Oktoberfest: E don't need a reason to go to the Wies'n

I sing a lot of dumb songs to E. A lot. But she's not the only victim of my life-as-a-bad-musical delusion. Before her, I made up songs for the dogs all day long, and before them, the burden fell on Will alone. Speaking of Will, after 6 years of marriage he's finally gotten in on the song invention and now regularly composes very silly tunes. What's this set-up got to do with Oktoberfest? Well, the Bavarian term for der Oktoberfest is die Wies'n (pron. VEE-zin). And thus, Edie's first trip to this grand tradition of an event was proceeded by a little ditty: "She's gotta get dressed for Oktoberfest, 'cause E don't need a reason just to go to the Wies'n." Pick any tune. It will probably be better than ours anyways.

Oktoberfest is essentially a huge state fair, complete with rides and games, coupled with prodigious beer drinking, Liederhosen and Dirndl's. Liederhosen are made up of leather pants with leather suspenders, checked shirt, wool socks, and sometimes a fancy hat. Dirndl's are "St. Pauli girl" dresses. Our friend Sarah is wearing hers in the photo above. You can get cheap tourist versions of these, or you can go for broke and spend 1000 euros +. We opted out of any such attire this year, but if we can find an inexpensive tiny Dirndl next year, Edie might be decked out.

The crowds are tremendous and comprised in no small part by American study abroad-ers. It was a lot of fun, but after 90 minutes, I'd had my alkohol-frei fill. Will stayed on and returned twice more to the mayhem with visiting friends. It's over now, which is okay by us, but it was a special event to share in for sure.