Ein Prosit!

So this weekend we went to the Stuttgarter Volksfest, the second largest beer festival to Munich's Oktoberfest.

It was an experience, to say the least.

Basically imagine every state fair you've ever gone to with all the loud carnival rides but add in beer and people in lederhosen and dirndls.  That is the Volksfest.

Now when Americans think of Germany they usually think of lederhosen or dirndls (although they often don't know what dirndls are), and 99.9% of the time Germans never wear them. Ever. Come on, Dutch people today don't wander around with little wooden shoes  and Japanese women don't wear geisha robes any more.  Clothing stereotypes are basically untrue - except if you're at the Volksfest.

Nearly half the people there were wearing lederhosen or dirndls.

Yep. Just like that.

(And let me just say, I totally want a dirndl.  Except for the fact that a cheap one is 100+ Euro and the blouse is like another 20+.  But I will procure one by the end of this year.  In blue.  Or pink.  Maybe purple.  It's an investment for German Club's Oktoberfest, okay?)

Anyway, so we get there and wander around bit.  We took the ferris wheel (ugh,  I hate them) and then walked around the Wasen.

Inside our beer tent (by tent I mean, giant house)

Never too early to have a beer!

Jake and his aptly named sign!

The Wasen

Who knew they had roller coasters at beer fests?

Gingerbread hearts with cute messages

Emily loves y'all.

More of the Wasen

Nice juxtaposition 

One of the two ferris wheels

Who's afraid of heights?!

Totally child-safe ferris wheel cabins.
And by totally safe, I mean totally unsafe.

Because one ferris wheel would have been ridiculous 

Emily feels a little more happy now that we've gone around 3 times.

Oh hey there Rachel!

And Hollywood makes an appearance too...

After riding the ferris wheel, nibbling on some cotton candy and crepes, and wandering around the Wasen, we finally went inside our beer tent around 3 or 4pm.

It was insanity. The place had filled up since the morning.  The top floor was completely filled and the band was playing loud German drinking songs.  We got our tickets for two Maße of beer.  Now a Maß is that huge beer stein that you stereotypically think that beer comes in.  And guess what, that's a LITRE of beer in each one.  And we had tickets for two free Maße of beer - that's about a half of gallon of beer for those of you non-metrically inclined.  We also got a ticket for dinner too, which you might need to sop up about a fourth of the beer you were planning on consuming. 

Now, your humble blogger here actually despises beer.  It's gross.  If I could never drink another beer again, it would still be too soon.  So instead, I ordered a Maß of Radler, which is beer mixed with lemonade.  I know, it sounds nasty, but it is actually quite delicious and for those of you who also dislike beer, it cuts that hoppy taste in beer.  I also ordered Käsespätzle, one of my favorite dishes from the German kitchen. Käsespätzle are thick egg noodles covered to death in cheese and usually served with caramelized onions and some parsley.  Delicious, but it's super filling, which is exactly what you're looking for when you plan on sitting through 4-5 hours of beer fest.

At any beer fest worth its salt, you sit on long tables with wide benches that often butt up against the next table's benches.  And then you drink, eat, socialize (by yelling mostly), and sing along to time honored German drinking songs and American pop music.  And by the end of it you end up standing on the benches (or the table, for those truly daring), singing along like a real German.  Or at least, a really drunk German.

Reutlingeners and the Tübinger Fünf

Emily with her Radler and Rachel with her Beer

Yours truly with some wonderfully lederhosened butts behind me

Emily, Rachel, and Jake
Hmm...I wonder who drinks the most here...

Your humble blogger with her Radler.

Me and Zach
Poor Zach is gluten intolerant
and had to fight with the waitress for some
Apfelschorle.  As he put it: "Volksfest was hell"

Jake serenades Emily after a Maß

It was precious.

Jake and Rachel looking quite happy.
Also, notice that the table behind them is standing now.

Me and Zach again!

Mambo No. 5 was the song that got that side of the table
to stand up on the benches

Everyone got into the spirit, even Dr. Malchow!

The music was a loud combination of German drinking songs and American pop. For some cool videos, check out Emily's blog! They played the ever lovely "Schatzi schenk mir ein Foto" ("My dear, send me photo") and every five minutes the band broke out the time-honored "Ein Prosit" drinking song.  And as if I needed another reason to hate "Sweet Caroline" (one of my most hated songs after the horrible "Brown Eyed Girl"), the table behind me managed to drop a whole Maß, most of it landing on my back. Lovely.  Eventually, we packed up and got back to Tübingen.

The ferris wheel at night!

Although I can't say if I enjoyed the Volksfest or not, it was an experience!