We arrived in Munich just after noon and waiting for us were the Moogs (aka Jason and Janine). They are our wonderful friends from Ottawa although they are from Manitoba but they actually live in Luxembourg of all places. The Moogs welcomed us on the train platform which was a nice feeling since we have not yet been greeted in a single city on this trip. After struggling to find our hostel, we all set of the (in)famous Oktoberfest at the Theisengarten fair grounds in Munich (which happened to be a nice stumble back distance to the hostel).  Once there, we were blown away by Oktoberfest. There were thousands of people everywhere, coming and going in lederhosen and traditional Bavaria dresses.  We were under the impression that Oktoberfest is only beer-tents and oompah bands but in reality that is only part of the experience. They are the main parts of course.   Oktoberfest is was a large exhibition like the Red River or the Bridgewater Ex depending on what part you are from but they actually had some decent rides and food. But we weren't there for those things. We managed a seat on a patio at the first beer tent we saw.   We ordered up some beers (all beers are 1litre!) and a couple of pretzels and then prost! On the patio it was quite subdued so we entered the tent and we were blown away. Thousands of people having a good time while the oompah band played and the waitresses ran around carrying 10 beers (about 15 kg) at once to their customers.  We were lucky enough to get a seat with a friendly group of lederhosen-clad Germans (as opposed to the lederhosen-clad Aussies and Italians who by my count outnumbered the Germans 3 to 1).  While we sat waiting for our beer, it was awkward with the Germans. To break the ice, in my best faux-German accent, I said "Das ist a gud party, ja!?" I figured that either they would find it funny or they would punch my nose in. Fortunately for me, it was the former and after that we had a great time sitting, talking and singing with them.  You can see their lederhosen in Michaela's famous crotch-shot photos.  The lederhosen didn't seem at all out of place there. In fact, these guys apparently get together and go drinking in their lederhosen every weekend (probably to stay in Oktoberfest shape).  Sadly, we were turfed from our seats, mostly because we were too rowdy (especially Janine) but partly because they were reserved.  The unfortunate thing about Oktoberfest is that you must be sitting to order a beer and since we couldn't find a place we set off to enjoy the other part of the fest, the rides.  But as we stepped out of the beer tent, we surveyed the carnage of Oktoberfest with dozens of people passed out from long hours of giant beer drinking.  I even saw a guy fall of a fence he was sitting on.  Continuing on, we all climbed on board the ferris wheel from which we could see the waves of the thousands of people at the festival.  We could also assess how huge the beer tents were; most tents were 200m x 100m! We left the festival grounds to seek out a calmer place for supper.  We found a beautiful beer garden which is literally in a garden! After the night was over, I couldn't understand why I felt tipsy after only 2 beers.  Then I did the math (2 German beers equals 4 pints or 6 bottles) and then it all made sense.Day 2 in Munich started a little late but then we set off to explore the city a little before returning to Oktoberfest.  We walked through the pedestrian areas finding the Marienplatz and other beautiful plazas. Apparently, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder was filmed partly in Munich so we unsuccessfully searched for the Munich Gas Works to see the set.  After playing tourist, we returned to Oktoberfest for more mayhem.  Being the last Saturday, it was a gong show-so many more people than the night before.  Michaela and I went on the Olympia Looping rollercoaster which has fives loops! What a rush! I hadn't done that for over 10 years. My immediate reaction after the ride was "lets get beer!" Unfortunately, there was not a seat to be found in all of Munich so we left Oktoberfest to return to the beer garden. Along the way, we documented the carnage by photographing the guys passed out on the flatbed truck and under the park bench.  One of my favourite scenes was the guy covered in leaves.  At the beer garden, we had another nice evening together until the extremely drunk (and uncharacteristically rude for his culture) French guy pulled down his pants and refused to pull them back up. It took the entire section of the beer garden booing for him to realized he wasn't cool.  After a few drinks and few hours of conversation, we called an end to our Munich experience.Other Oktoberfest highlights: giant animatronics outside the beer tent like the Lowenbrau lion who roars every time he takes a drink and the giant spinning pig on a spit! Only in Germany.