Seth –

I am so jealous...I wish I could go with you. I made it to Oktoberfest 4 years in a row (up until last year). I'd love to take you up on the offer but there's no way I can get off work

Since you're going to be there the first weekend, I would suggest stopping by the Brauerosl beer tent on Sunday the 22nd. Starting about 1pm or so, the entire back half of the hall is taken over by "family" members. The upstairs area is reserved for the leather crowd but you can have just as good a time downstairs. Even if you don’t drink, you can get a large soft drink and enjoy the sites

If you’ve never been before, the parades on Saturday and Sunday morning are sort of interesting. Saturday is the parade of beer wagons/festhalles and Sunday is the “great parade” consisting of people is period costumes and marching bands. If you’re going to go, I’d suggest getting a spot early. I’ve usually found good spots along Schwanthaler Strasse close to the festival grounds.

Here are a couple of links for you. Note: The first one is in German but will give you idea of what the Brauerosl is like. The second is a general Oktoberfest site.

http://www.ganz-muenchen.de/oktoberf...braeurosl.html
http://www.oktoberfest.de/

Oktoberfest is a great time and a chance to meet people not only from Germany, but from around the world. You’ll have to post a trip report when you get back about your experiences. Sorry I can’t recommend a gym to work out at. You might want to surf the net and see if you can come across anything. Have a great trip and enjoy!