After a cosy nights sleep in our two man (or woman) tents we rose to the aftermath of the night before, sun shining through the trees and glinting off empty beer bottles. As we rubbed the sleep from our eyes the air of anticipation swept over us. Today was the day we had come for, last night was a mere entree' to what was to be our main course, Oktoberfest. We hastily through a fry-up down our gullets courtesy of our friendly Topdeck staff and boarded the first bus to Olypmic park, the current abode of Oktoberfest. After disembarking and a game of follow the leader we arrived out our destination, the Hofbrauhaus, the traditional beer tent that every aussie who is an aussie in Munich goes to on the opening day. There we met the 6th and final member of the Scooby gang...Tits McGee.
Who is Tits McGee you might ask. Well dear readers she is a very very special girl. As we all remember many moons ago when 'The Robber' and I departed our fair shores, I seeking the adventure of foreign high seas and he seeking to rob the hearts of fair maidens on our way. Well it turns out that that old cliche' 'What goes around comes around' bares some truth. It turns out 'The Robber' had his heart not only stolen but also bound, gagged and now suffering from stockholm syndrome for its would be abductor. And that abductor is Tits, the long lost banana-bending sweetheart from Hopfgarten in Austria that the young Robber wasn't able to seal the deal with due to an unfortunate case of 'pink eye'. They have kept touch over these months and fallen for each other over the telephone. And thus the patron saint of their love is Alexander Graham Bell, with 'The Robber' erecting a shrine to him in his cupboard at home, but I digress. The real story here is that two lonely souls drifting through this crazy world found each other and now will be forever intertwined...we think.
And so Tits McGee, Chesty Leroux, Busty Calhoon, The Pirate, The Librarian and The Robber entered those wooden double doors of the Hofbrauhaus and it was a sight to behold. And we did it just in the nick of time as ridiculously large German men who looked like they had Acromegaly barred the doors behind us and sneered through the glass at any aussie who was just a tad to late to mecca.
What followed was a greater build up then a 90th minute winner in a 1-0 Man U victory over Chelsea. It was 9:30 and the ceremonial tapping of the keg was not til 12:00 and thus every stein in the house was filled with water and that was all. The chanting started, mid-morning snacks of schnitzel burgers were bought, as the excitement grew and grew. We could almost taste the beer in the air but our mouths remained dry. Then it happened. The horns blew the music started and the march commenced. Like a flag bearer at the Olympics (coincidentally this was the site of the 1972 summer games) a lone figure carrying a large stick which bore the Hofbrauhaus symol atop wove is way through the crowd followed by a large brass band. The cheering grew louder and louder until they reached the center balcony where they stopped. A hush went over the crowd a few words in English were said but I cannot recall those as the only thing that was going through my mind, was beer. The diplomat raised his hand and with one glorious strike the keg was tapped.
And then the beer flowed, steins were clinked together amidst cries of 'Prost' and all was good with the world. We had beer and our smiles were grinning from ear to ear. It truly was a day to remember.
