Sunday, October 07, 2007

Oktoberfest!!!

-The stakes are high.

If I said we'd been preparing our whole life for this that would not be far from the truth. However in truth the more focused intense training had only recently begun.

Technique was studied.
Previous champions were benchmarked.
Tests were made, results analyzed and the tests remade.
Endurance and brute strength pushed to the limit.
An athlete(s) was born.
A level of perfection was achieved never before seen in those hallowed halls.

-A place where the few carry the hopes and dreams of the many.

With the weight of the world our shoulders we entered the arena. Under the watchful eyes of millions the sweat poured out of us. In times like these a man either rises to the occasion or is crushed under defeat and driven into the deep recesses of a suicidal depression. Failure is not an option.

-The competition is intense.

Competitors from all over the world converge for this special event. Some with years or even decades of experience thrill at the defeat of newcomers. They eat the newbies for breakfast, lunch, dinner and never look back.

Only the best can enter and only the best of the best achieve greatness.

Champions are immortalized in the memories, in the photos and on the mugs of countless observers. The losers are forgotten, often left to wallow in their own spinning, dizzy, puke covered hungover worlds, never to recover physically or emotionally. Defeat will haunt them to their grave and often beyond.

I speak of course…of Oktoberfest.

Unlike Hollywood’s polished, pre packaged for the masses version of this life and death event, the actual is much closer to that eternally classic movie, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.

Two men enter.

One man leaves.

Or in this case...4 men entered....4 men left. Most of the time. We all survived but our livers (and perhaps reputations) may never recover.

Here's the official website.

www.oktoberfest.de

With only 3 weeks left this vacation came at a great time. 3 buddies from the states flew over. I picked them up from the airport and after hitting the hotel (who's rooms did NOT look anything like what they did on the net) it was off to the festival. I'd like to tell all sorts of funny stories...but i dont remember most. just going through the pics is tripping my memory on allot of whats happened. Therefore, here are some visual aids to better portray the experience that is oktoberfest. Darian couldn't figure out how to make his pics smaller which is too bad because he got some of the best ones...but i only have so much space for uploading!

Start training now folks....gotta make reservations for next year before christmas!! This is a MUST visit spot for anyone..young or old there is something for everyone to do and enjoy.

Pics from Sunday

1 Sunday Octoberfest 2007


Pics from Monday

2 Monday (not monay) Octoberfest 2007


Pics from Tuesday

3 Tuesday Oktoberfest 2007


Pics from Wednsday

4 Wednsday Oktoberfest 2007


I can only share pics from the first half of the day. Pics from the second half...well, for those in the know you'll have to ask one of us that was here. What happens at oktoberfest, stays at oktoberfest.

Pics from Thursday

5 Thursday Oktoberfest 2007


Pics from Friday

6 Friday Oktoberfest 2007


and thats all she wrote!