oktoberfestivities

Two events during the Wies’n that really highlight German efficiency:

OPENING PARADE: As with Macy’s Thanksgiving, Rose, and other similar events you would find in America (albeit, less balloons, more horses) you have the traditional rope barriers and police.  There were also a million horses and their unfortunate byproducts littering the streets.  However, in an impressive display of efficiency and planning, the last float was immediately followed by police cars, a street sweeping truck, a street cleaning truck, and then a line of policemen who followed in the wake of cleanliness, taking down the ropes as they walked.  We were standing maybe 20 feet from the street corner, and by the time we reached it, the streets were already swept clean, ropes taken down, and the procession far ahead of us.

RESPONSE TEAM: Once we fought and cajoled our way into some table space, my friend was disconcerted to find a man who’d had one (or 5) too many maß groping her.  Within five minutes, security had been alerted, the man forcefully removed, someone returned to ask if we wanted an official complaint filed, empty beer mugs were cleared away, and a new group of revelers had taken the empty space.

My Oktoberfest highlight: meat, pretzels, roasted nuts, and chocolate-covered fruit as far as the eye can see.

The German’s Oktoberfest highlight: taking three women to the Wies’n, buying one beer, and getting them all drunk.