i read somewhere that oktoberfest is the world's largest fair.true enough, everyone seemed to be like kids set loose in the largest fairground ever.
thankfully, we stayed at my in-laws' house.they were gracious enough to accommodate us and to tolerate our high school excitedness.heehee...
since it was the 200th anniversary of oktoberfest, one part of the grounds (in an area called "Theresienwiese") was set like an "historical oktoberfest" where there were horse races, museum tents, mini-farms, replicas of carousels from the 1950s...most of the visitors were also dressed in their bavarian finery.
mr t and i went there and met his friend, j.we were lucky enough to find a spare table outside one of the famous breweries' tent (Augustiner-Festhalle).i believe this is the locals' favorite.amongst the bavarians i know (with mr t included), augustiner comes out as always the favorite.
there were hendl (chicken),and of course, some liters of stein.the germans call it Maß.and humungous pretzels! i remember that i was craving so much for these pretzels when i was pregnant.
to cool off afterwards, we then tried one of the rides, and surprise, surprise, i did not get scared at all!
we then headed off to a popular tent called Schottenhamel, where we met t.more stories were shared, but i did not have any stein anymore as i was still fairly jet-lagged!
and an oktoberfest souveneir from my husband:
translation: i love you to the moon and back (ok, enough with the eye-rolls)
the next day was shopping day! yay! we went to downtown munich where we bought warm clothes as it's going to be the cold season soon in dubai.i found my new, favorite high-street shop (aside from h&m)! it's called c&a.good quality and fair prices.i hope they open in dubai soon.
we passed by a barbie orgy (haha!) window display and some cool statues.
i was not particularly feeling my best on that day.probably because i just had a flu shot a week before.i felt like i had the flu without the fever! strange!
we had a break and had apfelstrudel and coffee (mine was spiked withy bailey's) at this nice cafe called richard overlooking the pretty new town hall.we also bought some german baby books for baby at this bookstore called hugendubel, which has an amazing view of the town hall.
my mom-in-law made potato salad for dinner.yummyyy.i loved it! i love some good, old-fashioned, sour, potato salad.
the next day, we met mr t's friend f and his very lovely family at the same spot where there was the historical oktoberfest.they were such a beautiful family.they were all dressed in bavarian costumes, and the little son and daughter were so cute! we walked around the grounds, and watched a horse show.but the highlight for me was the puppet show! haha.i think i enjoyed watching it more than the kids.it was in deutsch, of course.nevertheless, i loved it.i want baby to grow up watching puppet shows and riding beautiful carousels, and not obsessing over tv cartoon shows.
and oh, we were also in bavarian clothing.i was in dirndl and mr t was in lederhosen.my mom-in-law also gave me a necklace that went well with the dress. i'll show you photos, but then again, maybe not :-p
at this point, allow me to thank mr t's mom, baby's oma and my second mom, for being so nice and patient with us, and for giving us beautiful items that i cannot brag about here.danke, oma.
again, i was silly enough to forget to charge my camera.how remiss of me! arg.we had to ask f to charge it in his house as we will meet later anyway.
mr t and i then went to for some late lunch of sausages at augustiner restaurant.we then visited an historical cemetery which was just nearby.it was beautiful.when we were in paris some years back, mr t and i also visited a beautiful cemetery.but that will be worth another post.
so we went back to the fair.getting in was a nightmare.as it was almost 5 in the afternoon, some people were already rowdy.there was some pushing.still, we managed to get in the tent Winzerer Fähndl.f had a table reserved.it's so difficult to get a table inside one of these tents, unless you have booked months prior to oktoberfest.
and so i will shut up, and let the photos speak for themselves.sorry, guys and gals, no incriminating photos and stories to be posted here! heee...
lemme just say = FUN TIMES
-a german band playing abba songs, and "i would walk 500 miles," and "with or without you," and "angel," and of course, "99 luftballons" ok you get my drift
-bruises
-false accusations (hahaha)
-mr t's friends
going home, we had bismarck (a kind of herring fish) sandwich.another german treat that i was craving so much when i was still pregnant.
ok, moving forward...
we managed to meet t the next day at the english garden by the chinese tower (a pagoda in an english garden in the middle of munich! how's that for globalization?)
on that day the weather was beautiful.
can i bring the colors of autumn home, please? i've never really experienced the full four seasons in my life.
in the philippines, we only have sunny and rainy seasons.that's why i love watching people when they start putting on layering their autumn clothes.such a lovely sight.that's why i'm so fascinated with this season.
and don't get me started with the hues of the falling leaves.
i can stare at scenes like this the entire day:
we walked around the park and had coffee and cakes at the lakehouse.
i like this huge garden so much.i had been here before, but only in winter and in summer, never in autumn.
the scenes were like those cut-to-cut scenes that you would see in films.even mr t was remarking how from one moment we would see a group of lads playing football, then a couple doing yoga, then toddlers stumbling about, then tourists gawking, then more and more scenes.we just missed that :-(
we flew back to the uae, glowing with oktoberfest giddiness and autumn deliciousness.
ok, snap out of it - back to reality where we have to work like a horse again.
thank you, bavaria, for coming up with a festival like oktoberfest!haha.and thank you, autumn.you are magical.
a nice autumn quote for you all:
"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all. ~Stanley Horowitz"
prost!
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