polka like it's 1999

As promised, here's my Oktoberfest 2007 photo essay:


This sign welcomed us to the fairgrounds.


Horses pulled wagonloads of beer to the various halls. Locals and tourists alike get their pictures taken with the horses and wagons.




The beer tents are huge temporary structures, with each tent catering to a specific crowd. Our beer tent for two nights, the Hippodrom, gets a supposedly younger, hipper crowd.


These guys look neither young, nor hip. But they liked to sing along, and loudly.


Inside the Hippodrom, lots of lederhosen, dirndl, food, singing along with oompah-pah music, and beer.


I dined on suckling pig and potato balls.


Steven and Sarah split a pretzel.


Everyone (like Kaj pictured here) kept toasting, so we kept drinking.


So did Chad and Mary Ellen.


I discovered earlier, in Heidelberg, that three liters of beer is my limit.


I tried to order a few more beers. I never learn.


I was denied.


Behind the scenes, more steins at the ready. But I'd had enough and there was a whole fairground outside, full of more food, beer, and roller coasters.

Before we left the tent, we hit the toiletten, where I saw this sign... for ass containers?



Winner for the weirdest attraction - the mause circus.

Instead, we loaded up on souvenirs.




One aspect of Oktoberfest that I enjoyed but didn't get a chance to photograph was the beery-go-round. You guessed it, it was like a merry-go-round, but instead of children riding on toy horses on a carousel of sorts, there was a bar in the middle dispensing liters of beer and adults stood on the revolving platform, drinking. After exiting the Hippodrom tent the first night, we stumbled onto the beery-go-round, which also seemed to be the gathering spot for American tourists. I stood there, drinking a liter and watching the Oktoberfest and fairgrounds whizzing past me in a drunken blur. Pretty.


Finally, it was time to go. At least once in your lifetime, do check out Oktoberfest in Munich. It was a blast.

my trip to germany: castle road

I've been home for a couple weeks now and I still haven't posted pics and stories from Oktoberfest or finished up on Heidelberg. Quite a few things happened while in Heidelberg that I'm still processing, so yeah, I'm slacking on my pimping but I think the wait will be worth it.

On Jim's free day in Heidelberg, his employer arranged for a visit to two castles, the Guttenberg Castle in Hassmersheim, and closer to our base of operations, Heidelberg Castle.

From our hotel on the banks of the Neckar, we rode along in one of three huge tour buses, along the Burgenstrasse (Castle Road) to Hassmersheim-Neckarmuhlbach and up to the castle. It was a beautiful ride through the Neckar Valley. It was lush and green, the hillsides were filled with vineyards and castles and Jim slept through most of it. By the time we arrived at Schloss Guttenberg (that's Castle G, in case you didn't know), we had quite a commanding view of the valley and Jim was well-rested.

Our hostess at Guttenberg Castle was the current Baroness Gemmingen, 18th descendant of the first Baron von Gemmingen, who moved there in 1449, in the afternoon. That's amazing. It would take me at least a week to get all my stuff moved in. Originally called the Guttenberg Knight's Castle, it dates back the 1200's and is one of the few castles in Europe that has been continually occupied since the beginning, and has escaped destruction, both natural and man-made.

Our main reason for visiting the castle was to check out the German Raptor Research Centre. It's a breeding and research facility committed to preserving and breeding endangered species of eagles, vultures, velociraptors and owls for resettlement. They have an atrium overlooking the valley, where they train and exhibit their birds of prey. We had a half-hour to kill before the Baroness and the birds were ready, so we went exploring.


I had no idea where I was going, but this tunnel seemed like it would lead to good things.


It lead to vultures, falcons, owls, and eagles.



Back at the atrium, we all anxiously watch eagles, owls, falcons, and vultures swoop in low above our heads and learn a great deal of information about them. The Baroness spoke mostly in German with a sprinkling of English, but I understood a lot just through intonation and her body language (and all the German I learned watching Hogan's Hero reruns), which I'm guessing is how the birds do it, too.




It's funny that this is the closest I've ever been to an American Bald Eagle - and we were in Germany.

After the show, two guys from Jim's company presented a donation - an oversized cheque for 4500 Euros to the Baroness Gemmingen, whom was so thrilled she had to find her husband and bring out two falcons for us to play with. Afterwards, we repaired to the Castle tavern for lunch. It was dark, rustic, everything you'd think a medieval castle tavern would be - and we had amazing views over the Valley.

After lunch, we got on the tour bus for a short ride to Neckarsteinach, where we boarded a ship for a leisurely cruise back to our hotel. I really had no idea that Germany was so beautiful until I saw this part of the Neckar Valley from the river. Three of Jim's co-workers, Zack, Kaj, and Saskia, decided to run the 20km back. They're marathon runners and were in training, so off they went. One the way, we passed five more castles and 2 locks, which slowed us up enough that the runners arrived before we did at our hotel's pier.





Back at the hotel, we only had 30 minutes before we had to leave for Heidelberg Castle. After a (very) short nap, three tour buses took the entire conference up to Castle Heidelberg, where the large group split into smaller tour groups. Our group was led by a woman who conducted the tour as a lady in waiting from medieval times. She was amazing. I had a hard time remembering what happened the night before and she was doling out Heidelberg Castle info, over 600 years worth of history, like it just happened yesterday. After the tour, our group came together for champagne at sunset, on one of the castle's patios overlooking Heidelberg.

Upstairs in the castle's banquet hall, dinner was served. Black vodka was served by one of the founders of Jim's company, and then a really bad hippie magician got the group cheering to his own entrance. I could've done without him. I much preferred the part of the evening where Jim's co-workers from different countries delivered heart-warming (and ear-splitting) drinking songs of their nations. Good times.

One of Jim's co-workers from Sweden, Magnus, told me about one of the previous company conferences in Mexico. Like I said before, it's a hard-drinking company. They were in a bar, ordering drinks, and someone in his group ordered a virgin margarita. Magnus had never tasted a virgin margarita and didn't know what was in it, but he said, "Every experience I've had with the word 'virgin' was a good one, so I ordered one too." Luckily, someone informed Magnus that it meant no alcohol, so he promptly changed his order, and consequently didn't remember much about that conference.

I think that's part of the reason why I'm having so much trouble blogging about Heidelberg and Munich. In any case, Oktoberfest pictures are coming soon so stay tuned.

i left my heart... in heidelberg?

I loved Heidelberg. I had no idea Germany was so beautiful. People were friendly, the weather was mild and, although public transport was both efficient and ubiquitous, the city was walkable and bicycles were the preferred mode of transport for a great deal of the local population. There were a ton of cute dogs and they seemed to be allowed everywhere, even in restaurants, but these were some of the most well-behaved dogs I'd ever seen.



Our hotel was on the Neckar River, about a 20-minute walk along the river to Old Town. Lining the banks of the river were parks, and everywhere you looked, lots of green space. During the day, I would see people running along the river, walking their dogs, sunning themselves, playing soccer, or just hanging out. There were paddle boats for hire on one side, a marina for all manner of ship, boat or dinghy on the other.






Several times during our stay, at sunset, we'd take a boat into Old Town, then walk along meandering cobblestone streets to a candlelit bistro for dinner, stop for a scoop of gelato somewhere on the main drag, then a last stop at a great neighborhood hangout called The Drug Store for another liter with Jim's co-workers, then a romantic walk along the river back to our hotel. It was almost enough to make me forget the smell of cigarette smoke, which was pervasive. Oh well, can't have everything.

More of Heidelberg and Munich to come...

wrapping up heidelberg

For the past week, Jim and I have been in Heidelberg, Germany, where his MySQL Developer's Conference is being held. We flew from Heathrow to Stuttgart, then took the train to Heidelberg. Tomorrow, Jim wraps up his conference, I finish the rewrite on my screenplay, and we take a train to Munich for Oktoberfest.

The crowd at this developer's conference is a very international one. Except for an unlucky few, employees of Jim's company have the freedom to work from home, from anywhere in the world that has Internet access. While they all speak geek fluently, the languages and accents represented here include Russian, Ukrainian, Swedish, Finnish, British, Australian, Austrian, Chinese, Croatian, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, German, Canadian, and Southern accents from the United States. It's a hard-drinking company, and already my liver has taken a pounding from all the beer, wine and black vodka I've consumed. We've taken several boat rides down the Neckar River in addition to the river cruise we took yesterday, toured castles, rode a funicular, been treated to demonstrations from falcons and other birds of prey, and dined on copious amounts of German delicacies (liver dumpling soup, anyone?) beyond schnitzel and sauerkraut.

I had very few expectations going in, but quite a few things have impressed me greatly - for one, Jim's company really is a wonderful employer and they throw one hell of an organized and well-executed conference. That, and damn, this part of Germany is absolutely stunning. I don't think my photographs will do the place justice, and I'm blown away by how clean, green and picturesque the city is, and how easily navigable it is, either by walking or public transport. Parks line the banks of the Neckar River and I see people playing soccer, lounging, dining, biking, sunning themselves, hiking, and walking their dogs - all within a few blocks of train, subway and bus stops, shops, restaurants, and cafes.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Munich and Stuttgart (again), and going to Oktoberfest for the first time. But I do miss my puppy Wonton and my heart aches to see that he misses me and Jim, too. I will post more pictures as time and Internet access will allow, but chances are I won't be able to do that until our return to Los Angeles.