Let's rewind all the way back to last autumn...

I know it seems like quite a long time ago now, but would you mind rewinding with me back to last autumn? The reason being is because I still haven't blogged yet about two very fun events that happened during the fall... Oktoberfest and the USMC Birthday Ball in Luxembourg!

While most of the fall I was very busy coaching soccer, I had a weeklong break at the start of October... just like spring break, most international schools also have a fall break. It is a pretty sweet deal :) Since it would be my first weekend off since the beginning of soccer season, we decided to head down to Munich to experience the ultimate in German festivals... Oktoberfest!

We drove down to the capital of Bavaria with our friends, Mick and Jen, on Friday, October 2nd. On the way, we stopped at this shopping outlet mall because we were hoping to find the guys lederhosen to wear since we were told that everyone wears them at Oktoberfest. Well, we didn't find any lederhosen because this outlet mall looked like it came straight out of California! It was quite strange to see something like that in Germany... totally unexpected and pretty random. Soon we were back on the road, and that evening we stayed in Garmisch, Germany, at the same place we stayed back in April.

Since Garmisch is over an hour away from Munich, we jumped on the train on Saturday morning... but first we enjoyed the beauty of the Bavarian Alps right outside our hotel. While Jen and I were all dressed up in our dirndls (that is, a traditional German dress), the guys were just planning to look for lederhosen once we got into the city. Lo and behold, just across the street from the train station, they found a shop selling them. Before long, the four of us were all wearing our Bavarian duds and walking the few blocks down to Theresienwiese, a huge fairground that covers 4.5 million square feet where Oktoberfest is held every year. At first, it just looks like a very large carnival, with rides and food vendors everywhere. Then you start to notice the huge beer "tents"... they might be called tents but really they're massive temporary buildings, each serving a different type of beer.

Since it was still early in the day, we were able to get a table at the Spatenbrau tent without a reservation. Even though it was only 10:30am, the place was already packed with people drinking beer... that's Germany for ya :)

Shortly after we got to our seats, we ordered our first round of drinks... ridiculously large 1 liter beers. Well, I actually got a radler, which is half lemonade, half beer, since I don't really like beer... even still, as you can see below, it was a lot to handle! We also ordered some food, including huge pretzels that are considered traditional Oktoberfest fare. Yum! Then, we just sat back, listening to the oompah band and taking in the whole atmosphere. After hanging out for about 2 hours, we had to give up our table. Before leaving the Spaten tent, I went up to the top level to get one more pic.

By this point in the day, it was only a little after noon, so we decided to slow it down a bit and enjoy some fresh air for a while. We walked around the fairgrounds and ended up at its western side, where there is a huge statue that is said to symbolize the State of Bavaria. Along with hundreds of other revelers, we relaxed on the hillside, soaking in the sunshine and resting up a bit. From that spot, we could watch the hordes making their way around the festival. Ya know, they say Oktoberfest is the world's largest fair in the world, with about 6 million people attending every year. Now that is a lot of people! Following our little break, we started looking for our next hang-out of the day, while also taking some photos along the way.

We soon found ourselves at the patio of the Nymphenburg Sekt tent. It had a fun, festive ambience so we stayed there most of the afternoon actually. While there, we met a very nice couple from Berkeley, Nick and Laurel, and we really enjoyed talking with them... that's them in the picture below... plus some random guy who jumped in the photo at the last second! We also enjoyed some more traditional Oktoberfest food... a half chicken with potato salad. It was finger lickin' good! The whole afternoon was a very good time.

As evening was setting in, Daniel got a call from his friend, Mike, who was also at Oktoberfest. In fact, Mike had a table inside the Lowenbrau tent just across from where we were, and he wanted us to come join him. Well, if you remember, earlier I mentioned that you really need reservations to get inside the tents during Oktoberfest, especially at night and very much so during the very last weekend of the festival. We walked from door to door trying to get in, but at each there was a very large security guard. We thought that we'd just have to call it a night when Mike poked his head out and called us to come in... we waded through the crowd surrounding the door, and the security guard literally grabbed us by our clothes and pulled us inside. Only then did we find out that Mike had actually bribed the guard to get us in... craziness! Oh, and right away I noticed that Daniel and Mike were matching, so I just had to get a photo. They looked like twins... well, sorta :)

Once we headed into the tent, we saw that the party was already in full swing! The oompah band was playing like mad, and hundreds and hundreds of exuberant beer drinkers were standing on benches singing and dancing! The scene was a bit overwhelming, but it was a lot of fun. The music they were playing actually made laughed... over 90% of the songs were American, and all the Germans were singing them at the top of their lungs. I am not sure why, but they especially love John Denver's "Country Roads"... but at least they also played "99 Luft Balloons" too :) By the time 10pm rolled around, the four of us were pretty tired, so we decided to was time to say "Auf Wiedersehen" to Oktoberfest and head back to the train station. It had been a very fun-filled day and we can say that we survived 12 straight hours of the world's largest beer festival!

On Sunday morning, before heading back to Frankfurt, we took a stroll through quaint Garmisch. It was a peaceful and welcomed contrast to the festivities of the day before. Soon we were back on the road towards home, quite happy that we had just experienced the quintessential German festival.

Alright, now fast forward to mid-November... on Saturday, November 14th, shortly after coaching my last soccer game of the season, Daniel and I were on the road with our friends, Jan and Jim C. and Shawn, to attend the USMC Birthday Ball in Luxembourg. Needless to say, we were looking forward to it. I know I was... a girl is excited any time she has a chance to get all dolled up and put a pretty dress on!

Of course, we had a very enjoyable time that night... drinks, dinner, dancing. What could be better? :)

Following a fun night of celebrating, we were back on the road to Frankfurt the next morning... it was a short but sweet trip to Luxembourg. Well, thanks so much for rewinding with me all the way back to last autumn. And believe it or not, I am finally caught up on the blogging... and it's a good thing too because we are just about to leave for South Africa! I am sure our trip down there will give me plenty to post about so please come back soon to read all about it. Until then, I hope you are enjoying your summer :)