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Re: Convoying to Ingolstadt...
The illustrious Phil waxes nostalgic, and Yer Kindly ol' Unka Bart, lost for a
moment in the warm glow of freshly waxed memories of Bavaria in the early 60's,
wonders briefly if he could persuade brother Phil to wax his Syncro while he's
at it...
> Ah, the _wonderful_ Oktoberfest.
>
> I went to it once, by accident. I was in Munich on business, and had to stay
> overnight. I think it was about 1984.
[ the fickle finger of fate <the dangling digit of destiny> intrudes, and
ruthlessly consigns brother Phil's remaining deathless prose, which accurately
(if somewhat "charitably") describes the joy of attending the O'phest, to the
whims of the ether; and...]
> Avoid it like the _plague_. The beer is gnat's piss, the music is
> unrelenting oompah, and it's a tourist trap.
Yer Kindly ol' Unka Bart, the only member of the chorus still sober, picks up
his cue (with difficulty) and breaks into song...
Amen, brother Phil, Amen! Unless, of course, one's idea of a "good time"
consists of being immersed in a dense river of (alleged) humanity, flowing at
a breakneck velocity of 1 or 2 meters a *minute* for the entire duration of the
experience.
Naturally, the experience is not entirely negative. One shouldn't overlook the
happy hours, spent blissfully waiting for a seat at a table where one might then
spend another couple hours salivating over the prospect of actually ;having a
maas of whatever to actually *drink*...
Or the joy of having the opportunity to savor the musical talents of two
Ooompah-bands, simultaneously inflict... errrr, playing different pieces whilst
one waits... (note the absence of the word "music" in this message)
I went in '64; to savor the experience of a lifetime. Alas, I only spent 4
hours there, so as you may accurately surmise, my reluctance to actually
describe the quality of whatever might have been contained in one of those Maas'
is based entirely upon the fact that it was impossible to actually obtain a
sample to evaluate in that brief interval. But as I said, I can't imagine any
reason for repeating the experience, at least not in *my* lifetime...
You may trust me on this, the experience *shall* last a lifetime
The ironic thing is that all of Bayern (Bavaria) is engaged in one giant
Bier-fest during the period that begins in mid-may and ends with the
Oktoberfest. Actually, these are "Harvest" festivals, but the sacrement of the
celebration is Bier.
The length and the nature of each celebration seemed to be dictated by the size
of the town/village celebrating, and ranges from a week-end with only bier
tents; to full-fledged carnivals, with rides, bier tents, hot regional specialty
foods, the ubiquitous Asbach-Uralt (a bitter brandy for "the stomach"),
freshly-sliced horse-radisch - your basic "whole nine-yards..."
And at these other celebrations, there's usually only a small number of bier
tents, one from every brewery in the town/village. (never saw a village large
enough to have a cross-roads that didn't have at least two breweries - we *are*
talking Bavaria here...)
At all of the hundred or more that I spent two summers visiting every weekend
during the period, the O'fest, merely the last and largest of the bunch, was
*uniquely* disappointing...
Ahhhh... Nothin' like the smell of freshly-waxed nostalgia t'get the ol' juices
flowin'...