Oktoberfest

Dear Grace,

We had two completely different experiences while visiting Munich: Oktoberfest and then exploring the rest of the city. We decided to visit during Oktoberfest. Why not? Within 5 minutes of entering the grounds, our group was over it. I dragged everyone around for a quick hot lap in order to capture these moments on our camera. I told everyone you would thank me later. Looking back, I think it was worth it. Enjoy! 

Love, Mummy and Daddy 

When we saw this statue/fountain thingie, we thought people had littered. :( Silly us- the beers are being kept cold by the man selling them to the people walking by. Kelly Gravely- is this the next best thing to a bucket of beer on ice? We were on the outskirts of Oktoberfest at this point, which actually takes place in September. Riddle me that... 

Rookie mistake inside Oktoberfest- we thought these pretzels looked delicious. Silly Americans-do you not notice the signs below? The pretzels are purely decorative. We only sell 'something, something, wursts.' 

locals or wannabes?

We had to at least poke our heads inside the beer tents. This was the closest we were able to get to the inside tent festivities. If we were able to buy tickets to participate, which we weren't because they were sold out, it would have cost us 80 euro PP!!!!! Yikes- that's way more than what I've ever witnessed anyone paying Hangge Uppe's bouncers off (x5). 

It wasn't an easy task to get the three of you to pose for a picture in front of the Hofbrau tent and horse. So many distractions! 

"Mommy, this is the best people watching EVER!" -G.E.N. (Grace Elizabeth Nierengarten)

Horses and tents everywhere...

Christmas card? Stay Classy San Diego. (Libbie- I came up with that joke on my own.)

This picture sums up a good portion of our experience of Oktoberfest. Keep in mind we were traveling with family, which included a 9-month old. I'm sure our experience would have been a bit different if we were there with our crazy friends. Oktoberfest was a HUGE carnival. Picture your local church parking lot carnival, add boobs to anything you can (i.e. rubber duckies [which our hotel gave us], stuffed animals, t-shirts, etc.), German food stands, heart shaped cookies with cute sayings in German, and more beer tents than usual. Welcome to Oktoberfest! 

We later found out how expensive these "costumes" cost. The least expensive one we came across was over 100 euros! 

Since we weren't able to get inside any of the tents, we figured we would go to the next best thing for dinner and beers. The Hofbrauhaus!  Grace, you were a hit. I'm not sure if it was your friendliness to all, or your little German girl dress you were wearing. Your Grammie Mo hates beer, but the Hofbrauhaus has something for everyone. She loved her beer and lemonade combo. They had Weinerschnitzel, a German Oompah Band, pretzels, beer and adorable old German men dressed for the part. The PERFECT place to dine for the evening. 

Prost- to family! 

(Prost= Cheers...not to be confused with Probst = Alyse)