We arrived at this house in Poing, Germany- Bavaria. 40 minutes east of Munich. This is the house of our friend’s wife – Yvonne, pictured in her dirndl at a party her parents threw so the extended family could meet Mike & His American Friends (us!).
We were going to stay with her family for most of our 2 week stay. We had arrived at 10pm the night before after a full day of travel- 4 friends and Keith & I, to celebrate Keith’s 40th birthday at Oktoberfest. Our friend, Mike had met a pretty german girl a few years back while at Oktoberfest… and after a long distance love affair, he married her! So, with Yvonne at our side, the 6 of us spent 2 weeks in Munich.
Here is Keith, celebrating his 40th birthday with a mas in hand (these suckers are heavy!).
The hat was a birthday gag gift and we ended up writing, in english and german, that he was a birthday boy. He got lots of hugs from the pretty girls in their dirndls that day! I think the hat lasted an hour before it just got too hot!
This is what ONE of the 10+ bier tents looks like inside….
This is me with my good bud, Terry. I think this was after 5 mas’ of bier… he gets goofy when he’s a little tipsy. I was sober. I don’t like beer!!! However, there is a drink called a Radler which is half a mas of beer, and sparkling lemonade added- which was delish. The funny thing is, we spent from 11am til 8pm inside this crowded tent, drank the entire time and while the americans were drunk and silly, a few of our german friends (you see 2 of them behind Terry’s shoulder) were HAMMERED. Seems it should be the other way…. this is their thing, they should be pros by now!
The one thing about Oktoberfest that amazed me: There are thousands of people in one tent- all drinking – all standing on the bench seats jumping up and down, singing songs as each tent has a live band in the center. Everyone knows all the words to all the songs, german and english. They are HAPPY. I only saw one fight and it was broken up faster than it started. There are at least 10 other tents exactly the same. There are even more tables outside for those souls not early enough to get in a tent. It just amazed me that this large amount of people could be so content to just be there.
Another thing that amazed me? The women’s restroom. An engineering feat of remarkable efficiency. You can only go one way through the restroom, like a one way road. You go in one door to a hallway of stalls (unlike american stalls, the women’s restroom stalls actually fit together so no peek-a-boo gaps!). You take the first open stall, do your biz then continue down the hallway to the sink area. The mirrors are after the sink area and then the exit door! There is no waiting and the back up is at the mirrors, that you can choose to fight through or walk on past. Truly amazing.
This is one of the birthday cards Keith received from our hosts. Both Yvonne and her sister in law are STAMPERS! She embossed a gold music stamp on vellum and that’s behind the main image. There is also a harlequin clown stamped on Shrink-plastic on the top. Beautiful!!
Thanks for your patience while i get all sentimental about where i was a year ago. This was the best vacation we had ever been on, and it was because of the extreme kindness of Yvonne’s family – including us in their home and making sure we got the full Bavarian hospitality. Sadly, Yvonne and Mike broke up this year and she’s back home. I hope we will still be stampin’ friends and that next year, when we go back for my 40th, we will see each other again!
Sounds like a magnificent journey, especially in the potty (hehe)!