This past weekend the girls and I did a little train hopping and found ourselves in Straubing, a small Bavarian town, to celebrate something. That something we are still unsure of, but with the help of our dirndl and the big beers we accomplished it. Corinne studied abroad in Australia and collected a couple German friends, Patrick, Martin and Matthias, so when they extended an invitation to her for a weekend in Straubing that features the second largest beer fest in Bavaria following just behind the oh so well known Oktoberfest, we couldn't turn it down. We stayed at Patrick's childhood home and the hospitality his family extended was amazing. His mom brought us snacks, made us coffee, fixed our dirndl, and did just about everything humanly possible to make us comfortable in her home. His always smiling and quiet dad was very interested in the group of giggling American girls. He speaks zero English, but he always planted himself in whatever room we were in and had Patrick be the interpretor while he asked us questions about America and our experiences in Germany. I think Patrick was slightly embarrassed by his overbearing family, we didn't mind a bit though. The home atmosphere and escape from the Abrams was more than enough to make the weekend a great time.
The fest was your average county fair. Subtract the animal barns and replace them with beer tents and wine stands and you've got Gäubodenvolksfest. Unfortunately, I couldn't take myself away from the tent long enough to enjoy the great food and treat stands, but I did manage to fit in a ride. After prying my hands from the bars, I was reminded why I'm not a huge fan of swirling and twirling. You can always bring on the roller coasters and mile high plunges, but after a liter of beer no one needs to put their body through that. We spent the better part of the day dancing and singing to our tent's band, Bergratzn (translates to mountain rats), and before we knew it the fest was closing down for the night. We still can't figure out where the 8 hours went. 8 hours?! I know.
Although the weekend went too quickly, I was ready for Marcel's arrival on Sunday night. He's been here for 4 days now and I'm loving every minute of it. Well, except when he woke me up from my mid day nap this afternoon. I don't wish that fate upon anybody.....
But seriously, it's great to have him around. This weekend we will go to Nürnberg for a football (soccer) match and some quick sightseeing. We wanted to extend our time there to get in a visit to the zoo, but responsibility is high and funds are tight at the moment. So instead of making faces at the monkeys all day, we'll either play at Lake Eibsee or maybe hike the Partnach gorge. Not a bad alternative, if you ask me.
It's my last series of greaves, so it's back to the ol game called "pretending to be productive". It really is the final countdown.
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