Tomorrow’s the day …

Well, tomorrow is the day that the Oktoberfest begins, with the ceremonial tapping of the keg in the Schottenhamel beer tent. O’zapft is! The weekend will be rounded out with a parade, cannon-shots over Munich, and an agricultural fair, among other things.

In preparation for that event, the Süddeutsche Zeitung, Munich’s very respectable newspaper, has prepared an article demonstrating a way you can drink all of that beer and still remain fit. Now, you may not think it, but there’s a lot of athleticism in the average visit to the Wiesn, as they say in Munich:

-Lifting those heavy (1 liter) glasses (called a Maß)
- Arm wrestling (an oddly beloved sport) and finger wrestling (a sport I didn’t even know was a sport)
- That hammer-game where you try to get a weight to hit a bell (apparently called “hit the Lucas” in German)
- Running back and forth to the bathroom
- Wrestling with the crowds to get a table

Ok, those last ones were my addition, but there are still more. The SZ inexplicably includes “dumpling eating,” which, while somewhat daunting, doesn’t really count as exercise. There are even some photos to go with it.

Ok, it may not keep you fit, but at least it prevents a sore rear-end from sitting on those benches without interruption for hours on end.

Photo from the Süddeutsche Zeitung.