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Well here I am again writing about my latest trip three months after the fact, but I'm a busy guy. I've finally found some time to get down to it so here it goes.
My latest adventure was in September to Munich for Oktoberfest. I decided to go on one of the party tours again. Only this time instead of using Party Professional's I used First Festival Travel.
On my way to London to pick up with the tour I decided to pace myself and didn't drink on the train. I knew what was about to happen so I had to rest up.
Once I got to London I met with the tour and we were all off to Oktoberfest. As usual the bus was full of aussies and kiwi's. But that was o.k. because they're always up for a good time. On top of all that we had probably two of the best and funny bus drivers I've ever had. John and Darrell, otherwise known as Johno and Dazza. There is nothing funnier then driving down the highway seeing a giant black guy(Dazza) Sing and dance to "My Humps" By the Black Eyed Peas, or having them slow the bus down on the highway to check out women in other cars.
On our way to the ferry the tour manager went up and down the bus pouring tequila shots. Now I absolutely hate tequila but during this past year I've come to almost enjoy them.
It took us an hour and a half to get to the ferry port at Dover but by that time we were all on our way to having a massive night of drinking. Once on the boat we all headed to the bar and really got to know each other. There was Jackson and Renee from Brisbane, Brett, Hollybone, Alyce, and Kelly from Sydney and last but not least Todd and Steve from Auckland. As usual the Kiwi's seemed to be the craziest ones.
The ferry ride over to France was a pretty good time. Hollybone even found a way to get off the boat without getting arrested after taking a little too much interest in some German school girls.
Once in France we all settled in for the long drive to Munich. There were a couple of people who were expecting everyone to settle down and pass out. I have to say that the total opposite happened, or in Todd's words "alright it's time to get naked". I must say that anyone who has a fairly healthy drinking habit has a friend like Todd. No matter how the night goes you can always bet on them to be naked by the end of it.
Three hours later and everyone finally settled down for the night. The journey to Munich took us through France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and to our final destination of Kitzbuhel Austria.
In the morning when we all started waking up we found ourselves in front of the gate to Dachau concentration camp. I have been to my fair share of concentration camps during my travels in Europe, and wasn't really looking forward to seeing another one. After seeing Auschwitz-Birkenau this camp didn't really have any effect on me. Don't get me wrong terrible things happened there during it's war years and postwar years as a displaced persons camp, but it all seemed like a light version of what the camps would become further east in Poland.
After the camp we finally made our way to our ski chalet in Kitzbuhel. Little did I know that I had actually been to Kitzbuhel in 2005. In 2005 I was staying in the village of Haupfgarten a few miles away when Gibbo and I made a road trip and checked out a little unknown town that just so happens to be Kitzbuhel.
Kitzbuhel as a town is an amazing little place. It is full of traditional Bavarian architecture and is surrounded by the Austrian alps. It also has the efficiency that only Austria and Germany can provide.
Once we all checked into the chalet we all showered up and grabbed some dinner. We all then went down to a pub called The Londoner. The Londoner is pretty much an Irish pub funny enough that's been transported into this sleepy little Austrian ski town. I'm not sure if this bar or the town knew what was coming but what came was 150 of the commonwealths biggest drinkers looking for a good time. The night was filled with boots full of beer, rum for me and many songs and singing. We were finally ready for Oktoberfest.
The next morning we woke up early and headed into Munich to get a spot at the beer tables. We had to make a few stops on the way. Seven to be exact. Seven people had a little too much fun the night before and couldn't stomach the drive to the festival.
We got to the beer tents at 9:00 am. Now I must say that even though they call them "tents" they are in fact temporary buildings. It takes them 3 months to put the tent up. You may think that 9 is a bit early. But you have to get there that early to get in. Even getting there that early the place was already packed. We had all chose the Haufbrau Festzelt tent. I wasn't going to miss out on the action inside the tent so I walked to the side of the building which was the service entrance and started chatting with the doorman. We became buddy buddy enough for me to talk him into letting my group of friends in for ten euro each.
Once inside we went straight to the pig pen. The pig pen is the only place at the whole festival where you can get served without having a table. The only catch is you can't be wearing any underwear. If you're caught with underwear it gets ripped off and thrown on the huge Unkle Haus statue in the center of the tent.
Now once inside the first beers weren't served until the keg was tapped at noon. We had two and a half hours to wait so we found a good spot and started chatting up the beer wenches so we would get beers as fast as possible. As the time got closer to noon the anticipation in the tent started to build. Suddenly a half hour before we started hearing what sounded like a marching band. This as it happened to be was the first keg. The keg just doesn't enter the room. It enters the room is such grand fashion as to make you think that perhaps a Roman Legion was entering the room. The keg followed what seemed to be an endless procession consisting of a brass band, flag bearers and honourary beer wenches.
Once the keg was in place the brewmaster of the brewery came to the podium and welcomed the crowd. We then waited for noon. At ten seconds the countdown started and the place was ready to explode. At the strike of noon the keg was tapped and the place erupted with the flow of beer and its subsequent Ein Prosits. For the rest of the day we all drank our beers and had an amazing time.
The next day we all got ready to do it all again. We were planning to try a different tent but the halls were all full so we found our way back to the Haufbrau Festzelt and finally into the Pig Pen. Not thinking we'd make it back to the Pen and wearing boxers we all decided to rip our underwear off to make sure we safeguarded ourselves. After that job was done we found another guy thinking the same idea but having a little trouble. So being the helpful people we are we lifted him three feet in the air by his boxers until the boxers ripped and he went crashing to the floor.
At the end of the day we had had our fill of drinking so decided to go on the rides. I wasn't too sure because I've never been on rides when I was drunk bit it worked out pretty well.
The next day we all relaxed in Kitzbuhel. Everyone went off to do some adventure sports. I had already done the sports when I was in Haupfgarten two years previous. At the end of the day we all made our way back to the bus and started the long journey back to London.
The next day we all said our goodbye's were on our way to our next adventure.
My next adventure should be on the blog in a few days. On this one I found myself in Amsterdam again, hanging out in a Berliners apartment and a reggae festival in Poland.
Until next time have a good one.
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