety in tagging along with locals who themselves are determined to make it in as well. Anyway, because of that, I thought tonight would be a good chance to wander around the grounds to find out what else existed outside the beer halls. And boy was there a lot. Food, beer, games, souvenirs, rides (and I mean huge rides), everything you see at an American State Fair, but on a much grander scale. And without the fried food! I sampled some sort of salami and cucumber sandwich on cheese bread, which was damn tasty and later tried a sausage called a Halber Meter Wurst Weiss (I was proud of myself for asking the guy eating one what it was in German). I wandered around taking it all in, and grabbed rides on a couple of the rollercoasters as well (I couldn't resist). Its truly amazing. Needless to say, theres a large amount of halfway (and fully) drunk folk everywhere stumbling around (of all ages), though everyone was happy and good natured. I also was surprised how many people were in leiderhosen and traditional dress - easily at least 70% of the crowd was wearing some form of it. All in all, it was a fun night of wandering, and another good way to experience some German life while grabbing dinner instead of just sitting in a restaurant. Hopefully, tomorrow (or the next day!) will bring tales of my Braurosl experience!