It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Merry Christmas Dear Reader,

In celebration of the yuletide, I have returned home for about a week of festive frivolity and joy with the family back in Blighty before the semester resumes itself. Unlike the UK, which runs on three terms, Germany is based on the two semester model – winter and summer – and as such, Christmas is only a short break and not a full blown vacation. Apologies for not reporting on each event as it happened; I’ve been spending my time catching up with many members of the family (12 of us on Christmas Day).

On Christmas Eve Eve, my other half and I went to the Royal Albert Hall to attend the Carols by Candlelight concert. Accompanied by the Mozart Festival Orchestra, resplendent in Mozart period costume complete with wigs, and the Mozart Festival Chorus, we sang our way through many of the older Christmas carols and songs. Much to our delight, there were also two readings – from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (one of my favourite books) and from The Birth of the Infant Jesus (which my other half believes was the gospel of Luke).

On Christmas Day we headed to The Swan pub for a traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings; I was in heaven as I ate my way through apple and raspberry crumble, rather than Christmas pudding. Returning home utterly stuffed, we then proceeded to play many games, much to my father’s delight, as well as singing various songs horrendously loudly including much of the Sound of Music – I’m not sure my family are ready to imitate the von Trapps in public quite yet!

On Boxing Day we went to St Michael’s Manor in St Albans for Afternoon Tea, which was served on a three-tier cake stand, complete with little sandwiches with the crusts cut off, a selection of yummy petit fours (little cakes) and scones to be filled with clotted cream and strawberry jam. We had a lovely time pretending to be in a period drama ‘taking tea’ and letting the world go by for the afternoon.

Today though was less ladylike, as my other half took me to a Rugby match for ‘his team’. It was not quite how I had imagined it was going to be. Having never been to a sports match of any kind, I was imagining some form of scrum both on and off the pitch, but the reality was rather different. Instead both teams’ supporters were sat together and the songs were politely sung in friendly rivalry, without menace. What also surprised me was how much standing around there was during the actual game. There were patches of intense action with mad running and crazy tackles, which were exciting and thrilling, even though I had no idea what was going on most of the time! Apparently one team was not doing the scrum properly, so this lead to a lot of getting into hold, stopping and then reforming – this happened at least four times in a row until the referee got bored or they did it properly or something...Would I go back? Yes, if I was invited and if my inviter doesn’t mind having to explain everything to me and suffer my morbid interest in first aiding!

Let It Snow

Abend Dear Reader,

Snow has hit Konstanz. With a few on and off days, the snow finally decided to settle within Konstanz itself today, but snow was already thick out in the Germany countryside yesterday on the way to Freiburg (im Breisgau). I have actually been to Freiburg in the pre-blog era on holiday with my other half, but decided to revisit with a good friend to see the Christmas market, as well as having a bit of an explore.

It took us about two and a half hours from Konstanz on the train and dashing through the snow gave us the chance to get some of the most stunning snow scenes. Much of the landscape looked like a mix between Narnia and a Christmas card. The track took us through the heart of the Schwarzwald (Black Forest), complete with mountain ranges and little picturesque villages. Much of the snow hidden by the trees was untouched, a completely perfect winter wonderland.

Arriving in Freiburg, we headed into the Altstadt to hide out of the cold and had a look around the Münster, which was made of the local red sandstone in the year 1200. Unfortunately, as a bear of little brain, I’d forgotten to check whether my camera had the memory card in it, so I unfortunately have no photos, but trust me when I say that the tower is stunning and can be used to guide yourself to the centre of Freiburg itself. We had an explore around the medieval bits of the town, including trying to get into the university, and were delighted to wander around the Christmas market. Unfortunately though, the Kinderpunsch was not up to the standards of Konstanz and the mug I’ve managed to get back, has got a damaged pattern on it. Still, we did have a lovely day and I’m glad I did revisit it to see the town again.

This morning we awoke to a layer of icing dust sprinkled over Konstanz, which continued to fall throughout the morning. Delighted with this discovery, having dreamed of seeing the Bodensee adorned with snowflakes, my friend and I rushed outside to play in the snow. In the end we settled on building a snow-darlek; a feat which took us the best part of four hours and Jack Frost firmly nipping on my nose.

Christmas Carols

Tagchen Dear Reader,

Last night, a friend and I attended a Christmas carol and Advent song concert given by the University Choir at the Münster in the heart of the Altstadt. It gave us the chance to learn some of the traditional German carols, as we were provided with words and music - much to my delight! Luckily sat behind us was a very confident singer who was blasting out the tune at the top of her voice, so I felt like I was back at school in a choir rehearsal once again. Despite a few faltering notes at the beginning, I was happily pelting out the descants by the end. Although we knew basically none of the songs, we did start to pick them up after the first verse/chorus and had much fun trying to sight-sing in a different language.

The evening did make me miss my music though - both my music and drama have had to be sacrificied in the name of academic studies for my degree, but I do hope that my adult life will bring opportunities to return to them - I've always wanted to star in a musical, so maybe that dream will come true with some Am-Drams in the future. I'd forgotten how much a part of my life singing and music used to be; unfortunately the voice has gone a bit rusty, and the high notes keep disappearing every now and again, but I hope that some point soon they will return with a bit of practice. Sorry Mitbewohners, I'm going to be singing my heart out loud and proud in my room from now on!

Being Blown into St Gallen

Grissgodd Dear Reader,

Yesterday we ventured further into Switzerland to visit the beautiful town of Sankt Gallen. Having managed to get very lost looking for Kreuzlingen station, we managed to get the train a full hour after I had originally planned! Luckily the train journey passed quickly as we sped through the very green Swiss countryside towards the mountains, which were not as snow capped as expected at this time of year. For much of the ride the track clung closely to coast of the Bodensee, giving me the chance to see much more of the lake than I have previously achieved.

Despite the freezing cold wind and the intense downpour, St Gallen really was very pretty and as we made our way to the Altstadt, we came across the 'Stadtlounge' - a modern art installation which covered the roads and pavements in red. Built in the central square was a set of solid 'sofas' accompanied by a table and even hanging lamps, suspended between the buildings!

Continuing on, we went further into the Altstadt in order to visit the abbey complex, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The cathedral is stunnning, both from outside and in, though of interest (to me at least) was the amount of confessional booths available inside. Rather than having little chapels lining the edges of the main body of the building, instead were confessional booths set into the walls and decorated with various little faces in the doors.

We then went on to visit the Stiftsbibliothek, the abbey library. This claims to be one of the oldest libraries in Europe, though I'll admit I was a little disappointed by the size - having expected a version of the Bodleian. In order to protect the floor, we had to put on huge pairs of slippers over our shoes, which gave the feeling of sliding one's way across the room (plus giving me a quick chance to practice some spins and piroettes, which I duely took). In the corner was an ancient Egyptian mummy which was a gift to St Gallen's mayor, who just sort of left it there and didn't collect it!

Having gone outside to risk looking at the biggest Christmas tree in Switzerland, the wind decided to pick up. I was very nearly carried away by a particularly violent gust and if it hadn't been for my other half holding onto me, I fear I would have been stuck up the top of one of the towers like a Christmas tree fairy...

Unfortunately, we then went along to the Christmas market, but were sadly disappointed. Having been sold as 'the most romantic Christmas market in Switzerland' by much of the internet, the lonely row of bedraggled looking shacks did not do much to raise the spirits. The lack of Kinderpunsch or Christmas market mugs meant that we bid a hasty retreat into Starbucks for tea (the only place it seems possible to get milk in a tea) and then wandered further back into the heart of the Altstadt. As we roamed aimlessly, we came across various houses with bay windows, known in the guidebook as 'oriels'. This was one of our particular favourites:

Sankt Nikolaus Tag

Frohe Weihnachten Dear Reader,

Today is Sankt Nikolaus Day in the South of Germany, and as such it is traditional to celebrate the beginnings of Christmas. Traditionally, St Nikolaus is dressed as a bishop, complete with golden staff and big book of children’s deeds. Luckily for me, St Nikolaus (who usually brings sweets for good children or coal for the naughty ones) brought my other half to me safe and sound to visit for the week.

During our trip to the Weihnachtsmarkt for the obligatory mug of Glühwein/Kinderpunsch, we spotted a St Nikolaus dressed as Father Christmas, accompanied by a version dressed all in black – Knecht Ruprecht. Knecht Ruprecht is St Nikolaus’ servant who carries the sack of presents and a long stick; in southern Germany and Austria he is depicted as Krampus, a terrifying rod-wielding devil that beats disobedient children.

Unfortunately, the weather did not also feel the festive spirit and following the lashing rain, my other half and I decided that going to a Sankt Nikolaus celebration which was arranged only by giving a Treffpunkt (meeting place) was not quite what we fancied doing. Instead we are celebrating our own version of Christmas this evening, given that we will both be spending the Big Day with our respective families. We’ve started on the awful Christmas carols and broken into our Haribo Weihnachtsbären (a festive version of Gummi-Bears dressed in little red Santa hats), plus started to wish each other Merry Christmas. We visited the Münster earlier, which is an important part of Christmas for my other half, and ate festive food, which is a vital part of mine, such as Zimtsterne (cinnamon stars) and Stutenkerl (an iced bun in the shape of St Nikolaus/Father Christmas).

However, my Christmas celebrations really began with the arrival of my family over the weekend. On Saturday, my parents and I sailed over to Meersburg in order to pick up bottles of wine from one of the local vineyards, and we also discovered a Stollen in which the fruit had been soaked in Staatsweingut Meersburg wine. Having not managed to locate a stollen in the Christmas market, this will be a luxury version for our Christmas pudding. On Sunday, my family and I ventured around the sights of Konstanz and the Christmas market. Happily my entire family seemed intent on feeding and watering me plenty, so I have, once again, eaten my way from one side of Konstanz to the other!

Advent

Grüβ Dich Dear Reader,

Depending on whether you count down to Christmas according to the church or according to your chocolates, will depend on when you started advent calendar today or a few days ago. I count myself among the chocolate dictated persons and, as such, began my advent calendar this morning. Advent calendars actually originated in Germany, it being the home of both the original idea of counting down from the first Advent Sunday to Christmas by making marks, and as the source of the first ever printed advent calendar as well. It is traditional here to make Advent Calendars for your loved one, and as such my other half has one coming his way made by yours-truly, despite the fact that I lack the artistic talent that my Mother has been blessed with. I just hope he can work out what my attempts at yule tide drawings are meant to be. My Christmas decorations are also beginning to be put up – in particular the string of stockings as an advent calendar from a lovely friend of mine - has been strung out across my bedroom. Truly, my festive season is really beginning...

As is to be expected, I have been frequenting the Weihnachtsmarkt, and have finally gotten around to taking some photos to show you! Unfortunately trying to photograph all the stands with their sparkly lights in the evening does not seem to come out too well, so these are two of the better ones.

This stand is selling traditional wooden decorations, which are very popular here in Germany. The Germans love their wood-related items, and the variety stems out from tree decorations to include candle arches, nativity scenes, and 'Smoky Men', which is where some form of insense is placed inside a little character and the smoke comes out of their mouth!

This is another quite traditional stall by way of its lights. These massive paper stars seem to be very popular and there are quite a lot of variety in terms of size, colour, pattern, numbers of points, etc. Candles and lights are much loved at the Christmas market, and it seems like every second stall has some other variety of illumination method ready for you to gawk at. It feels like getting lost in a winter wonderland each time I go there in the evenings.

I'm very thankful for...

Howdy Dear Reader,

In honour of my very first Thanksgiving, I have decided to break with the traditional of writing different forms of German greeting (though not enough to dispel with the British spellings of things). Despite American Thanksgiving having been last Thursday, the dinner was moved to Saturday, in order to give our chefs time to cook all the mountain of food that we enjoyed. According to our trivia quiz on Thanksgiving (I'm pleased to say that the Americans did well but the rest of us internationals had no idea what was going on), all the food that is traditionally eaten is native to America - turkey, potatoes, cranberry sauce...

In order to help the internationals understand what we were celebrating, our American friends told us the story of Thanksgiving. From memory of what they said, Thanksgiving is a festival which celebrates a feast that occured in the first winter of the European's arrival in America (in the year 1621). The pilgrims were struggling to find enough food, so the native Indians gave them enough excess food to enjoy a feast together for three days. Every year they celebrate this feast in order to show their thankfulness to the Indians, although the message has changed slightly over the years to 'forget' the Indian contribution and instead to be thankful to God for providing food.

Despite arriving a little late, there was still plenty of food to go around - so much so that my friend's flat is now covered in bowls of half-started dishes, much like after Christmas Day lunch through into Boxing Day. On my arrival, a container of corn was thrust in my direction with the instruction to take some out. Not knowing what this symbolised, I carefully selected three pieces. This was wise, as it turned out to be the number of things we had to tell the fellow members of our Konstanz Family what we were thankful for this year. Being told to go first also posed a small problem but I decided to stick to the situation - I'm very thankful for... (1) good friends; (2) being able to come to Konstanz; and (3) being served up a delicious dinner. It seemed that this was the right direction to go in, as many others also followed suit and while a few decided to be thankful for some stranger things - such as their bike - it seemed that the feeling was very much about acknowledging how lucky we all were to be in Germany, getting to travel and being cooked delicious food!

One of my favorite new food discoveries was that of the Pumpkin Pie. Although my sister and I have previously tried to make this delicacy, it was certainly better having been cooked by someone who knew what she was aiming for! Baked with fresh pumpkin from her 'Jack-o-Lantern', it tasted scrumptious and I am very much looking forward to eating the left over slice currently sat in my fridge.

Glühwein Drinking

Bhüeti Dear Reader,

Over the last two days I have been discovering the joys of Glühwein (mulled wine) – the traditional drink of choice at German Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets).

Last night, a few friends and I hopped on a bus to the first night of the Weihnachtsmarkt Am See Konstanz. Our first port of call down by the harbour? One of the many Glühwein stands to get our first taste of Advent. Having got our hands round wonderfully warm and beautifully decorated mugs, we then wandered along being tempted by the many different offers of food along the way. In the interest of my stomach and sampling German market food, I went for a Bratwurst covered in Senf (Mustard) served straight off the grill. Unfortunately we arrived too late to see all of the non-food stands, so I shall have to return back in the daytime.

Tonight, I went to a friend’s house with a few friends and, having managed to drink a bottle cheap Glühwein, we decided to try to make our own version. Using a red wine as our basis, we then added tangerines – both segments and peel – as well as Zimt (cinnamon) and cloves. It turned into more of an English mulled wine, which is less sweet than the Glühwein we were attempting to make but equally yummy. Apparently my limited knowledge of wine stretches to be able to mull a good brew…

Wrapping Up Warmly

Zawas Dear Reader,

Today I have spent another lovely couple of hours in the Altstadt of Konstanz with with two of my law friends at the Voglhaus. I was delighted to find Linzertorte back in the cake display again and was also most excited to discover that the Voglhaus has now moved to a winter drinks menu. I happily slurped on the warm non-alcoholic Voglhaus Punsch – apple and cranberry juice mixed with chai, lemon and, I think, cinnamon. It was simply delicious and was described by my friend as “the taste of Christmas”. We wrapped up warmly in blankets to drink our drinks on the street, listening to a busker playing a strange stringed instrument unlike any I have ever seen before.

When it got too chilly to stay still, we wandered through the Altstadt to the habour – where the Christmas market will take place. Already the little huts are being set up, with hints of their contents only displayed by decoration on the outside. Though very empty today, I cannot wait for it to be up and running properly; I think I will have to find plenty of excuses to pay visits - surely one must try the drinks at every hut before the market is over, right?

We also spotted the beginnings of some Christmas decorations. The narrower streets appear to be favouring the paper-lantern-like star, which lights up at night, and is suspended on its own between the buildings. I’m intrigued to see what the next few weeks will bring, and I hope that Konstanz will become a festive winter wonderland, but do I dare to wish for light snow-dusting on the top? It seems that from this weekend until I go home, my German Christmas experience has begun...

Kant und Kipferl

Hoi Dear Reader,

Right now it is only the end of Saturday but if last night and today were anything to go by, this should be one of my nicest weekends within Konstanz of meeting up with friends and generally relaxing. Having had a wonderfully long lie-in - a welcome change after the slightly insomniac tendencies that have appeared in the last week or so - I headed off to uni for the Tag der Geistewisschenschaften's Geistes Slam. Based on the idea of a poetry slam, various important people were invited from the humanities faculties to make an eight minute speech and convince the audience that their subject was the most interesting! We were treated to talks on Immanuel Kant, the Ancient World, the Aramaic Language, Telephone Sex and Colloquialisms within German. I'll admit the talk on colloquialisms went over my head, not being a native German speaker, and this led to my level of understanding being equivalent to a small child as I could not recognise what the true meaning of the saying was! Luckily my tandem partner and her boyfriend were willing to translate various obscure bits for me, so I could attempt to laugh along with everyone else.

On my return home, I discovered that my kitchen had been transformed into a festive bakery, with delicious smells coming from the oven and tasty looking cookies on every single surface. I have no idea how long they had all been baking for, but I joined them for the final 6 hours. Although I have not yet managed to ascertain why so much was made, I do hope that at least some of the 15 biscuit tins or so will be made available for those of us who live in the flat with them. I managed successfully to take on the role of honorary child, as I had never seen many of these German Christmas biscuits before, and my Mitbewohner and their friends were very happy to name them for me, as well as let me try the broken ones and even treat me to the occasional story behind them, as well as letting me 'clean' both the icing and chocolate bowls - sugar heaven! One of my Mitbewohner has agreed to teach me how to bake Kipferl, which is a very traditional Christmas cookie and comes originally from Austria. It seems this traditional has also spread to Germany over the years, and I am very glad that it has as they are yummy and (hopefully) very easy to make.

Tomorrow I am headed back to Voglhaus for tea and cake with some English friends - I wonder if their baking will be as good as ours today...

It's All Fun and Games

Gute Nacht Dear Reader!

I have just got home from a lovely evening of playing games with my tandem language parter and her wonderful friends. My tandem partner and I meet up every now and again for her to teach me German and me to teach her English (although my English speaking skills were called into question tonight when I tried to call a triangle a three-corner). Our conversations vary wildly in topic and language, so I always look forward to our meetings. I am slowly discovering fluency in Denglisch (a mixture of Deutsch and English), with some of my favourite Denglisch words being 'geschnitzelt', i.e. to have eaten schnitzel, and also 'gewent', i.e. to have gone somewhere. Tonight I went to her flat in the Paradies area of Konstanz (far more southern and nearer the centre from where I live) and was introduced to her very friendly Haustier Kaninchen (house rabbit), who was called Lotto. Lotto seemed to want to be the star of the show and once he got used to the idea of there being a large group of people in his home, decided he would make the most of it by getting the maximum attention, being fed the occasional grape, trying to steal the board game pieces and generally running around madly.

All too soon it was time to go home, and on my bus journey back saw my very first Christmas tree of the year - a huge traditional Tannenbaum outside Lago (the main shopping centre) covered in little white lights. Usually I bemoan the start of Christmas being too early and that decorations should only be put up in December, but this year I am prepared to indulge given that my end of term is not until the 22/12! Already my Mitbewohner (house mates) have bought supplies for Christmas baking, and I am excitedly awaiting my trip to the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) next week when it opens. I admit I am in love with the lead up to Christmas and I hope that this year I can do all the things I am usually too busy to do, such as going to see a Nativity, attending a Carol Concert and bake yuletide delicacies (of which there seem to be many here, though no mince pies spotted as of yet...).

On a side note, I do not really recommend watching Der Vorleser (The Reader) before 10am when you are half asleep. For those who have seen it, I am referring in particular to the scenes in which Michael is young...For those who have not seen it, I recommend waiting until later in the day to view, as it is a very good film (Kate Winslet got her Oscar for it) and stays fairly true to the original book's plot line by Bernhard Schlink.

Bonbons in Bonn

Juten Tach Dear Reader,

This weekend I went to visit a good friend of mine in Bonn, who is currently studying at the Universität Bonn. I had an absolutely wonderful time and cannot wait to return in the summertime, and will hopefully make it over to see Köln (Cologne), as well as other friends who are studying much more northwards than I am!

We had a very hectic Saturday, which thoroughly exhausted us for the rest of the weekend. We munched on Nordsee for lunch, which impressively served up Fish & Chips in typical British style, complete with open-top cone! We walked over to see the main university building. The building is the formed Electors’ Schloss (castle) and is absolutely stunning when the winter sun shined, just highlighting the vibrant yellow colour.

We then wandered along the side of the Rhine (far larger than in Konstanz) to go down to the Bundesviertal, which is the former government district. We stumbled across a signposted walk, the Weg der Demokratie (the Path of Democracy), which we followed to have a stare at the various government buildings, dating from when Bonn was the capital city from 1949 to 1999. As a result, many of the buildings are very modern, while others were seemingly ‘borrowed’ from various academic institutions. Rather than bore you with photos of it all, here is a photo of the Deutscher Bundestag, which was only finished around the time the Bundestag relocated back to Berlin again.

In need of a sugar boost, we caught the U-Bahn (underground) to the Haribo Shop in Bad Godesberg, one of the southern districts. The Haribo shop blew my mind a little bit – so many different sweeties, many of which I had never seen. The slight crazed look of the people in the shop was also a surprise; desperately loading boxes on boxes of Haribo into their trolleys, or fighting with small children over the pick-n-mix. Unfortunately I was limited by how much I could physically carry, so settled for some Christmas themed Haribo to share with my family and a packet of Salz Brezeln to try, in the spirit of its German-ness.

Having indulged our senses, including trying some sour fizzy bear tongues, we were going to spend the evening in. However, my friend’s Columbian Mitbewohner (housemate) had other plans for us, especially after I was willing to try his Grandma’s toasted ants. They were surprisingly tasty, and led to an extended evening in a local pub trying Kölsch, the traditional beer of Köln.

Following our unplanned lie-in, I decided to go it alone to visit the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland on the Museumsmeile, which is a museum of divided Germany. The exhibition starts with the Nazi time, and traces the history right through to the fall of the Berlin Wall, so thus the reunification of Germany. I especially enjoyed the layout of lining up the DDR (East Germany) and BRD (West Germany) in terms of time, so that you could see what was going in both halves at the same time. I happily spent many hours (pretty much the whole afternoon) learning about one of my favourite periods of history, and could probably have spent many more there if I had the time. In the evening we went to a lovely Vietnamese restaurant and had a wonderful evening chatting with my friend and one of her classmates. I think that my friend may well be returning there many times for the rest of the year!

On Monday, I wandered through the Altstadt to visit the Beethoven Haus, which was the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven. The floorboards were all amazing creaky, giving the house a lot of character. I noted with interest the change in spelling of Beethoven on the music scores, ranging through from the Ludwig being Louis, and van Beethoven being von Beethofen. The array of hearing trumpets was also amusing of various lengths, as well as getting to see lots of old instruments and family paintings.

Bonn really is very proud of their townsman and this is one of my particular favourite statues of him.

CERN

Salut Dear Reader,

Yesterday I went on the eight hour round trip to visit CERN in Geneva, at the opposite end of Switzerland. Despite the long journey, it was totally worth it, if only to indulge my inner geek for a little while.

CERN is the name of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (the original name, which fitted with the abbreviation, was later changed) and it is the home of the Large Hadron Collider, which graced the news with tales of forming black holes and blowing up parts of France and Switzerland. Having determined from our guide, Ricardo – who was essentially a real-life Leonard from the Big Bang Theory (he also watches the programme and finds it funny!) – that we would be safe and no black holes would be formed, we went on with the tour and passed through various restricted area signs and warnings about radiation…

Our first stop was the Low Energy Ion Ring (LEIR), which is very much the baby of the CERN family, as it actually fitted in a room above ground. Here Ricardo told us the theory of electromagnetism and banging teeny-tiny particles together. We asked what seemed like hundreds of questions over the tour and Ricardo admitted he liked our group for being so engaged. We felt so proud – we loved him too – and his passion about his work was plainly obvious for all to see, as well as generally being a nice chap, unafraid to admit that physicists do have a geeky image, but also know how to have fun (with new computers mainly…). From the feedback from the other group, we definitely got the better deal and it did make the trip.

We then went into one of the old control rooms, which Ricardo himself described as being like the deck of the Starship Enterprise (yay, vaguely Trekkie reference), as well as later admitting that if I attempted to speak in Klingon, there probably would be a group around to converse with.

Following that we went to look at the Linear Accelerator (linear because it goes in a straight line, rather than bending any corners) -LINAC. Apparently this is important for generating sufficient speed and energy of the relevant small particles (nowadays, commonly protons), which is sourced from the little bottle of hydrogen you can see below.

For those that were worried there was some huge dangerous source of crazy elements, do not fear – this little bottle is going to last a very, very long time.

Then we headed to the Computer Control Centre, where we were shown the first computer that created the internet. What was great was that there was a sticker on the mainframe essentially saying do not turn this computer off – imagine if they had, there would no longer be internet, or at least not as a know it today. Maybe I am my father's daughter after all...

Unfortunately we didn’t get to see the Large Hadron Collider, though that probably is to be expected, given how much the LHC is worth and the very relaxed nature of the tours (not at all like the UN Buildings, where passports and special ID were a must), however we did go into an exhibition before the tour and see a simulated version – so here is a picture to feel like you were there too!

Also just to prove that the physicists do have a sense of humour, we spotted this on the way out…

http://computer-animal-shelter.web.cern.ch/computer-animal-shelter/index.shtml

Friendships and Food

Hi There Dear Reader,

As promised, this is instalment two - Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The MUN Conference took place largely on Saturday and Sunday, so I was one of the few people walking around in a suit before 9am at the weekend. Nevertheless, the debate continued on in our new home of St. John's College (which is the biggest college, made up of around 8 Quads, including one which seems like it has a small wood in it!), and by the end of Sunday afternoon, we had managed to unanimously pass a resolution to solve the financial crisis in Europe. The answer? To ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the money!

In the evenings I arranged to meet up with good friends. On Saturday night, one of my best friends agreed to cook dinner and so I went to spend the evening in a house with most of my ex-housemates, in which I probably would have been living if I wasn't abroad. It was a lot smaller than our old house (having had roughly half our Ab population decide to flee the hectic student lifestyle for their year abroad in places such as France, Germany and Argentina), but just as cosy and welcoming! We enjoyed a delicious homecooked meal (all from scratch) - thanks to my beautiful Irish Cara - as she is most talented at cooking and very welcome to test recipes on me whenever she likes, plus we also enjoyed pudding of toffee-apple muffins made by one of my other lovely best friends, of which I may have eaten rather too many...It was an evening spent drinking tea, gossiping and feeling like we were back in the old house once again.

Sunday night was equally spent surrounded by good friends at Shanghai 30's - a Chinese restaurant, which cooks food as I remember it being in Beijing. I ordered the Pineapple "Gu Lao" Duck, which came served in half a pineapple, topped off with a cocktail umbrella. Gu Lao means pineapple in Mandarin and is what the Chinese people call Sweet and Sour. In this restaurant (and in China, naturally), they cook this sauce properly - not like the artificial fluorescent goo that a lot of takeaways will try and convince you is authentic - so that it tastes beautifully sweet and tangy.

I was very sad to leave come Monday morning, and after celebrating another friend's 21st at G&Ds for breakfast (I had a Cookie Monster - two homebaked cookies with a scoop of homemade ice-cream between them), plus a quick wizz around the supermarket to top up my tea supplies, I was sat on a bus going back to the airport. I had an amazing weekend - thank you so much to all those who made an effort and took time out of their hectic schedules to say hello, natter and catch up - coming back next year will not be the same without you all being there.

Back to the 'Ford

Good Evening Dear Reader,

Last weekend I ventured back to the land of dreaming spires to chair in a Model United Nations conference, but also (some might say more importantly) to pay all my friends a visit, who are confined to the library as finalists! I think I should probably break this up into two instalments - so here is number one: Thursday and Friday.

I arrived late on Thursday - the 21st birthday of my other half - armed with Gummi-Bärchen (gummy-bears made with real fruit juice), German childrens' books and a pair of comedy Lederhose in the form of silky patterned boxers. I'd like to say that he was delighted with this gift, but I feel relieved may be a more apt description, given the amount of Lederhose-related teasing I managed before gifting him his own special pair!

On Friday, I made two very important trips (at least, because they meant I was really back in culinary terms) - breakfast at G&Ds and dinner at the Mission. For those who don't know, G&Ds is a homemade ice-cream parlour, which has three shops to tempt the Oxon population, and stays open longer than most of the pubs do! My G&Ds of choice is George & Danver on St Aldates, as it does hold a lot of sentimental memories for me from over my two years studying so far sitting in that particular parlour eating a lot of ice cream, and also because it meant I was roughly half way home from the Law Faculty during my second year! I was delighted to discover that the tradition of UN-related flavours for the MUN conference was ongoing - Coffee Annan and Banana Ki-Moon. During my weekend, I am unashamed to say that I visited four times and ate all three of my favourite flavours: Dime Bar Crunch; Out of the Blue...Berry (a.k.a. Oxford Blue); and Banana Ki-Moon (a.k.a. Banarama)!

Dinner at the Mission was more of a special treat in term time, when one needs more substance than a Hassans (the kebab van of choice) and possibly a less late-night experience, so I was happy to find some friends willing to oblige me. The Mission is a burrito bar, which is meant to be a mix of San Francisco and Mexican cuisine. As usual, I ordered my own special creation - the vegetarian filling with both black beans and Pinto beans (yes, I know it has bacon in it).

During the daytime on Friday, I was given the chance to meet my fellow Chairs for the EU committee and together we went for an explore. My Director and I went to the Nosebag cafe, a place I had not managed to re-discover since my original interviews, which was wonderfully cosy with fresh food being served! Afterwards we went to the Opening Ceremony in the Exam Schools, which featured Guest Speaker Sir Jeremy Greenstock, a former British diplomat, who spoke on the topic of "Is the UN fit for the 21st Century?" While the speech was very interesting, I was a little frustrated when my committee decided to debate the topic of the Eurozone, Economic Financial Crisis and Bail-Out Mechanisms, rather than the Accession of Turkey to the EU, as a result of some of the comments made after the speech. Still democracy rules and we held our first session in the Taylorian Institute, one of the many libraries I had not previously been into. While the outside was very grand with pillars and what-not, the inside was not so (at least where we were based), though we did manage to all squeeze in to the meeting room that the Secretariat managed to find in the logistical nightmare they were experiencing at the time.

In the evening I went to visit my old second year room, in which one of my best friends is now living, having decided he quite liked my room when I had it! It was a bit bizarre going to my old house with completely different people living in it and no longer having a front door key, as well as having to go for a walk to get to bed, plus seeing all my former furniture in different positions within the room. Where books once lined the shelves, bottles now stand...

History

Allegra Dear Reader,

I write this having managed to get lost in the university library's history section whilst looking for a book on the DDR - the German Democratic Republic - which is the former communist part of Germany. As I wandered the rows of modern history, it became apparent to me that one distinct period had gone missing - the history of Germany in the 20th century. I walked up and down the rows of 20th century books on every country in the world it seemed and even strayed into the 21st century, where I found a multitude of books detailing the Weidervereinigung (Re-Unification) but still nothing earlier. Eventually after walking in blind hope towards the politics section, there I found it. A single row of books on topics like Hitler, the Holocaust and the DDR, completely unmarked on the shelf catalogue and hidden in broad daylight completely out of sync with the numbering system. It's as though the library is trying to hide them in some way, whilst trying to acknowledge that this period of history does exist - it's similar in a way to the fact that history lectures here miss out this period as well; I can attend lectures on the First World War and the years from 1945 onwards, but the time in between has been rendered unteachable. It's got me wondering though, is this the way to remember history? To almost hide the parts we don't like and guiltily acknowledge their existence when the topic comes up. My experiences with German people have always been very positive, but is hard to forget your exchange partner's father apologizing for the wars on your arrival in their home, or being asked by a young German why it is that I believe that German teenagers shouldn't feel guilty for their country's past. My little cousin telling me that she hated all Germans because of the effect they had had on our country worries me intensely that people are still thinking like this and allowing history to stand there like an elephant in the room, which everyone is delicately stepping around so as not to disturb this great beast. Maybe I myself am too young and ignorant to really understand - yes, my generation has been lucky that wars have not occurred so close to home, so I learnt history and wars through textbooks, according to what was on the academic syllabus. I was somewhat removed from the situation and so perhaps could look with a more objective eye. Yet it shocks me that it takes history teachers so long to explain that the First World War and the Second World War are not the sole fault of the Germans and that people still believe that the state of the country in history is how it has been preserved. If that is so, surely Britain should be owed a far worst reputation as slave dealers and country stealers in their pursuit of an empire, than simply bowler hats and drinking tea. I'm not saying forget the past, for that would be the worst thing to do, but I do say acknowledge history. Teach people about what happened so that it won't happen again in the future. Explain to people why these things occurred and answer their enquiring questions. Show people the atrocities but show them also how they can correct its effects. Don't let history be forgotten, become a taboo or survive as a public secret, I beg of you, but instead embrace it, both good and bad, and teach it so that the memories live on, though the lives have been lost.

The Complexities of German

Tag Dear Reader,

Today I have discovered just how complicated the Bodensee area and the German language truly are. Despite all three bordering countries - Germany, Switzerland and Austria - speaking the same language, the difference in dialects (roughly five in total) is that little bit overwhelming, but I am slowly beginning to be able to differentiate between them all...

In a workshop today, I was faced with all five of these local dialects:

• Hochdeutsch - lit. High German - this is the standard German which all German-speaking children (including those in Switzerland and Austria) have to learn at school. It is formed from the written German and is also what I am attempting to communicate in!
• Schweizerdeutsch (Schwyzerdütsch) - Swiss German
• Österreichisches Deutsch - Austrian German
• Badisch - this dialect originates in the Baden area which covers Konstanz, and forms the Western side of the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg.
• Schwäbisch - Swabian - this dialect comes from a region called Swabia, which covers a lot of Baden-Württemberg, including Stuttgart (the capital city of Baden-Württemberg).

I am, now, completely shattered but thoroughly enjoyed my workshop on conflict management. I also received the highest compliment I have ever been paid from a German-speaking person: that I didn't sound English and she couldn't place me in the world!

Schweinshaxen

Gueten Abig Dear Reader

In a desperate attempt not to let my blog turn into an episode of German themed Masterchef, I have been trying to starve off the urge to write another foodie blog until something else had come along and could be served up instead. As you will be able to tell, I lasted just two days before deciding that a truthful capturing of my year abroad would be incomplete without sufficient reference to Haxe "satt" Mondays at Joh Albrecht (for those that are worried about my purse strings and that I might be getting set in my ways, I have now attended all of their special offer days and once otherwise, so I feel I now have had my fair share, at least for now - next step will be cooking the Germanesque food myself...)

Schweinshaxen are pig's knuckles and they are somewhat of a delicacy around here, with a lot of meat covering them and plenty of delicious crackling. They taste simply marvellous, and the first arrived at the table, filling the entire plate as the picture shows:

Served alongside the Haxe was a Kartoffelklößen, which is a potato dumpling ball, and Sauerkraut, pickled cabbage - both adding to the proper (and quite stereotypical, I'll accept) ambiance that was provided by having this meal in a working brewery. I only discovered that they brewed the beer themselves on this, my third visit, as I went down into the cellar to discover all the beer brewing vats, much to my surprise.

Now the entire feast does not stop at just one plateful: one of the translations of "satt" into English is 'enough' or 'full up'. Sorry vegetarians, this was a meat fest affair to test the carnivorous manliness of each that accepted the challenge. No sooner had one finished the first mountain, sorry plateful, of Schweinshaxe, than a smiley waitress would appear asking whether you would like another Haxe with all the trimmings. Thankfully the second (and third...) are substantially smaller than the original portion; despite this I managed only the original and half of a smaller Haxe, unlike my beer-loving American friend, who made his way through an impressive three, before finally declaring defeat in a sea of meat sweats!

I'm not sure I'm cut out to be a hearty beer wench quite yet...

Ersti

Salve Dear Reader,

Today marks the end of my first official week at the Universität Konstanz as an Ersti (Fresher). Having spent the week attending Einführungs-Vorlesungen (Introductory Lectures), I am beginning to feel like a proper student again. However, rather than having the usual confusion due to the content of the lecture, it was the expected language barrier which posed the obvious problem. Add to the tiring nature of trying to constantly translate to make sense of what is being said, is the fact that German lectures are usually 1½hours long and these introductory lectures pushed on towards 4hours each (the Pause – break – was a blissful relief half way through, especially for us international students!).  Plus if you are a bear of little brain like myself, trying to make notes that make any form of sense (in either German or English) adds an even greater dimension of confusion to the whole situation. However, I am happy that it will get easier as the term goes on, as it takes a while to adjust to the accent/dialect of each speaker, but it was getting easier towards the end of the week. We’ll have to wait and see what next week brings with the proper beginning of term, and with it the start of lectures and classes…

Pottering around the Altstadt

Guadnōchd Dear Reader,

Today I decided to go exploring in Niederburg, the oldest Stadtteil of Konstanz, going north from the Münster to the Rhine River. The town planning department has put an almost ring-road around this area as their bus route, stretching right across the pedestrian zones of the square of the Münster through the shopping streets towards the Bahnhof (train station) and southwards as well. The lack of traffic in Niederburg makes this area eerily quiet, as all travel can only be achieved by foot. According to my guide book, at some point I may also have wandered past Kloster Zoffingen, which is a working Dominican convent dating from 13th century, and the last one remaining in Konstanz - the town having been heavily involved in Catholic history. Niederburg is remarkably less crowded than a lot of the rest of Konstanz south of the Rhine, but is, sadly, rather tiny. It turns out I've managed to walk through it all on multiple occasions without realising (probably because it was dark), as well as it only being a few streets big! My aim to lose myself in Konstanz for an hour or so appears unachievable in a town where you can walk everywhere within 30minutes or so...I ended up walking from one end of the Altstadt (most of the southern side of the Rhine) without really realising how far I was going!

I also ventured over to see Imperia and the Konzilgebäude on the waterfront promenade by the habour, which is one of my favourite places in Konstanz. Looking over the Bodensee is so relaxing and beautiful, no matter what sort of day you are having, and I am slowly building up a knowledge of pretty spots to go to. Unfortunately my camera has so far not been able to do justice to the view, so enjoy this picture of the Konzilgebäude (more information on the Imperia blog post) instead, as I've not yet posted one yet:

Schnitzel

'N Ᾱmd Dear Reader,

Last night I sampled one of the stereotypical German-speaking-world delicacies – the humble schnitzel. We went as a large group to Joh Albrecht (yes, the same place as last week) to attend their “Schitzelparade” (schnitzel parade). In my head I had images of schnitzels walking along the table, waiting for us to spear our chosen schnitzel – I think the illness may have given me a more wild imagination! Luckily it was more humane than this, with a huge list of different schnitzel toppings and accompaniments from which to order. The schnitzel is like an escalope, usually made of veal in Austria, although we had the pork version, which is then breaded and fried up.

I selected the Kupfenbierschnitzel, which is a normal schnitzel topped with a beer sauce, Speck (bacon), roast onions and Bratkartoffeln (a special form of fried potato). It was delicious and the sauce was rich and not as  beer-y as it might have been, with ‘proper’ potatoes done in an animal fat giving them a much better flavour, as well as ‘proper’ pieces of bacon, unlike the usual little diced variety that you normally get here…yum yum yum!

As in all these situations, looking at other people’s schnitzel selections meant you wondered whether you should have ordered them instead. I think I shall have to return to try some of the other varieties, including a Braumeisterschnitzel, which had a malt crust rather than the normal bread crumbs, or the typical “Weiner Art” (Vienna style) schnitzel, which is the original in all its glory. Suffice to say no one talked for a good 20-30minutes while we all savoured our respective schnitzels (or Rosti for the vegetarian) – the universal mark of a good meal!

Here is a picture of my yummy schnitzel:

Spätzle und Strudel

Grüezi Dear Reader!

This weekend my mother came to visit me in Konstanz, and we happily munched our way through various different delicacies from the surrounding region.

Our food-fest began with trying Spätzle, which is thought to be a Swabian speciality and comes from the Baden-Wüttemberg Bundesland, which is where I live! It is an alternative carbohydrate source in German cuisine, formed from special noodle dough, and then quite often served with meat. The variety we tried was Käsespätzle, which is the Spätzle mixed with grated cheese (according to wiki, this is usually Emmenthaler). It tasted a lot like fried pasta and is relatively filling.

Next we moved on to Strudel with vanilla sauce, filled with delicious stewed apples, making it an Apfelstrudel, which is one of the most popular versions in the world. Although I acknowledge that this an Austrian speciality rather than a German one, Konstanz once belonged to Austria for over 200 years as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the influence does seem to have carried on here!

Today’s discovery was of a wonderfully quirky café (seriously, they had bird call serenading you in the lavatory) called Das Voglhaus in the Altstadt. Here we sampled Linzertorte – another Austrian traditional cake – which is made from a spiced dough with huge dollops of raspberry jam. Usually the top is a lattice pattern, but as you can see from the picture, this place decided to do it a little differently. The Linzertorte reminded me of Lebkuchen, a Christmas gingerbread here in Germany, and was most delicious. I think I will have to return back for more; just to ensure that each cake comes out the same, of course!

Other than chomping through Konstanz, we also visited the Rosgarten museum, which is filled with middle-age paintings and the history of the town. However, the sheer delight came from a visiting exhibition of hats…First one had to walk along a pathway with a mixture of hats suspended from the ceiling, for people to try on and giggle at. We then went into the main exhibition room to see all the various designs for hats of famous people from around the world – a few of the ladies hats boggle your mind as to what on earth was fashionable at the time! Here are our top three:

Hat Number One is definitely for those of festive spirit! Decorated with tiny Christmas baubles, there will be no need for a Tannenbaum this year...

Hat Number Two is for the man who likes to look good in a fight, but also likes to be seen by the enemy! Well an eagle beats a pigeon for image any day...

Hat Number Three is a natty little number right from the heart of the Schwarzwald (Black Forest), complete with handy padding for falling cuckoo clocks...

In all seriousness though, this is part of the Schwarzwald Tracht - the traditional clothing - for women in the Black Forest. I'm afraid my Dirndl wearing has not yet reached this level of commitment...

This was one last unexpected joy right at the end of the exhibition. I'd have played for hours and hours with it as a little girl, despite the lack of Barbie Pink-tastic-ness!

Flammkuchen

Grüß Gott Dear Reader!

For those who think I have been a bit quiet recently, it is because I managed to catch some form of chest infection, which successfully managed to knock me sideways for most of this week (conveniently my one free week between my language course ending and my introduction to law course beginning on Monday). As a result I have spent most of the past week in bed, but managed to drag myself outside, after increasingly getting cabin fever!

In the afternoon, I ventured into the Altstadt on the search for ice cream with a good friend from back at my home university, who is doing exactly the same course as me. Apparently, this is a very big deal in Konstanz and other tourist resorts where the weather actually gets warm enough to justify eating them - unlike many childhood memories of my lips going blue with cold eating my 99 on the British coast, or just having picnics inside the car due to the rain whilst facing what would be a beautiful view only we couldn't see it! Having explored around, I am delighted to say that myself and a friend managed to find a very reasonably priced, claimed to be Italian, ice cream parlour and happily licked our way through three large scoops. For myself, I recreated the Neopolitan idea, with Melon, Wildberry and Nutella ice creams, which was definitely worth me escaping from my nest for a couple of hours.

In the evening, I went out to dinner at Joh Albrecht - a German Brauhaus - with some new friends, and was introduced to various different types of beer, by an American who seemed to be something of a conisseur, having lived in München and taught himself German by learning the Bairisch Dialekt. Most out of character for myself, I did not automatically reach for the non-alcoholic drinks list, and instead ordered a Kupfur, which is a much milder and less bitter tasting beer, due to having more malt and less hops (from my awful memory of the explanation). I admit I did not make it through the glass, and was helped out by my American and Ukrainian friends, who were more than happy to oblige - even if I had warmed it up by cuddling the glass, in an effort to look like I was actually drinking it at a normal rate (rather than superbly slowly!). The Brauhaus has offers on a Monday, for all you can eat Schweinshaxen (pigs knuckles, which are actually surprisingly tasty), and a "große Schnitzelparade" on a Tuesday, so I am more than confident that I shall be returning at least twice more in the coming few months!

I decided to order a Flammkuchen, a delicacy which I believe is very popular in the Black Forest region. However, I was not expecting the change in base which occurs between the more northern areas, such as Strasbourg and the Alsace Region, and the southern version in Konstanz. The traditional topping remained the same - Speck, Zweibel and Quark (bacon, onion and sour cream cheese). However, in the northern parts of the Black Forest (also found in Baden-Baden I seem to remember), the base is more a savory pancake-pizza sort of base, which is light and spongy - more in line with what you would expect for a product named Flammkuchen: lit. Flamed Cake. However, in the Brauhaus here, the base is more a thin cracker, which is tougher and more difficult to cut through with normal cutlery. The size still remain impressive - about the size of a medium pizza, though in France it was served to be as a circle, and in Germany in a rectangle. However, I am told by my American Beer-Lover that in other areas, it is possible to get smaller, more dense Flammkuchen, served almost on thick bread! I shall clearly have to explore more closely into the world of Flammkuchen...

After dinner we ventured to the Niederburg Weinstube; a Weinstube (pronouced Wine-stew-blee, though this may be the Swabisch dialect) is like a pub/bar which is dedicated solely to serving wines. Despite having been advised to order the white wines of the region (these being better and more drinkable for those of us who have not built up a wine palette), I ordered something called Weißherbst which is made by one of the local vineyards in Meersburg, Staatsweingut. From memory, I recalled friends drinking (and enjoying) this at the Meersburg Wine Festival and with white (weiß) in the name, surely I couldn't go wrong. It turned up with a very pinkish colour and surpassed all of our expectations (the rest of the group having clearly gone for whites of a more obviously white-grape type, such as Risling and Pinot Grigio). Still now, with a Chilean who knew a lot about wine, an American whose parents grow their own wine, and a Brit who seems to know all the local vineyards around Konstanz, we are mystified as to what sort of wine it was! Automatically ruled out was the idea that in any form could it be a white - the colour was just wrong. Rosé was a possibility, but a very light red wine was another (looking it up now, it comes from the Spätburgunder, which I belive is a red grape - although I still don't know what that really means in terms of whether it must be a red wine or not), but with a fruity aftertaste that the other drinkers on the table marvelled about. I was just happy that I'd finally managed to find a wine that didn't taste like vinegar or alcoholic scrub to me (clearly, viticulture is never going to be my calling), and that maybe I could imagine ordering to try and make myself appear more adult than my usual lemonade, whilst still finding the experience of drinking it vaguely pleasant. This is high praise indeed from a girl who will normally feel ill after just smelling even the smallest amount of alcohol in a beverage. So if you come to the Lake Constance region, that is one wine I can recommend with some degree of confidence, and hopefully a bottle or two will be making its way home for Christmas Day...

Oktoberfest

Hä Dear Reader!

This weekend I went on my first trip away from Konstanz – a road trip to München (Munich) to visit the Oktoberfest with my German friend and an American girl. To get to München from Konstanz we had to drive through Switzerland and Austria, giving us a good view of the other major German-speaking countries.

On Friday, we had a look around München city-centre and visited the Rathaus, to get the obligatory tourist photo, plus the struggle to fit the whole building one frame! I’d like to go back for a better explore at some point, when there are less tourists, and at a time when I can watch the Glockenspiel carillon moving around.

After our site-seeing, we went to the Augustiner-Grossgaststätte, one of the traditional Bier Kellers in München, for a Weiβwurst Frühstück – a Bavarian speciality consisting of white sausages, sweet mustard, Brezel (pretzel) and beer. According to the Bavarians, you should not eat the skin on the white sausage, as only the tourists eat it – it should either be sliced off or the innards sucked out, leaving the skin on the plate.

In the afternoon we went Lederhose shopping for my friend – we spent two hours in the shop trying to get the right fit and colour for him. Eventually we managed to get some which looked really good – but only after the shop’s owner, “der Meister”, had sufficiently touched him up and made me look at various men’s bottoms to give my opinion on how fitted the Lederhose were: the tighter around the bottom the better apparently! It is possible to spend a fortune on Lederhose as they can cost anything from around 100Euro upwards; one Brewer that we met spent over 1,000Euro on his Tracht!

In the evening, I was given my first view of the Oktoberfest – a huge funfair stretching out across the Theresienwiese (or Wies’n for short) – not at all what I was expecting! Naïvely, I was thinking of a more traditional Oktoberfest – as though it had never changed from the original celebrations of the October 1810 of the wedding of the Bavarian Crown Prince and Princess Therese. On this day, the happy couple celebrated their marriage by hosting a huge party and horse race on the Theresienwiese, named after the Princess; the party has been repeated ever since, but was extended into September for the better weather. In my head I was imagining a glorified street party in multiple tents, with lots of beer and traditional music, and though this does occur, it was the sheer modernity of festival which shocked me!

Dressed in my mother’s old dirndl, which she has gifted to me for my German knowledge development, we wondered around the carnival watching people dressed in their finest Tracht – Dirndls, Lederhose and anything in-between! There are so many varieties of Dirndls for ladies to wear; it seems that anything goes in terms of length, style and colour – so long as the top is low-cut-ish; there is ribbon cross-hatched across the front; and an apron, with the bow tied so as to indicate the marital status of the wearer. We happily munched our way through chocolate covered fruit and caramelised nuts, staples of German festival food, and got lost in the crowds swarming around and going on rides.

Early on Saturday, we headed back to the Oktoberfest to arrive at the beer tents for 9am, which is when the tents open at weekends. We decided to go to the Spatenbräu Ochsenbraterei, as our new Brewer friend brews beer for Spaten, so we felt we should sample his efforts. By five past nine the tent was heaving, and we struggled to find a table amid the throng of around 5,000 Tracht-ers. Luckily we managed to grab a bench, and by ten past were happily slurping at our Maβs of beer (or Radler, given it was still early!). The beer itself is brewed specially for the Oktoberfest, so that it is less gassy and so it is possible to pour out a full litre without too much of a frothy head on it.

The Oktoberfest was soon in full swing, with a traditional oompa band leading us through traditional German drinking songs, such as “Ein Prostit, Ein Prostit, Der Gemütlichkeit” during which one must raise their Maβ and then Prost with all the people on the table with you; as well as more modern songs like Sweet Caroline. Needless to say we were quickly all up on the benches dancing joyfully, as though we had all been long-lost friends from years gone by…