Dear You,
can you imagine that Yours Truly was for the first time in her life (and she is no greenhorn anymore :-) on the Oktoberfest in Munich?
I went in the early afternoon - many people already there, but not so many drunks.
Beautiful traditional costumes - Dirndl for the women, Lederhosen for the men (and Wow, they show off) - and of course floods of beer.
The sun shone on a bright Bavarian blue sky - and for a moment I hesitated if I should repeat one of the joys of my childhood and youth: going around in a carrousel. The are even bigger than in the olden days - and signs generously offered "Half the price for people over 60!" What a chance!
Fasten your seatbelt - you'll need it!
And up you go - you'll have a beautiful view over Munich!
Up, up !!!
Even that might be enjoyable - what kept me back was that they fall with enormous speed back to the ground (you have to trust the labourers who build up the plant).
And you have to trust your heart...
Well, after some consideration I preferred these hearts:
Though there were many exciting alternatives:
PS: And after two "Maß" = 2 Liter beer (and I only have to smell at the crown cap to become VERY bold) - I might change my mind and go up ... 2024 maybe... if Tom or Tasker join in, that is...
I think you made the right decision Britta - our senior backs can't deal with such force coming down and making a sudden lurching stop!
ReplyDeleteThe Oktoberfest did look fun and colorful in the lovely sunshine!
Mary -
Yes, Mary, it was my back I was thinking of - it must be quite a pressure such a fall would build up. Twice I have been in elevators which go up in a very quick ride - that was ok - but here I also didn't trust the mechanics.
DeleteI agree. With great sunshine, drink, food, costumes, tents and stalls, why would an intelligent mature-aged person even consider damaging herself? Your teenage self didn't understand having a career and family.
ReplyDeleteThe intelligent part of me won, Helen - but the irrational part of me is not so small... But here I thought: "Don't gamble with what you can't afford to lose" - and health is very precious.
DeleteWhen I saw how high it went I almost screamed. I don't like high places. Other than the rides it looked like a fun place to be.
ReplyDeleteYes, dear Emma, I was astonished that it was such a big fun fair - before I always had the impression that "Oktoberfest" was a synonym for "beer".
DeleteI have seen some big fun fairs in Germany - but not one of them has so many nor so big beer-tents - that is their main characteristic, and I choose wittingly the early afternoon for a visit - in the evening it must be .. well... very vivid...
I wonder if I could climb on a horse these days.
ReplyDeleteOh Joanne: if they lure grown-up older people with teaser-prices, they would also help you to climb on a horse!
DeleteAnd that made me think:
normally Germany is a country where they pave everything with warning signs - "Might contain traces of peanuts!", "Don't do this - don't do that!" - and here not even the wisp of a warning for the feeble ones....
As to horses: I should have added a photo of six beautiful brewery-horses before a beer-tent. They stood there patiently and wore blinders.
I have been to something akin to your Oktoberfest but in Austria albeit minus a funfare. There appeared to be a lot of serious drinking, mountains of food, knee slapping dancing and plenty of singing.
ReplyDeleteDear Rosemary, it were the "serious drinking" that made me prefer to visit the Oktoberfest in the early afternoon...
DeleteI didn't know that Australia had the main ingredients of the Oktoberfest - beer - too! And yes, knee-slapping dances and singing and brass bands has Munich too!
I am waaay too timid to try something so thrilling, in the heart-stopping way, as the rides on offer at your Oktoberfest. In fact, I didn't even know there were such things to accompany the dressing up and O'zapft is-ing! I do, however, know that Oktoberfest is in September as I've seen German backpackers in the far northwest of our country enjoying September-time Oktoberfest in their Lederhosen and drinking from steins they brought with them as precious cargo in their rucksacks, but I don't know why it's so calendarialy misnamed.
ReplyDeleteDear Pip, I am utterly astonished to read from the "twin" of the Oktoberfest! The funfair was a surprise for me too - I thought that it was all and only about beer :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat I really found good-looking was the fashion (well - not the cheap ones - but there were hand-crafted, elegant, timeless dresses and the men knew how to make them look very manly. One needs very good legs to carry a Lederhose - and the Dirndl is very forgiving for a woman over 30 (I don't own one... I am to much a Northern woman; interesting that many Japanese thought they fitted in well into the "Tracht")
To fly and take a "stein" - that's as weird as going to another continent and then celebrate an Oktoberfest...