Westworld Alberta
Issue link: http://westworldmagazine.ama.ab.ca/i/80542
(left) The Schottenhamel tent, where Munich's mayor taps the fi rst keg each Oktobefest; (right) carnival rides at the festival grounds. fi ve years ago. Joining the throngs headed for the Wies'n, we walk through the main gates to see that the grounds are jammed with thousands of people, shoulder-to-shoulder in some places. About half the crowd is wearing lederhosen or dirndls, which you can buy for around 200 euros. But we're saving our cash for the tents, where beer is a pricey nine euros per litre (elsewhere in Germany, it's usually around 6 euros). We wander between garishly lit carni- val rides, food stands and souvenir booths, towards the Festhallen. One of the rides is simply a conveyer belt that pulls people up a steep slope. Another, a giant spinning top with swings hanging from it, catches Shawn's eye. "I'm going to try that out for sure," he says. Since when do 40-year-old men ride swings? (He does ride it, and survives. I, on the other hand, avoid all such craziness.) I ask Peter, who is wearing jeans and a T-shirt, why he isn't wearing lederhosen. He scoffs and says, "I am not Bavarian." Though he lives in Munich, he grew up close to Hamburg, in the north. Each of the Festhallen has its own char- acter, epitomized by its decorative style. The cartoonish, swirly red-and-yellow Hippodrom, topped with statues of rearing horses, is trendy among younger singles, while the more traditional Löwenbräu Festhalle features classical murals and a mechanical statue of a lion that actually roars and drinks from a mug of beer. Hacker-Festzelt is nicknamed "Himmel der Bayern" (Bavarian Heaven) because of its ceiling painted with clouds and stars. We discover that the tents, as big as they are, fi ll up quickly in the evenings. (Plus, tables can be reserved several months in advance.) After trying in vain to talk or bribe our way in, Peter suggests we instead go to the nearby Paulaner Bräuhaus for din- ner and come back later. The place is only a 10-minute walk away and turns out to be a brewpub with a beer garden, where WESTWORLD >>SEPTEMBER 2012 29 (Schottenhamel) Joe Wiebe; (ride) iStock