The Oktoberfest - die Wies'n - in Munich 2023

 

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: 

"O'zapft is!"  - that is the traditional shout for the Oktoberfest (= die Wies'n) and means: "The beer cask is tapped!" 

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... 

Living Like Miss Read

 

  

  Dear You, 

imagine that you possess a crystal ball, put a record on your antique record player, hum along with the Rolling Stones "I went to see a gipsy, to have my fortune read" - and then tell me that I eventually would be part of Bavarian village life - AND enjoy it.

 

If ever there was a City plant it would be me.

 

And now I watch for the second time in my life how two with colourful ribbons decorated trees - felled the day before - are heaved up against the very blue Bavarian sky. The sun smiles benevolent, the fire brigade plays a brass song, the village people cheer - and then the  "Kär'wa" starts. 

It is a parish fair - and in such a small village as this - yes, Tom: no shop, no café, that's why Yours Truly had to buy a car, 511 inhabitants - you soon know almost everyone, and that is nice. 

Two days from afternoon till midnight you can sit on wooden benches and talk, eat cakes or Bratwurst, drink coffee or beer and feel good. The children enjoy it immensely - they sing ("I am a village child and proud of it") and rehearsed a dance, (and no: the two blonds in the photo above are not part of the triplets) and afterwards they run around while their parents are deeply engaged discussing the state of the world and drinking beer - and last year at night young men from another village came and nobbed the Kär'wa tree - revenge for the same crime the young men of this village committed the year before.  :-) 

All those joys I didn't know in a huge city. (And I very seldom drink beer). 

Yours Truly,     Britta  

                                                

If you wondered about the title: