BEER FLOWS AS GERMANY KICKS OFF OKTOBERFEST

[xchrom]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_OKTOBERFEST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-09-22-06-15-57

BERLIN (AP) -- The mayor of Munich has tapped the first keg of beer to kick off the 179th traditional German folk festival Oktoberfest.

With only two blows of his hammer and a cry of "O'zapft is" - "It's Tapped" - Mayor Christian Ude inserted the first tap into the first keg as the festival opened Saturday.

More than six million guests from around the world are expected to descend on the beer tents of Munich to celebrate Oktoberfest through October 7.

Last year's visitors consumed almost 8 million 2-pint (1-liter) mugs of beer. This year a mug, called "Mass" in German, sells at up to (EURO)9.50 ($12.30).

[longship]

1. Six mugs of that and you've really had it!

Gees, Louise. A liter each? Wow! Crawling home tonight!

[xchrom]

2. here's to no gravel on the crawl home

[pinboy3niner]

3. The sewage ditch usually is gravel-free

Woo-hoo! No gravel!

[smirkymonkey]

4. God that was fun!

The mugs of beer were so heavy you needed two hands to lift them. It was like a huge International party. Of course, we were in college and all pretty drunk by the end of the night. I would love to go again and stay a bit more sober.

[xchrom]

5. i aven't been over for oktober fest -- it's on my bucket list! nt