They say Oktoberfest is ALL about people, beer and its good old jolly spirit!

I spent nearly 3 hours in the Hacker Pschorr beer tent. When the band started playing, spirits got really high and everybody drank beer as if it flowed freely from taps. As time passes, one may find less resistance to pay €15 for a litre of beer and half a roast chicken. Well, this is definitely no rocket science.

As I had to meet my colleague's friend at 5pm (he had so kindly offered me a place to stay for the evening), I reluctantly left the beer tent at 4pm. Met him at St Martin Straße S-Bahn station and took a short walk to his apartment. Watched some TV that evening and I realised there were channels showing live scenes of the Oktoberfest beer tents though I wasn't too interested; I had enough of Oktoberfest for the day. It was zzz for me at 10pm.

However, Munich is really NOT all about Oktoberfest and its free flowing spirits. There were darker days before; Hitler and his associates staged the Beer Hall Putsch, an attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic and seize power. Although the revolt failed (it resulted in Hitler's arrest and the temporary crippling of the Nazi Party), the Nazi managed to reclaim power in 1933, naming Munich "Hauptstadt der Bewegung" (a.k.a. Capital of the Movement). There were of course other sites worth visiting; Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial, Neuschwanstein Castle and Olympiapark. Due to time constraints (I can distinctly hear my office email "calling" me), I only managed to visit the sight (Olympia Zentrum S-Bahn station) where it was the world focus in 1972.

Munich was hosting the Olympics and it would have been a great celebration for Germany if it was not marred by a tragedy where 17 people (11 Israeli athletes, 5 terrorists and a German policeman) were killed by an act of terror. This led to the retaliation of the Israelis: they began hunting down those who were responsible.

Hatred begets more hatred. Enough said.