Oktoberfest!

We were advised that we should get to Oktoberfest early- so we were wandering the fairgrounds-like fest by 9:30 a.m. We checked out various tents, and Joe humored me by doubling back for a seat in the prettiest beer "tent." We maybe should've been on the hunt for a seat earlier, b/c it was a bit hard to find a spot, even for just the two of us, at 10:15 a.m.! Luckily a table of very nice Germans adopted us- see Joe and our new friends (and very large beers). I have tent in quotes above as these structures were more like beer barns, complete with wood fronts, walls, floors and huge chandeliers. Our new friends told us these mammouth things get taken down after each fest, and then put back up the next year. You can also see that the yellow ribbon banners on the ceiling were very attractive:) Joe's blog is getting girly because he is now semi-conscious on the bed after imbibing too many liters (literally) of beer.

One thing we hadn't realized is how many locals dress up in the traditional Bavarian folk outfits, it was pretty cool. I also didn't realize that leiderhosen are usually suede- I'm going to kick butt on that trivia question some day (and now dear reader so can you!). The guys also sometimes wear these things like legwarmers- short sweaters for the calves. And it was really all ages that were wearing the outfits. The big structure behind all these people above was our beer "tent." We were in the Pschorr-BrauRosl tent- very tasty and smooth beer.

While the beer was flowing at 10, the music didn't get going until noon. When the real German band cranked up, so did the singing and dancing on the table benches (I'm trying to hold onto my new friends so I don't fall off the table). The german band brought back some high school memories... Joe got more of the lyrics than I did- but I did manage to yell out "Oy Oy Oy" at the right times. There was also a puzzling rendition of Glory - for a second I thought I was at a UGA football game. I really wish I knew what the lyrics to that one translated into.