Oktoberfest 2008

Welcome to Oktoberfest! We have been saving a trip
to Germany for the world famous Oktoberfest - and it
did not disappoint! The enormous exhibition ground is named

after Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen, who celebrated
her marriage to the Bavarian crown prince Ludwig I here in 1810.
The fair was such a success that it became an annual event that has now
turned into a 16 day international beer bonanza attracting more
than 6 million people each year!




Here is Derek outside our very first beer "tent". Check
out all of the men in their lederhosen!

Now inside I have my liter of German beer and a pretzel.
I am getting in touch with my German roots!
As you can see we are halfway done with our first liter
and Derek is very excited. We are toasting with the traditional

German - Prost!
Here we are with part of our fun group. Andy (in the upper
left) was our amazing host and set us up with all of our reservations
in the beer tents and was our German translator!

This is later on that night after way too many liters!
We did mange to make some German friends - they are

the lovely young women in the traditional drindls.
I could not get over the fact that the beers were as big as my head!
Here is another picture of me and my German friend. She
told Derek that he looked English not German. Hee Hee. Derek was
not happy about that. He tried to convince her all night that he
was almost 100% German. And he still talks about it...

This is the Hippodrom - our second day in the tents. This time

we were all hurting a little from the day/night before so we took it easy.

The Hippodrom serves Spaten beer.

The next day we decided to take a break from beer
and do some site seeing. This is Neuschwanstein Castle. It is
a 19th century Bavarian palace on a rugged hill near Hohenschwangau
and Fussen in Bavaria, Germany. It was commissioned by Ludwig II

of Bavaria as a retreat and as homage to Richard Wagner, the king's

inspiring muse.

This is the amazing view from inside the castle. You can't
take photos inside, unfortunately. The other castle you

see in the lower right is Ludwig's summer castle.

This is the view as you walk into the courtyard of the castle.









Here is another amazing view of the lake and the surrounding
farmland and the Alps. Ludwig picked a pretty good view - right!







Derek braved a very scary looking suspension bridge to get this
great shot of the entire castle.







Now we are back in Munich. The city is so beautiful and
definitely one of our favorites so far! The two towers you see
in the background are from the Frauenkirke. Each is more than 300 ft
high. The towers are a symbol of Munich - some say because
they look like overflowing beer mugs!

An up close shot of one of the towers. The church was
built between 1468-1488. Most of the church was
destroyed in WWII except these towers.





Now we are in the Marienplatz which is bordered by this
building the Neues Rathaus, shops and cafes. This square is named
after the gilded statue of the Virgin Mary that has watched
over it for more than 3 centuries.








Okay, I know this video is sideways but I really love that it shows the
Marienplatz. So, tip your head and take a look. I won't
do this again - promise!







Here is a picture of our very traditional Bavarian dinner.
Sausage, sauerkraut and Weiss beer!

This was the start to our last and final day in Munich.

We arrived to the Oktoberfest grounds early and we were

able to see the kegs of beer being brought in on the horse
drawn wagon!







I am still not quite sure what these are but everyone was
wearing them around their neck. It is not edible but looks like a cookie.
I was told they are for decoration kind of like an ornament.





Finally, an action shot of one of our beer ladies! I don't
know how she is carrying all of those.
Our group was now getting smaller and smaller but here

we all are on our last day.

Derek made a new friend as well. She was our beer lady

and she carried all those heavy mugs like a pro! She was

so cute and nice!

Here is a video of the inside of our last tent.

I had to get a picture with these fine Irish chaps. There

can't be a beer festival without the Irish! You all know how much

fun we had with the Irish in Dublin! They were there to give the Germans

some competition!

So our final goodbye to Oktoberfest. We are with our
friends Sashi and Nicholas who flew in from New York
and who graciously let us join in their party.

We had such a blast with everyone and we couldn't have asked for a better time.

Thanks again to Andy for coordinating everything and hopefully

we will be back again!

Love to all,

Leah and Derek