Oktoberfest

Probably one of the most well-known (and most stereotyped) German activities is the infamous Oktoberfest. Since we are closer to northern Germany and Oktoberfest is primary celebrated in the south (No, not all Germans wear lederhosen all the time), I didn’t think we’d have a chance to experience it this year. However, one of Will’s colleagues organized an excursion to the Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart for some visiting Americans and invited us to go along. It was definitely a new experience and very interesting!

The first Oktoberfest was celebrated in 1810 in Munich for the wedding of King Ludwig (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfest). It has since become a favorite fall tradition in southern Germany with many towns hosting smaller events than the original in Munich.

The train ride to Stuttgart took about three hours and went down the castle-dotted Rhine. Once in Stuttgart, we navigated to a huge carnival in the middle of town. Our ticket got us admission to the Stuttgarter Hofbräuzelt for their lunch/afternoon seating. There was a band, music, dancing, singing, and, of course, a lot of beer. What impressed me the most was the huge amount of attendees. Again per Wikipedia, the capacity of this restaurant is 5,000! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannstatter_Volksfest).  The dining area was enormous and it was packed to the brim with people. We sat shoulder-to-shoulder on picnic table benches and bumped into our neighbors every time we moved. Nearly everyone was wearing the traditional lederhosen and dirndls as well. More information on the Hofbräuzelt can be found here: http://grandls-hofbraeuzelt.de/de/

All in all, it was a very fun day and hopefully we’ll be able to go back in future years. Maybe one day we’ll make it to Munich for the real Oktoberfest!

Stuttgarter Hofbräuzelt

Roast Chicken

Prost!