We were up and out good and early today, in an attempt to get to Oktoberfest as early as possible and get a table for the duration of the day.We got to a tent around 10am and quickly got seated. The tent was surprisingly quiet compared to the previous day at this hour and we wondered if we had missed all the fun of the opening weekend. We soon realised we hadn’t.

By midday the tent was almost full and the place was buzzing. Having already finished of a Maß (Litre of beer) each we set about getting some more and chatting to people around us. First of all we started to chatting to 2 Americans on our table, Mason and Ernie. Ernie was hammered, and it was only just after 12. So wrecked in fact that he lost his Passport, which we found underneath the table and he gratefully accepted back after we’d taken some stupid photos with it. We also met an Aussie guy, a few Kiwis and a gang of Germans. Everyone, sorry about not remembering your names but you were lovely indeed.

After moving onto the next tent we sat at a half full table and quickly introduced ourselves to its inhabitants, 3 Czech’s and a Slovakian. We chatted happily and drunkenly but they left after about half an hour. Their seats were soon filled by 4 Austirans from just outside Vienna. 3 girls and a boy. Although I’m not sure why that’s important. They were, if possible, more friendly than the previous bunch and we chatted about anything and nothing for a few hours.

Inside on of the beer tents

Later, around 6pm, we went in search of Bonnie, Corinne and Brooke, who had text suggesting we come to find them. They directed us to the tent they were in and told us “we’re near the stage” and one of them was “wearing a Drindel”. No offence to the girls, who were lovely, but those clues were shocking. Considering a Drindel is the traditional dress for women at the festival, so everyone with breasts, and some without, were wearing them! Also, near the stage is a massive areas in a tent that holds around 10,000 people and has a fairly large stage in the centre.

Once again we failed to find them but ended up sat with a table of Germans, two of which, Sebastian and Thomas, we made good friends with, as well as the rest of the people at the table, which consisted of some drunk older gentlemen and a few young ladies.

The atmosphere in the tents all day was amazing. Everyone was in high spirits, probably largely due to the litres of beer they were consuming. Everyone was singing, standing on tables and chairs and just generally having a great time. We loved it.

The fairground

After we decided we’d had enough beer for one day we headed outside and into the fairground area for me to fulfill my promise from the day before. To go on a scary arse tall ride that it actually turns out was brilliant and not at all scary, so there you go. This however, once again by fluke, lead to us seeing some of the Aussies from the Prague camp site and going back to a tent they were in and hanging out with them for the rest of the night. After agreeing to meet Joel, Alex and Jess later in our travels we headed home in the wee hours.

All in all, this was one of the best days of the trip so far, and was exactly what I needed.