Oktoberfest & Wasserburg

Oktoberfest


The first Oktoberfest was held in 1810 in honor of the Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig's marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen, so this year was the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest and 6.4million visitors attended Oktoberfest - it was crazy busy and very, very warm!!

7 million mugs of beer were consumed over the 17 day long festival. We braved the record breaking crowds and caught the train in and out of Oktoberfest along with everybody else in Munich. We were advised to write a cell phone number on the kids' arms in case we lost each other but we only had Nick's USA cell phone and we were doubtful if the German polizei would call an international number to reunite us but we did it anyway ;-) We felt very out of place in our jeans & t-shirts as most of the German crowd, from babies to grandparents, were wearing the traditional clothing of Lederhosen for men and Dirndl dresses for women.

The beer tents were enormous and because we had the kids we headed straight to the family area with fun rides rather than beer tents; plenty of fun for the kids and fabulous German fair type food ... lots of pretzels, sausages, schnitzel, roasted nuts and the fabulous gingerbread hearts with messages written in icing that you hang around your neck and snack on as you walk around.

We did a few rides, ate our fill then headed home. Our German neighbours suggested that next year we visit Oktoberfest mid-week to avoid all the crowds which is when all the Germans go so they can avoid the tourists. So next year we will join the Germans and go during the week!

Wasserburg

This weekend we spent in Wasserburg which is about an hour west of Munich. Our relocation consultant has an 8 year old girl and they invited us to spend the weekend with them. Wasserburg was first mentioned in documents in 1137 when Hallgraf Engelbert moved his residence from the nearby castle Limburg to his "Wasserburg" (Water Castle).  It is one of the most historic towns of Old Bavaria – somewhat older than Munich, continually fought over by the Bavarian nobility and, up to the 16th century, on an equal footing with larger cities.

Saturday we enjoyed a delicious Bavarian meal then drove to a small nearby village called Oberreith which is in a beautiful forrest and meadow. There are many unique and fun outdoor structures for the kids to play on, ponies to ride and there is forrest ropes course where we were harnessed up and taught how to use the climbing equipment so then we could balance, swing, climb our way around the forrest on the ropes provided. Henry totally lost it mid-way a tight-rope type of climb and was crying and very upset, but he got it together and braved the remainder of the course. Polly loved every moment and can't wait to go back so she can try some harder climbs. Nick was a pro and I definitely was not - I fell more than the kids but would definitely go back - as they say here - it was "super"! A delicous Italian meal rounded off a wonderful day.

On Sunday we walked down to the river and Nick taught the kids how to skip rocks and to our enormous surprise they both managed to skip rocks for the first time ever!  A great way to start the day! We met Kirsten & Anastasia again and we walked around the historic town of Wasserburg before visiting the farm where Kirsten lives; we had lunch & enjoyed some time on the farm before heading home. A wonderful weekend!!