Pepe, Meme, Tante Inge and us at the table, waiting for our beer and food.
Woo hooo! We were at the 200th year Oktoberfest on Tuesday! The weather was superb! Perfect for non-stop feasting and drinking outdoors! It was rumoured that the organizers of the festival had been praying at the church for good weather and it looked like their prayers had been answered!
Other than Christophe, it was the first-time for the boys and I. It was a much anticipated event, afterall, Christophe had been raving about how wonderful it is for the last 12 years. The roasted chicken, the pork knuckles and the special Oktoberfest brewed beer. All I was looking forward to was having a beer mixture (beer mixed with lemonade) and a roasted half-chicken. And the Olympia Looping Roller Coaster.
Christophe cleaning the bone, leaving no traces of meat behind.
As I entered the grounds of the festivities, I was completely soaked in the thick cultural atmosphere. It was an unusual but welcoming scene of uncountable amount of people dressed in their Bavarian traditional costumes, police patrolling on horses, barrels of beers transported by beautiful horses, and folk music played by traditional folks band. It is a larger-than-life fun and food fair, with plenty of amusement rides for all ages. It is like Las Vegas, minus the casinos and live shows.
These horses look stunning! Obviously groomed for the occasion. In the olden days, they were the sole transporters of the beer in barrels. Today, their job is to look good and take a leisurely walk with empty beer barrels for the different breweries for advertising purposes.
The patrolling police on horses, the accentuated height subconsciously gives the police the much needed presence of respect and authority.
A short history lesson. The first Oktoberfest was held in the year 1810 in honor of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig's marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen. The festivities began on October 12, 1810 and ended on October 17th with a horse race. In the following years, the celebrations were repeated and, later, the festival was prolonged and moved forward into September.
By moving the festivities up, it allowed for better weather conditions. Because the September nights were warmer, the visitors were able to enjoy the gardens outside the tents and the stroll over "die Wiesen" or the fields much longer without feeling chilly. Historically, the last Oktoberfest weekend was in October and this tradition continues into present times.
It is one of the most famous events and the world's largest fair. With some six million people attending, it is an important part of the Bavarian culture.
There were so many things to see, so many rides to take, so much to eat and so much to drink. The fair grounds were too vast, unfortunately our legs couldn't cover the entire premise in one afternoon. Fortunately, the fair continues till 4th October, giving us more opportunities to see the rest of the festivities, take more rides, and feast more next week. As this year marks the 200th year jubilee of the event, there is also an area that is specially set-up to showcase how the people 200 years ago celebrated the occasion, including old-fashioned rides with music that is piped by a folks live band!
Enzian couldn't hide his excitement for his rides later.
Ludwig couldn't stop grinning, clearly enjoying the afternoon out in a special annual cultural festival.
Christophe with his signature 1-litre Maß of beer.
Bart under training to drink from the Maß, learning his ropes to become a true Bavarian! Burp.
No comments:
Post a Comment