Our First Cannstatter Wassen!
Oktoberfest. THE beer festival to go to. Everyone knows about it, all over the globe. So moving to Germany, of COURSE you want to, no, HAVE to go! So we did, and it was amazing.
First, let me explain that the true Oktoberfest is in Munich, and it’s CRAZY. However, a bit closer to us, and a bit more low-key, is a beer festival in Stuttgart that is basically a "little Oktoberfest", called Cannstatter Wassen (although, it does not seem so little). So we gathered a group of 10 friends, booked a table for the morning session (there are 2 sessions each day of the festival, morning and evening- evening was already sold out when we booked a few months ago!) and made our plans. The morning of the festival we woke up SUPER early, got dolled up in our expensive, but authentic Dirndles and Leiderhosen, drove to the train station, hopped on a train, then another train (that was PACKED btw- standing room only), enjoyed a few mimoses, and before we knew it we popped out in Stuttgart. But wait- I also must say that at the train station for our connection we headed to the McDonald’s for a quick bite, because you know, some food is a good idea before a day full of drinking ahead, and they DID NOT HAVE BISCUITS ON THEIR MENU. For those of you who know me know I love eating healthy and as a general rule don’t eat fast food (Chick fil a doesn’t count) but my Achilles heel is a warm and fluffy egg and cheese biscuit and on this morning it is ALL I wanted and I came so close. But SO far away. An egg McMuffin it was. #FAIL
In any case we pop out in Stuttgart, Michael and I hail a cab to our Airbnb about 10 minutes away to drop off our bags and met everyone back at the festival. It was INSANE. So many people, carnival rides everywhere and these HUGE tents set up with music pouring out of them. We entered the tent and my jaw dropped. Never in my life had a seen a room with at least 500 people of all ages dressed up in costumes, dancing on the tables, each with a beer mug in hand the size of their face. It was unbelievable. We quickly found our table, hopped on, and joined the revelry. The tickets come with 3 HUGE beers as well as food! So we enjoyed our drinks, danced to the music, took pictures, waited in bathroom lines a mile long, and had the BEST time. It was over FAR too soon and we were ushered out of the tent as they prepared for the next round of fest goers. We wandered the festival for a little bit with everyone and then they were headed back to the train station and we were off to our air bnb to shower, change and head out to dinner! We wandered around Stuttgart for a bit before finding this great cozy place up on a hill in a park and they served some truly unique dishes. The weather was even nice enough for us to sit outside. The evening was the most wonderful cap off to a festive day spent with friends. We went back and forth over whether or not to train back that night or stay, and we could not be happier that we stayed. The next morning, we packed up and headed out for the train station, grabbing coffee and a muffin after we figured out how to buy our tickets! Nobody ever checked them, but it was a lovely ride home and we enjoyed a relaxing evening together!
If you ever have the chance to make it to Germany during fest season, I highly recommend booking a table and checking it out. We had a BLAST and cannot wait until next year!
