Clarktoberfest 2007

Ah, yes. Our annual Clarktoberfest celebration has come and gone. We are now both one year older, and one year wiser....Er, I guess that last point is debatable. At least we know more about Germany than we did one year ago--that's something!

As many of you know, we spent our birthdays this year with Andy's family on a grand German adventure known around the world as Oktoberfest. What a rush. That place is crowded! And crazy! You've all got to promise to come next year.

We started our adventure in the humbler city of Stuttgart. We mostly took it easy, taking strolls downtown, shopping, visiting the Ludwigsburg palace, going to the top of the Fernsehturm, and visiting Schwabisch restuarants for the family's mandatory introduction to Maultauschen.

The Schlossplatz in downtown Stuttgart

Andy and Melissa in front of a Schlossplatz fountainStuttgart's opera houseDuck that was fascinated with Colin's camera
Night out for Schwabisch cuisine

After a few days in Stuttgart, we hopped in a rental car, drove to Munich, found our rented apartment, dropped of our bags, and raced to our reservation in the Hippodrom tent at Oktoberfest. Phew. Once there, we had €144 in vouchers that we needed to spend (you are required to buy these to get the table reservation), so we promptly ordered a round of beers.

Round of beers at the Hippodrom

Inside the Hippodrom Tent... Big, huh?

2 1/2 hours and €100 in vouchers later, our reservation was up. Vicky and Colin wandered the fest, Andy went home (he was sick with the stomach flu our first day or so in Munich...), and Melissa and I went to the Spatenbräu tent to have some beers, sing songs, and dance.

The next morning, we came right back to the Hippodrom to use up our remaining vouchers on some traditional Oktoberfest roasted chickens and some Weisswurst, all washed down with...you guessed it, beer. We then walked around and soaked in the fest a bit.

Horses outside the Hofbräuhaus tent

Inside the Hacker-Pschorr tent

Looking out on the crowd

We went back the next night to hang out some more. We hung out in Lowenbrau's beer garden for a while before trying to get into the tent. Unfortunately, Friday night entrance without a reservation proved a bit difficult. Andy and I ended up wandering around, playing carnival games, and people watching.

Showing off the bear and rose that Andy won for me. :)

Popular Lebkuchen hearts native to every German festival
You buy them for your sweetheart, and they wear it around their neck.
Mine said: "Suße Maus"

Although we were there for some portion of every day of the trip, we didn't spend all of our time at Oktoberfest. We also went to the Deutsches Museum (largest technological museum in the world), saw the Glockenspiel clock in front of Munich's Rathaus, visited a typical German cafe for breakfast, and spent an evening at the oh-so-festive Hofbräuhaus. That place is like Oktoberfest every single day of the year: meat & potatoes, pretzels, Maß of Bier, and traditional music.

A Munich favorite: Pork Knuckle with Potato Dumplings

We also took a side trip on our last day there to Neuschwanstein, the castle of Crazy King Ludwig. It's the one that the Disney castle is based on. Very over the top and, I thought, wonderful. We actually visited two castles: Hohenschwangau, where Ludwig grew up, and Neuschwanstein, the castle Ludwig built for himself just up the hill from his childhood home. The story goes that one day, before the castle was finished, King Ludwig went to see a doctor for a check-up and was declared "unfit to rule" due to insanity (if you saw this crazy castle, you might understand why). The next day, he and the doctor were both found dead in the lake. Supposedly no one knows exactly how they died. The castle was never completed after that, but several of the rooms were finished and they are all magnificent. Gilded, and mosaic'ed, with intricate carvings and elaborate paintings. Ludwig definitely had a vivid imagination.

If you'd indulge me, I'll tell you one of my favorite parts... In Hohenschwangau, there was a bedroom that was Ludwig's father's. This father had the ceiling painted with a bright blue sky with clouds. Ludwig, upon becoming king and taking the bedroom for himself, had the sky repainted to be a night sky. He then had holes drilled from select stars all the way up to the floor above, where those holes were connected with oil lamps, so that he would see twinkles of light across the ceiling as if he was sleeping outdoors every night. I thought that was neat.

Ludwig's childhood home: Hohenschwangau

Ludwig's creative masterpiece: Neuschwanstein

So, that was our trip, in a nutshell. A very good Clarktoberfest indeed. I'll leave you with my favorite pic from the trip...something you'd only see in Germany!

Girl in a Dirndl aiming a pellet gun