30.8.09

Rosenheimer Herbstfest


It's that time of year again. In the US, the baseball playoffs signal the end of summer and I always get a bittersweet feeling as the evening cools off at gametime and there is a nip in the air.


In Bavaria, the signal is the local beerfest. Many of Munich's surrounding towns host their own version of Oktoberfest to celebrate their own local brews starting in August and concluding around the time of the big daddy beer fest, the Munich Oktoberfest.



As much as I am a fan of the Munich Oktoberfest, these smaller fests are something special. There are very limited numbers of tourists there, the crowds are friendlier, no pushing and shoving to get a table and other than that you get all the good parts of the big Oktoberfest - beer, pork, dumplings, potatoes, dirndls, lederhosen, oompah music, teenagers in love, spine-tingling fair rides and plenty of gemütlichkeit.



I rounded up twelve expats yesterday to share one of my favorite local fests with them, the Rosenheimer Herbstfest (Fall Fest). The city of Rosenheim has always been one of my favorite surrounding towns and would be the kind of place if I were ever to get married and have kids (hahah) I could imagine raising them.



A Bavarian guy at our table adopted us and did his best to teach us the proper Bavarian way to hold the Maß and to clink the glasses. Apparently you are supposed to make three clinks - once on the main part of the glass, once with one handle hitting one glass and finally the two handles hitting each other. His whole group of friends was amused watching us all try to figure it out without smashing our fingers. Finally success! And we were indoctrinated. It's not a proper bierfest without making friends with all the neighbors around your table and at least one person finding their true love (if even only for a day).



Yesterday was opening day so as an added bonus we saw the parade of the brewers and the tapping of the first keg. O'zapft ist! The weather started rather damp but the skies cleared into a fine autumn-like evening and we managed to hit a few of the rides after leaving the carnage of the tent and heading for home. Excellent day and for those in the area, I can only recommend this one for a fun experience.



Posted from Munich

2 comments:

expatraveler said...

Michelle - This sounds incredible. I was just talking about October fest beginning soon. I so wish I would be around for the next month!

Anonymous said...

"It's that time of year again. In the US, the baseball playoffs signal the end of summer and I always get a bittersweet feeling as the evening cools off at gametime and there is a nip in the air. "

This should clearly read:
It's that time of year again. In the US, the baseball playoffs signal that the Red Sox are about to blow it and I always get a bittersweet feeling as the evening cools off at gametime and there is a nip in the air.