ROUSES.COM
55
TRAVEL
I
met one of my very best friends when I was four years
old; we met on my parents’ driveway, and although
both shy at first, we quickly bonded over having the
same first name (we’re both Allison, and go by Ali, though
she spells hers Allie) and haven’t looked back in the 25+
years since. Though we grew up just a few houses down
from each other through elementary and high school,
we’ve stayed friends through long distances since. Allie
went to college at Louisiana Tech in Ruston while I
went to LSU in Baton Rouge. After we both graduated,
there was a brief period where we were both back in our
hometown of Thibodaux, down the street at our parents’
houses. That didn’t last long, as Allie was married to
her college sweetheart not long afterward (in Louisiana
fashion, she was married during Hurricane Rita, with
a wind gust throwing a door open during the church
ceremony, and a power outage during the reception and
all) and she and her husband moved to Germany where
Richard was stationed in the Army. Always up for a trip,
it didn’t take me long to plan a visit!
Allie lived in the Bavaria region in Germany, which is
down in the south and anchored by the big city of Munich. One
of the first long conversations we had about what it was like, she
compared Bavaria in Germany to our Louisiana in the United
States - the fun, southern, independent-minded, just-a-little-bit-
different state in the country. I was lucky to be able to visit her
twice during their three year stay there, and both times “happened”
to be in late September / early October, when Oktoberfest was
being celebrated in Munich, and so of course we had to partake.
I had very little in the way of preconceived notions about
Oktoberfest, except that there would be beer, pretzels, and people
in German garb. It did not disappoint in any of those three aspects,
but Oktoberfest astonished me with how large it was, how many
fair rides and games there were, how elaborate the beer tents were,
and just how HUGE a liter of beer really is. There are long picnic
style tables set up inside tents and out, where you take a seat if
you’re lucky enough to find one (and you really need to find one,
because that’s the only way you get served a beer). In every tent
we sat, we found very pleasant people from all over the world to
chat with (provided we both spoke the same language). Even with
a language barrier, and our very limited
broken German, we at the very least could
exchange pleasantries and a “prost” (toast)
with our tablemates.
There are six large tents and several smaller
tents for 14 in total, each sponsored by
a brewery like Hofbräu, Löwenbräu,
Augustiner, and more. “Fest beer” is brewed
only on Munich grounds and is typically
about 1% stronger ABV than the regular
brew (typically 5 - 5.5%). At each tent
you’ll find only the beer of the sponsoring
brewery, and you can only order by the liter.
Those liters are carried out to you by a few
men in lederhosen, but mostly by ladies in
traditional dirndls, with large glass liters
full of beer in both hands- not just one liter in hand, mind you, but
with five or six per hand. I was quite impressed by this, as I had a
little trouble one-handing my liter of beer, but quickly realized that
using two hands was a sure way to get teased.
Oktoberfest travel tip:
do some arm workouts in the weeks
prior to your trip! The tents are as festive and fun as one might
expect — with lots of music and singing throughout. Everyone
picks up on the “prost” song right away, and you’ll hear it often and
learn to sing, put your arm around your neighbor, and sway each
time it’s played. I was pleasantly surprised to know another favorite
of the tents is the Country Road by John Denver, which I was able
to (mostly) sing along.
Allie & Ali, Oktoberfest, 2007
Ali Rouse Royster, Oktoberfest, 2007
Allie, Oktoberfest, 2007
"I was astonished just how HUGE a liter
of beer really is."
—Ali Rouse Royster
