Oktoberfest in Stuttgart

We look forward to the end of September probably about as much as we look forward to Christmas because in Germany, the end of September means Oktoberfest! This year, we went to two Oktoberfests. On 26 September, we met up with friends in Stuttgart for the Cannstatter Volksfest, which is the second largest beer festival in the world after Oktoberfest in Munich. The Volksfest is a lot like Munich's Oktoberfest with rides and food, however, it's not nearly as crazy or jam-packed with people. It seems much more family oriented. We arrived on opening day, although we didn't get to see them tap the keg. But it was was bright sunny jacket weather - perfect! We walked around the grounds for a bit, stopped in all the tents to get pictures, and sampled some traditional fest food before meeting up with the rest of the group in the tent where we spent the evening.

Once inside, everyone ordered their Maß (liters) of beer, half-chickens, and started singing along with the band that was playing. It's always fun to see Germans get excited and sing German folk songs and always fun to join in when they play American songs like John Denver's Country Roads and Bruce Channel's Hey! Baby (this song has been covered A LOT).

Not too far into the night, I remarked (facetiously) how I would love to have one of the giant balloons that a vendor was walking around selling. Kurt decided to take my comment literally, and bought me a HUGE teddybear holding a heart balloon that said "I love you this much!" on it!! For the rest of the night, I had it tied to my wrist. (It was an adventure going to rest room with it!) He also full-filled my longstanding wish to have a nightcap. While purchasing a cowboy hat for himself, he found a nightcap for me. He was very proud of himself! And I am very excited to have a nightcap...I get really cold when I'm trying to fall asleep!

After the tent, we made our way to a "Little Bavaria" portion of the fest. All the stands within the area were made of wood and served authentic food. There was also a clothing vendor and Kurt was able to get a traditional German shirt.

We had a great day with friends, enjoyed meeting friends of friends, and were very happy with all our presents!

Click on the album below to see pictures from the day.

Cannstatter Volksfest

Catching up

We hope everyone had a great summer. We had a lot going on, and true to our nature, fell behind in blogging. Below are posts highlighting our summer; make sure to check the pictures too - we've added a lot recently. (Pictures for Vienna and Switzerland will be posted this week!)

It's hard to believe that we hit our half-way point on 15 August. Time has flown by and while we're still enjoying ourselves here, we're also looking forward to coming home. To keep ourselves occupied (though maybe not out of trouble ;) ), we're looking forward to several trips this fall including Oktoberfest, an Eastern Mediterranean cruise, Madrid, and the Alsace region of France.

Second Wedding Anniversary

We celebrated our second wedding anniversary in Mürren, Switzerland. Mürren is a beautiful, peaceful village in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland. Between the clean, crisp air; the stillness; and the peacefulness of being in a vehicle-less village over a mile above sea level we had a great weekend of relaxing and rejuvenating.

We parked in Lauterbrunnen and then took a cable car and then a train up to our hotel. Our room had a mountain view of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains.

From Switzerland - Day 1

Saturday, we took the train to the sphinx at the base of the Jungfrau mountain. The sphinx is the highest railway station in Europe at 3571 meters (2.2 miles). It was a relatively clear day and the views were fantastic. We looked out over the valley on one side of the mountain and on the opposite side we looked out over the Great Aletsch Glacier, which is the largest glacier in the Alps. Besides being an amazing sight, we agreed it was good that we saw the glacier now...since it probably won't be around in a few more years. After coming down from the mountain, we took a scenic way home on the train, to get the most out of our train pass as well as enjoy some more beautiful scenery.

From Switzerland - Day 2

We made our way to Schynige Platte early Sunday morning for an amazing 5.5 hour hike to Grindelwald First. The difference in elevation over the course of the hike was about 700 meters (0.43 miles) and the distance was about 10 miles. The views were spectacular and for the most part, the only sounds we heard were the wind, sheep bleating, cows lowing, and sheep and cow bells ringing. Although we saw snow several times, we didn't get close enough to have a snowball fight! We climbed through several rock fields and walked above grassy areas with dainty wildflowers. We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant with no road access...maybe a helicopter drops off supplies? It was ridiculously expensive, but we were starving and so it was by far the best brat,coke, and nut roll we've ever had! Our second stop was at the peak of the Faulhorn (2680 meters or 1.66 miles above sea level). The steep climb was killer, but the panoramic view was worth it! After we got to First, we took at least a 10 minute cable car ride down to Grindelwald. There, we relaxed with a beer and an early dinner before catching a train back to our hotel.

From Swtizerland - Day 3

Before getting on the road on Monday, we drove to the end of the valley and hiked in Stechelberg for about an hour for more photo opportunities. We spotted a great hike that we would like to do next time we're in the area...it looks like it involves a rope bridge several hundred meters above the valley! We also found a waterfall and had some wonderfully refreshing water as a last treat to the weekend. We decided to take a scenic route home and stopped in Luzern for lunch. We were there for less than an hour, but thought that the city was very charming with its covered wooden bridges and swans swimming in the river. We look forward to going back to explore it more at some point!

From Switzerland - Day 4

It's hard to believe that it's been two years since we were celebrating our wedding with so many family and friends. As you can tell, we're definitely enjoying our extended honeymoon in Europe. We hope you're all doing well, and look forward to catching up with you via email and phone calls!