Tag lederhosen

German Oktoberfest is here! Time to go to Munich.

brilliantviewpoint 8 Comments

Oktober fest collageI almost forgot it was Oktoberfest! I was at Cost Plus / World Market the other day and they had a German section of food for Oktoberfest celebrations. The usual variety of sausages, mustards, beers, spaetzle, pretzels, chocolates and more.

Lederhosen group of men

Have you ever been to Munich for Oktoberfest? It’s really beautiful to see the men in their lederhosen and the women in their dirndles. I think this is the only place in the world where you will see grown men wearing leather shorts with bright colored shirts and as you see in the photo, you have to have the right shoes and socks too!

schnitzel

They really celebrate with fabulous music, singing and good food. Who can resist some schnitzel?! It’s a special tradition they have. My in/laws are German, so we always celebrated with their German friends, it was fun! They would sing all the German songs together, locking arms together swinging back and forth. Singing from their hearts.

My favorite is the Chicken Dance, here is a Youtube video (Wurstfest – How to Chicken Dance) that explains the steps for the chicken dance. In Germany, (EVERYONE) old and young get up to dance this dance. Enjoy this German tradition!

Back in Bavaria

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imageI love Munich. Many years ago, when my ex-husband was working for Siemens, he was given the opportunity to go on a one month assignment to Munich. We jumped at the chance. At that time our older daughter was 2 years old and I was working as a contractor, so we were mobile. What a great experience.

I don’t speak German, but that didn’t matter. Most people speak “some” English, so asking questions and getting around was not an issue. I remember going to Oktoberfest and being really surprised AND not in a good way. I thought Oktoberfest was like the inside of the Hofbräuhaus, instead it was a big outside Fair and the drinking imagewas done in tents and the weather was cold!

That’s Ok, it just wasn’t what I had visualized. There was a ferris wheel, different outdoor games, etc. I felt like I was at an American Fair. However, riding the train to Oktoberfest was fun, because people were dressed in their lederhosen and dirndles with the green hats and feathers. I took a photo today of this street singer dressed in tradtional Bavarian outfit.

It happens that my hotel has a view of the Hofbräuhaus. As I heard the singing, I remembered being in Munich for the World Cup in 2006.  All of the soccer players were coming in town from different countries, they had their jersey’s on and they were excited, the fans were too, so there was a lot of drinking and singing going on.

For those of you who don’t know much about the Bavarian dress, I took a picture of imagethis retail shop’s window, so you could see how the ladies would dress and what the men wear. I highly recommend a trip to Munich. It is so much fun and who knows, like me, ladies you might just go home with a dirndle. I’ve worn my dirndle to holiday cocktail parties many times. The guys would say I looked like a cute “Swedish girl.” So ladies, if you are single, dirndles are a good way to make conversation.

And men, “in Munich,” ALL guys wear ledershosen with bright colored shirts. You can do it too! Make sure you wear the red knee high socks with tassels. Am I scaring you yet?  You gotta dress the part AND don’t go on the ferris wheel if you’ve been drinking!