Volksfest

This past weekend I had the opportunity to experience my first Volksfest, and what an experience it was. Every fall and spring the city of Stuttgart has a festival, which I believe comes from the age old tradition of being granted the right to have an open market twice a year. Now, it is more like a small version of Oktoberfest in München (still the 2nd biggest "Oktoberfest" in the world, about 4 Million visitors). Tobi and I arrived a little early so I could check everything out. From the S-Bahn you could see the huge Ferris wheel, which is apparently the biggest portable one in the world. There were rides and games everywhere and it reminded me of a fair or carnival that everyone goes to at least once in America. Then came the beer tents. There were 3 main tents on the grounds, with a few smaller ones as well. Each tent is sponsored by a different brewery and each brewery brews a special beer for the occasion. Altogether we were a group of 20, and had reservations in one of the main tents. In order to reserve a table in any of the tents you are required to prepay for drinks and food in advance. In our tent each person was required to purchase vouchers for 3 liters or beer and half of a chicken. By the end of the 2nd liter everyone was standing on the benches and singing along with the band and attempting to dance without falling and breaking their neck- all while not spilling the beer! After a valiant effort at my 4th liter of beer and one crazy ride later, we were on our way home around 10:30 that evening. The following morning I woke up feeling like I had drank 4 liters of beer, and to my surprise a very swollen left hand from holding the glasses all evening! My recovery time for this event was a good 3 to 4 days, and it seemed like every day I would find a new bruise :-P A Picture is worth a thousand words, so how better to describe this event then through candid photos. It was one of the best times I have had here in Stuttgart and I am already looking forward to the festival in the spring!