I had no idea. Who knew that Oktoberfest began in September?

I can hardly complain as it was extremely kind of you, the taxpayer, to send me to Munich for Germany's famous beer festival. I did not know what to expect but I can now tell you that Busch Gardens is not even a pale imitation though both Oktoberfest and Busch Gardens make you wonder what genius thought of the brilliant idea of pairing copious alcohol consumption with rollercoasters.

Leaving aside the amusement park rides, the key feature of Oktoberfest is the enormous beer tents that seat thousands of people. Beer is served in one-size-fits-all one liter mugs. The waiters and waitresses make the St. Pauli Girl look weak. While dressed in lederhosen or dirndels, they manage to grab about 10 of these liter mugs at a time and wend their way through the crowds to a table. You haven't lived until you've seen crowds of Germans standing on their seats to sing "Tell Me When, Cuando Cuando" and "Volare"--at lunchtime! Locals recommend being careful where you step if you ride the U-Bahn (subway) after the nightly closure of Oktoberfest.

I watched the big Oktoberfest parade from the Odeonplatz. I enjoyed it enormously and can assure you that Bavaria is in no danger of running out of brass bands. Like American southerners, Bavarians are both conservative and very proud of their region. You see lots of Bavarian blue and white checkered flags but I have yet to lay eyes on a German flag. And the Conservative Social Union (CSU) has held power for decades in this large German land (state). Many Bavarians choose to wear their regional costumes at this time of year.

However, sterotyping Bavaria as only the land of beer and lederhosen would be a big mistake. Munich is known as one of Germany's most wealthy and stylish cities even if Germans from elsewhere grumble that Muncheners are too ostentatious and like to show off their new money. The Maximillian Straße is Munich's Fifth Avenue, a place you can easily drop over €1000 without breaking a sweat. Munich also strikes me as less serious more relaxed than other German-language cities that I have visited--not altogether shocking in a place where many will have a beer at lunch or even breakfast.

Despite the fun, one still gets reminded of the darker side of German history even if one avoids visiting a concentration camp or memorial. My hotel is located on Dachauer Straße, as in the street to Dachau--a town not far from Munich and home to to the infamous concentration camp of the same name. The idea of living in a nice suburb known worldwide as a place where people were murdered seemed unbelievable to me. Or it did until I realized that I grew up in Potomac, a suburb of Washington named for an Indian tribe that no longer exists.