Day 1 - Munich

I flew from Seattle to Munich with a layover in Amsterdam on KLM/Delta. It's a nine hour flight and, thankfully, I had an aisle seat. Flight was smooth and had many choices of movies to watch. So different from my last flight over to Europe five years ago. I was amazed at how often they offered meals and snacks. Seriously, every two to three hours they were offering us something to eat and drink. 

I sat next to a woman from Berkeley who was going to Edinburgh for a basket weaving convention. She creates contemporary baskets that have no purpose. She asked where I was going and I told her Oktoberfest. She attended in 1972 and taught me a beer singing song. She swung her glass of water in the air back and forth and sang, Bier her, Bier her, oder ich fall um, juchhe! Which translated is, Beer here, Beer here, or I will fall down, woohoo! (And, I keep wondering how much fun will this be??) 

Arriving in Amsterdam was easy, however, I only had an hour layover and my connection was at the other end of the airport. I started to sweat. If you have ever flown into Dallas, it seems the connecting flight is always at the far end of the airport and you are haulin' ass to make the connection. Well, that is how I felt and then had a panic attack when I realized I had to go through customs, too! The line for passport control was long and backed up because the line for security where you had to scan your luggage and remove shoes, etc was longer! I lied when asked if my carry-on had toiletries. Dear Lord, I packed them at the bottom and was fearful if I disrupted my packing job, I would never get the suitcase closed again. Probably the blonde American wasn't setting off any ISIS warnings as they ignored any liquids if they saw them. It all worked out because my connecting flight was a little late taking off. Whew! 

I arrived in Munich on Thursday morning. Maybe slept for 30 minutes on the plane and hit the ground running. Torsten's girlfriend Samantha took me dirndle shopping. You know how the Germans shop? You check out every place and compare prices and quality. I learned shopping for a dirndl is serious business. I learned all about the traditional brands, styles and fabrics. I even learned about the push up bra.. not that I need any help in that area. We spent six hours shopping. I don't think I have ever spent so much time shopping for one outfit! But, as they say, when in Rome... I did find an adorable dirndle. I will post a photo of me in it tomorrow. I hope it doesn't give you two black eyes because my boobs are popping out!

We walked all over the place in the cool weather which kept me awake. Lots of men and women walking the streets in their 'tracht' which is the German word for traditional national costume, and in this case, in Bavaria, it's all the Oktoberfest outfits. The women in their dirndls and men in their Lederhosen and hats strolling the sidewalks. It's a very festive feel in the air. Lots of ambulances flying by with their European sirens wailing. Samantha tells me this is not normal but because so many folks have been drinking at the festival they need help. (And, I keep wondering how much fun will this be??)

This is Torsten prepping dinner in the kitchen. Yes! That is a huge wedge of Parmesan! With that much parm available, I don't need to tell you dinner was delicious! Maya (13 yo) and Alexander (10 yo) joined us for dinner and we had a great time. His kids speak English well and we had great conversations. I finally went to bed at 11 PM Munich time. I did take Z-Quil to help me sleep through the night even with as little sleep in the past 24 hours, the body is wired for rhythm and routine. I woke up briefly at 4:30 AM and went back to sleep 'til 8 am. I am so relieved to have such a great night of sleep under my belt for a long day at the festival.

Today is Friday and I'm having a lazy morning. Torsten is at work so I'll wander around the local market to find something to eat and pull some cash for Oktoberfest. Samantha will pick me up around 3 this afternoon. It's officially an Oktoberfest weekend so it's supposed to be extra busy and crazy chaos with lots of drunk folks. (And, I keep wondering how much fun will this be??)  Evidently, it's hard to get into the tents after 4 PM which is why we need to go early. I'll write more tomorrow and let you know how much fun I had.