München, den 20. September 2012
Liebe Oma!
Lieber Opa!
Ihr know I won a contest for an all-expense paid trip to München’s Oktoberfest. Und hier ich
bin! Ich bin hier mit meine Freundin Leila, und wir flew over mit dem Flugzeug on Lufthansa
and just arrived in München, the Hauptstadt of the state Bayern (Yes! It is where aspirin was
invented that’s why the name of Bavaria auf Deutsch looks like the brand name for aspirin).
Bayern is also the largest Bundesland in Deutschland and a bit like Texas in other ways too. For
instance, much cattle is raised here and the state even wanted to secede from the country
like Texas. One final comparison is that the traditional dress, at least in southern Bavaria, seems
to have become the “national costume”- the Lederhosen and Dirndl, just like the cowboy
boots, belt and hat in Texas. Except that outside of southern Bayern, almost no one would
ever wear the Lederhosen and Dirndl- just like most of us never don any cowboy boots or a 10
gallon hat!
Ich bin here to see the sights and enjoy the delicious food. It is regrettable that Oktoberfest
hasn’t begun yet, as that would have been an experience unto itself. Usually the Oktoberfest
only lasts about 16 Tage (this Jahr es ist 17 Tage) and begins im September already, as the
Wetter in Oktober starts to be kalt and regnerisch. The first Sonntag in Oktober is the last Tag of
Oktoberfest and believe it or not, the last day will coincide this year with the German “4th of
July” called Tag der deutschen Einheit (Tag of German Unity) am 3. Oktober . Deutschland in
its present political configuration is only 22 Jahre alt.
Anyway, ich bin off to see some of the fabelhaft sites in München. Meine Deutschlehrerin, Frau
G, told us about Mike’s Bike Tours, so meine Freundin und ich have signed up to take that ride
heute so I will let you know all about it when we get back. Jetzt (now) we are off to have our
breakfast downstairs in dem Hotel. Breakfast is always included in the price of the stay and
deutsche Hotels generally have a wunderbar varied breakfast buffet. Bis bald!
Well, the bike tour durch München was fabelhaft! It is a 4 hour ride on a Rad (that’s a bike auf
Deutsch) and an English speaking guide from the US, England, Australien or Neu Seeland is the
tour guide. We ride through die Stadt and see the tourist attractions. We started on the
Marienplatz, and we were instructed to ding our bike bells every time we saw a lion. Seeing as
there are lions everywhere, as they represent the royal animal, we were making quite some
racket. The Marienplatz (Mary’s Square) the center of town by the neues Rathaus (not a “rat”
house, thank goodness! It is the city council building) that is famous for the Glockenspiel. The
figurines do their little dance at 11 am and 5pm and everyone stops to watch. Off to the links
(left) one kann also see the famous Frauenkirche. That is, a church named after Mary. It is part
of the famous skyline with the towers and copper (turned green) peaks. Then we toodled on
over to the Vitktualienmarkt (think: vittles market). The Viktualienmarkt is the oldest Farmers’
Market in Deutschland and, get this, it even has a butcher shop that specializes in selling
horsemeat! Eating horsemeat is not overly common, but it is also nicht taboo here like it is in
the US. There are large Biergärten here aber (but) you do not have to trink Bier. One can go
and buy things and bring them to the tables on the side and have an impromptu picnic under
the huge, shady chestnut trees. We don’t have time for that jetzt, but we will be back to see
and eat more here spatter.
Next we rode over to a huge Park called der englische Garten. It is covers a huge swath of
land in the northeastern part of the Stadt and is a beloved and heavily visited park by Touristen
und natives alike. We rode in and saw people sunbathing (Yikes! As it was a warm day, some
of the ladies did not have their tops on... some people almost crashed their Fahrräder as they
were not prepared for this!) and playing Frisbee, walking their Hunde and some were just
napping. Then we arrived at the Isar river. That is the famous river or Fluss mentioned in the
song, “In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus” that we sang in class). On this Isar River, there is a
spot that has been rigged somehow to create large waves where surfers come to practice
their skills far away from the ocean! It was really nifty. The water was not all too warm as most
of them had wet suits on ( I know, as our guide had us get off our bikes, strip down to our
skivvies and dive in and ride the current to a spot a bit further down the river. It was COLD but
a total blast! I am so happy I mustered up the courage to do it! The sun dried us off quickly).
After all that Rad riding, we finally stopped in the middle of the Park and sat in a Biergarten
and ordered Brathendl and an Apfelsaft (apple juice) and Spezi (Cola and orange Fanta) to
refortify ourselves. Meine Freundin ordered the Steckerlfisch (fish on a stick) that I learned is a
popular entrée at the Oktoberfest. I must admit, it looks quite peculiar but was indeed sehr
lecker ( very tasty)! I had some Ochsenbraten with Pommes Frites (fries). Später when we
needed a bit of a snack, I tried the Mandeln, Zuckerwatte, und ein Eis! Then ich had a bit of a
stomache ache.
Well, Oma and Opa, I will write more später about my further adventures, but we are pooped
and need a nap so we can go out this Abend and experience München (place of the little
monks!) bei Nacht!
In Liebe (and with eine feste Umarmung = a big hug)
Eure
Susanne