Day 2 started very early for us as planned. The festivities didn’t begin until 12 noon but without a beer tent reservation, we really didn’t have a choice but to be there and in line by 7:30-8am. Everyone else has this bright idea also.
The line for the Schottenhamel tent at 8am
That is what must happen if you wish to get a table in a beer tent and be a part of the action of the opening festivities…Oh and I was determined. Fortunately, my crazy friends went along with my plan. A little history first…Dating back to 1867, Schottenhamel is the oldest tent at Oktoberfest-and some say, the most important one. At exactly 12pm on Oktoberfest’s opening day, Munich’s Mayor kicks off the festival by tapping the first keg of beer in this tent. After he taps the keg, he shouts “O’ zapft is!” , confirming the tapping was successful. It is only after this event that all the other beer tents may begin to serve beer. They hear the cannons fire and know that the festivities have started….Beer for everyone! Schottenhamel is the largest tent at the festival with 10,000 seats and is the place to party for young people, celebrities, and politicians.
Back to getting in…
Oh and we got in alright! Well all of us but Tina… she didn’t feel comfortable pushing and shoving like the rest of us did. It was CRAZY… everyone was cutting in line and pushing but Josh,Carlos and Ed were just a little more aggressive than the crowd. Victoria and I follow them and push our way in but Tina got stuck outside when they closed the door. TENT IS FULL! Oh shit! We are inside without Tina and without beer. Yikes, now what? It’s 10am and we have 2 hours to wait until we can drink a beer and Lord knows we all need a beer after that mess! Do we leave poor Teenie Weenie outside and hang out awhile or do we leave and go join her? We decided to get a pretzel and think about it some more…lol! Pretzels were the only thing you could buy at first and we were hungry and fired up for that pretzel at this point.
We decide to send Josh to rescue Tina but the German security guards refuse to help and Yells “Nein, Nein!” Then we send Carlos…he almost gets kicked out!
Time to sweet talk some waiters! We found this lovely waiter Stephen to rescue Tina, who is practically in tears outside. He tells us to have Tina wait by door W6 for rescue. Stephen kept his promise and saves Tina and she enters through W6 which is ironically the same door she was pushed and shoved away from earlier on. W6 now is sentimental for Tina so she decides to take a photo for vacation memories.
Tina eventually gets in door W6
Tina and her hero Stephen
So Tina’s in and we’re happy about that BUT we still can not drink beer until the damn mayor gets this party started. So we drink Limo Cola instead. The Germans take Coca Cola and mix it with lemonade… I’m not sure why but it was ok and we were thirsty. We just called it pre-gaming by hydrating ourselves with this Limo Cola and eating some Currywurst and pretzels.
Yum! Currywurst!
Yay, at least we have pretzels!
We killed some time eating and carrying on and then finally it was time for the tapping of the keg! Amen and Hallelujah! Beer for everyone. I pushed my way and got pretty close to see the ceremony and video it but here is a better video.
Let the boozing begin! The waiters had beer on the tables in minutes after the keg was tapped.
Liters of beer for everyone!
The pictures and videos will tell the story. Let’s just say I had 3-4 liters of beer and a hell of a good time….what I remember!
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