Oktoberfest in Scotland....in March
Alright, alright it has been quite a while. In my defence, coursework caught me unprepared. I did underestimate the amount of hard labour that is required for a masters degree. But in between essay deadlines, and seminar facilitations, and group work, and catching up on sleep I finally came up for a breath and went to St Andrews very own Oktoberfest.
Now remember, I'm from Berlin which is technically in the same country as the original Oktoberfest's hometown Munich, but it may as well be on a different planet. Which is translation for: I've never been to any Oktoberfest, original or otherwise. In fact, I prided myself for being able to stay far away all these years. Apparently it took me being in Scotland, surrounded by a myriad of Bavarians, Austrians and their fellow Oktoberfest-enthusiasts to finally succumb to the peer pressure. I figured, what's the harm in trying. So, I had my parents send me my grandma's fourty-year-old 'Dirndl' and agreed to host a typical 'Weißwurst' breakfast in our house (which passed in a picture-less blur). And before I knew it, I was in the middle of the British version of a German national treasure. But let's start at the beginning.
As I said, we had breakfast at our house where we thankfully remembered to take pictures of all of us in our traditional clothing (neatly separated into girls and boys pictures).
We made a special exception for the birthday boy JP.
The Oktoberfest started at 2 p.m. and was taking place in a barn. There were the customary tables and banks and rumour had it the organisers had imported 5,000 litres of German beer. Which still seems like a very optimistic calculation to me, considering they counted on about 1,300 guests. Anyway, we got a table but didn't sit down for very long. So many people to greet, an Austrian band to dance to and a rollercoaster outside to ride made staying in one place for too long impossible.
So, about that rollercoaster...saying we had fun with it is putting it very mildly. But a picture speaks louder than a thousand words. It all started out witch great expectations and anticipation.
Followed by a short of episode of gone with the wind (for my hair at least).
Finally, we were ready to enter the ship...err...the...well...the ride.
And merrily we went 'round and 'round.
After all this excitement we were in dire need of some food. So we sought out the only truck on the premises. From there on I'm afraid everything turned into a beer-filled daze. It was great fun and maybe, just maybe, I might at some point be convinced to try the real thing...maybe.
Now remember, I'm from Berlin which is technically in the same country as the original Oktoberfest's hometown Munich, but it may as well be on a different planet. Which is translation for: I've never been to any Oktoberfest, original or otherwise. In fact, I prided myself for being able to stay far away all these years. Apparently it took me being in Scotland, surrounded by a myriad of Bavarians, Austrians and their fellow Oktoberfest-enthusiasts to finally succumb to the peer pressure. I figured, what's the harm in trying. So, I had my parents send me my grandma's fourty-year-old 'Dirndl' and agreed to host a typical 'Weißwurst' breakfast in our house (which passed in a picture-less blur). And before I knew it, I was in the middle of the British version of a German national treasure. But let's start at the beginning.
As I said, we had breakfast at our house where we thankfully remembered to take pictures of all of us in our traditional clothing (neatly separated into girls and boys pictures).
We made a special exception for the birthday boy JP.
So, about that rollercoaster...saying we had fun with it is putting it very mildly. But a picture speaks louder than a thousand words. It all started out witch great expectations and anticipation.
Followed by a short of episode of gone with the wind (for my hair at least).
Finally, we were ready to enter the ship...err...the...well...the ride.
And merrily we went 'round and 'round.
The final verdict was unanimous: absolutely amazing!
After all this excitement we were in dire need of some food. So we sought out the only truck on the premises. From there on I'm afraid everything turned into a beer-filled daze. It was great fun and maybe, just maybe, I might at some point be convinced to try the real thing...maybe.
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