Oktoberfest!!! 9-22-2013

 (ok, so we are a little behind…) 

Last night, Rita put on her newly purchased dirndle and I put on my newly purchased lederhosen and we went to Oktoberfest 2013. 

 

 (Isn’t the mountain background perfect for this occasion? )

We were joined by approximately another 437,449 others who had done the same thing. Oktoberfest is a 16-day festival which originally started as a celebration for the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig to Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen on October 17, 1810. So why is Oktoberfest held in September, you asked?  Because the weather in Munich is nicer in September than October!  Oktoberfest is known to the Germans as, “Wies’n” which is a shortening of “Theresianwiese” which means “Therese’s Meadow” where the First Oktoberfest was held.  Today, as you know, Oktoberfest is a beer festival attracting in excess of 7 million visitors a year.  It is held at the same place since 1810 and it is spread out on over 100 acres of land. 

 To get a feel for Oktoberfest, you have to picture the Indiana State Fair, Halloween, a Fall Festival and a FIJI kegger all being held at the same time in the same place.  There are carnival games and rides.  There are food booths galore selling every imaginable kind of german food, including ham hocks, red cabbage, white sausages, wienerschnitzel, fish, chicken, roast pork, dumplings, spetzl, noodles and pancakes.  There are people walking around in dirndle’s and lederhosen costumes.  Then, of course, there is lots and lots of beer. There are 14 LARGE beer tents which hold up to 8450 people that are sponsored by breweries.  Beer is served in 33 oz. mugs, about 3 beers, and must be 6% alcohol by volume. Beer consumption exceeds 1.8 million gallons during the festival.

 Rita and I had arranged 9 months ago to get tickets to a beer tent so that we would be guaranteed an assigned seat. Everyone else that goes is with general admission and fights for a seat.  Our tent was the Braurosl Tent.  It has a full band playing drinking songs and a yodeler.  The assigned seats are around the four sides on the first floor and upstairs on each end of the two sides of the tent.  The general admission seats are in the middle of the tent.  Everyone stands, sings, and drinks from 11:00 AM to 10:30 PM.  There are many people who have had way too much to drink, particularly those people under 30.  The barmaids or waitresses can carry up to 10 mugs at a time.  It is an amazing thing to see! Here’s a picture of some of our new friends we made!

We are glad we went.  It was fun to watch the Germans relaxing and enjoying themselves.  We would probably not do it again, but who knows?  The next morning right in front of our hotel there was a 2.5 hour parade of bands, horse drawn beer wagons, and 60 groups representing different areas of Bavaria and wearing their respective traditional costumes. 

 Today, we are wrapping up our trip to Europe by blogging, posting photos, shipping things home we do not need and preparing to head to Turkey, our first stop in Asia.  Please pray that Turkey will remain safe for us, and our travels.  We love you and miss you. 

 Rita and I want to send special birthday wishes to Melissa (turned 36 on 9/19) and Bob Weaver, Missy’s husband, who turns 36 TODAY!  Happy Birthday Bob!!  Wish we were there to give you a BIG HUG, OH, BUT WAIT… You have no arms and no legs!!!! 

Enjoy your B-day today. 

Norm  & Rita

Oktoberfest, what a celebration!! We had a great time!