Wiesn warmup... with pugs?

This post will be filed under "What the heck?" - but it must be shared.

Oktoberfest is almost here!  So Müncheners are warming up by singing & dancing... with pugs?  This was a recent news video on many major German websites (Spiegel, Focus, Bild, even the Financial Times Deutschland!):

It's incredible how relaxed the dogs all are!  I know our friend A in Austin, Texas will love that video.
(The title means "Swaying Pugs in Munich".)

Next... just more cute dogs.  It's a pair of pugs, each with an Oktoberfest lebkuchen heart around the neck:

Full disclosure:  the German word "Mops" means pug.  The plural would be "Möpse"... but this is also slang for boobs.  The video's title is therefore a play on words, also referencing the effect dirndls have on womens' figures.

Each year there are new "Wiesn Hits" -- songs that become popular due to being played often in the Oktoberfest tents.  A band called Flat Out recently wrote a song based on this double entendre, called "Scharfe Möpse" (in this context, scharf means "well-defined" or "hot").  They abviously want their song to become a hit.  Perhaps this isn't so subtle, but one lady (below) was ready to dance with her pug anyway!

In the last video, a woman dressed her pug up... in a dirndl.  It's 11 seconds you won't soon forget. 

Munich's Westpark

Everyone visits the famous English Garden in Munich.  It's smaller relative, the Westpark, might be a little further from the city center and less well known, but it has a lot to offer as well.

To get there from downtown, take the U6 subway heading south out of the city and exit at the "Westpark" stop.
It's only about 15 minutes.  Here is its location relative to some other Schnitzelbanh photoblog destinations - the English Garden, Nymphenburg Palace, and the Tierpark (zoo): 

As you might tell from above, the Westpark has two sections - confusingly called the Eastern and Western parts.  For this post (more to come) I visited the points in the Western part outlined below:  seebühne (lakeside ampitheater), rosengarten (rose garden), spielplatz (playground), and biergarten (needs no translation!): 

In many ways, the Westpark is typical of German public spaces.  Large expanse of open space surrounded by tall trees.  In the open people are playing soccer, volleyball, frisbee, or just sunning themselves.

There is a small lake, home to ducks an geese -- no swimming allowed, but creates a nice atmosphere.

One unique aspect of the Westpark is its specifically identified grill zone - even has its own sign (below)!  It seemed like everyone brought a small charcoal grill and grabbed a picnic table or spot on the ground.  At one point, the air along the entire edge of the lake was white with smoke, and you could smell the food all over the park.

Periodically people try to get the zone removed, but the idea is always defeated.

At one end of the lake is a small stone ampitheater with occasional performances.  On this day, a group of people informally were doing traditional dances (I don't know exactly which ethnicity).  A few meters out into the water, in front of the theater, is a waterfall created by the artist Alf Lechner:

You soon realize that water and art are a common theme throughout the park.  Below is the Guten Tag Brunnen ("Good Day Fountain") from artist Makoto Fujiwara.  It consists of three large stones where water is pushed through to the top and spills down the sides (surprisingly for Germany, not drinkable).

Not far from the ampitheater is a restaurant with a rose garden outside:

At the edge of the rose garden are small bubbly water fountains that basically become a playground for kids.  The weather was hot that Sunday, and these were very popular for kicking, splashing, or just sticking a foot in...
(notice the rows of roses in background):

This strange thing was between the rose garden and the water... I forgot to read the plaque (sorry!):

A little further along our walk this day was a small playground with tire swings.  I tried to catch the adventurous children (those swinging highest) in the second shot -- look at the delight on the boy's face!

There was another installment of art, called the Terraasse (the terrace) by Jean Clareboudt.  Kids of all ages have taken it over now - young ones climbing all around, older ones with graffiti.

Finally, of course, the biergarten.  Small, but nice... with a large cigarette machine for those in need of a drag.

I only walked through the Western part of the park, and will have some more posts with photos including the "East Asian" section (coming soon) -- the park's Eastern part will be another photo trip entirely.

Festivals: Auer Dult

One of my favorite aspects of living in Germany is the numerous festivals.  We're trying to visit as many as we can, but just the ones in the Munich area keep us quite busy.  We haven't begun to explore those in the Stuttgart and Rhine Valley area!

Munich has beer festivals, dancing festivals, streetlife festivals, and many others. One of the oldest festivals, Auer Dult (there are 3 per year) are more about handicrafts, though they also come with the standard carnival rides and food stalls and games. This fair dates back to the early 1300s!

The name Dult refers to old traditional church festivals that were held as part of religious observances and the Auer refers to the location, at Mariahilfsplatz in the Au district.  As with the old Dults, this one is set up around a church, the Mariahilfskirche.

Around the church they've set up a small midway, flea market, and of course food stalls.  While there are a couple of places to buy beer, this isn't a beer festival. It's mostly about the 300 or so vendors selling their wares.

In the early days, when trade was difficult, slow, and dangerous, this was a market showcasing imports such as pots, porcelain, spices, silverware, and even snake oil type "remedies".  Today it's known still as one of the biggest crockery markets in Europe.

And while you're browsing the stalls, there are fun rides, shooting galleries, and food and drink to entertain the whole family.

While there are plenty of fun games and rides and tasty treats, what sets the Auer Dult apart are the stalls selling crafts, kitchen wares, antiques, and random trash and treasure (depending on your perspective).  I especially liked this vendor, with the boar's head! 

Next year I need to stop in the ribbon stand and stock up on dirndl trimmings! 

It's usually sunny and hot during the summer Jacobi Dult, so Herr J cools off with a slushie. 

We'll have to do a post one day of all the funny decorative statues at the various fairs. I liked this guy at the french fry stand: 

And no festival (or beer garden) is complete without Steckerlfisch! 

As the Auer Dult is held in Spring, Summer, and Fall, we'll soon have another chance to visit in mid October. The "Kirchweihdult" is held from 15-23 October.  Next year's spring "Maidult" will be from 28 April to 6 May and the summer "Jacobidult" will run from 27 July to 3 August.  You can find the schedule online at the Auerdult site.

The Auer Dult in Munich is not the only Dult in Germany.  Many towns large and small across southern Germany have them at least once or twice per year. Hop on over to the Regensblog to see Cliff and Sarah's visits to the semi-annual Dult in Regensberg.  Or check out Servus München for some great pictures from the other Munich Dults.

BMW Museum - the Isetta

At this point in our walk through the BMW museum, we've seen the motorcycles, the M-series room, and the section with luxury & cabriolet models.  Now for something completely different.

Another area shows two beloved BMW models from the 50s and 60s.  The theme is how cars are part of our lives -- walls are filled with photos of people with their BMWs, often families travelling through Germany, Austria, & Italy.

First is the BMW 2002Ti.  It's the forerunner to the modern 3-series, and from 1968-1976 defined the concept of a compact 2-door sports sedan.  Notice the car + lifestyle photos on the walls in the background:

BMW 2002TI (1968)

The next model was designed in Italy after World War II for a continent that still had low productive capacity and really needed only cheap short-distance transportation.  It's a "microcar" -- a small, egg-shaped body that uses a scooter/motorcycle engine!  It was called the Isetta.

The Isetta measures only 7.5 feet long by 4.5 feet wide.  It has a single bench seat inside (for 2 adults), and heater was optional.  Ventilation?  Open the fabric sunroof!

The two-cylinder engine produced 9.5hp, and was connected to a 4-speed manual transmission.  The rear wheels are only two feet apart!  The base is so narrow that it didn't need a differential.

Its producer licensed the design all over Europe, and between 1953 and 1962 it was made in different forms in Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, and even Brazil.  It kept some car companies from bankruptcy.

BMW Isetta (1955)

The Isetta would take 30 seconds to reach 30mph, on its way to a "top speed" of 47mph.  But it got at least 50 miles (reported up to 70) to the gallon.  And parking is a breeze. 

Here's a test:  We'll show a few more photos of the Isetta.  Do you see anything... missing or unusual? 

Look at the passenger's side:

Now look at the driver's side:

How does the driver enter the car??? 

Here's the driver's side from another angle:

Did you figure it out?

The answer comes from one of the old photos on the wall:

You enter the car from the front door!  You can see the handle better in the photo below.

The steering wheel and entire instrument panel swung out with the door.  What happens in the event of a front-end collision?  Passengers were told to exit through the sunroof!

First prototypes had only one rear wheel, but that made the car prone to tipping over - therefore a second wheel was added.  Eventually, different models emerged including a flatbed pickup version, a truck, and a fire engine.

Most of the info above pertains to the original Italian version of the Isetta.  When BWM licensed the design and tooling, they re-engineered it to use their own one-cylinder four-stroke motorcycle engine that delivered 13hp (+30% more).  In fact, none of the parts between the BMW version and the Italian model are interchangeable.

BMW first produced their Isetta in 1955, and by 1962 had sold over 161,000 units -- the top selling single-cylinder car in the world.

There is only one topic left from the trip to the BMW museum... coming soon.

Radler Tournament - Warsteiner

We've felt a little lost without a beer tournament, so we decided to test out the radlers, including the radler-style flavored beers. 

For the first competition, we tried four of Warsteiner's radlers: Radler, Grapefruit Radler, Lemon, and Orange.  

Since the Lemon and the Radler seemed closest, we matched them up for the first competition.   

We expected they would be quite similar, but were surprised with the outcome. The Radler, not surprisingly, has the classic radler taste of light, sweet, crisp, and with hints of beer and lemon-soda. The Lemon Warsteiner, on the other hand, tasted more like lemon flavor (rather than like Sprite), though it was not bitter.  It was not sweet, though, and we barely tasted the beer. 

We unanimously chose the Radler, since it was crisper and still maintained a little beer taste.

Next up were the Grapefruit Radler and the Orange. We really had no idea what to expect.  I was somehow surprised, though, to find that the Grapefruit had actual grapefruit taste, rather than some artificial flavor that was called "grapefruit." I love grapefruit juice and will eat them plain, but the grapefruit in my beer was just a little odd.  But, big points for authentic taste...it tastes exactly as described!

The Orange, on the other hand, had an orange taste that was closer to a sweet creamsicle-y orange rather than a citrus fruit. It was light and refreshing, and clean and sweet with the orange taste coming as a very light taste at the end. 

We wouldn't say the Grapefruit Radler is bad, but the Orange is much better and refreshing.

So, then we have a final taste-off for the first spot in the Radler Final Four (yes, this really is an abbreviated tournament!):  Warsteiner Radler vs Warsteiner Orange.

It was a really close call - both the Radler and the Orange tasted very similar at the beginning of each sip.  They were crisp, light, and refreshing.  But at the end of the sip, the tastes diverged.  The Radler had the classic Sprite taste and the Orange had a light creamsicle taste.  I just found the Orange to be more enjoyable tasting, but Herr J voted for it because he could still taste a little bit of beer in there.  And even though it is a flavored summer beer, he still wanted it to be a beer.

Next up, we'll taste some of Beck's many offerings and some classic Munich radlers.  We'll also compare bottled radlers to home-made.

September at Schnitzelbahn

Hard to believe we're almost at Oktoberfest time again! Before we know it the Christmas markets will be up.

While we managed to fit in a short weekend trip or two (can't wait to show you the pictures from the Hopfenland!), Herr J and I have mostly have had our heads down, focused on work.  He's in the final stretches of a multi-year project and I've had meetings around Germany for 2 weeks, and am headed to New York for a couple of weeks of work. 

So, the dirndl sits unfinished (the skirt is made, but not yet attached to the bodice), we have hundreds of photos to sort through, and many great German goods awaiting a taste test. But we did just finish packing and cleaning, and capped it off with a quick radler tasting. Few things taste better after a hot day's work than a cold beer!

A couple of those trips were to Frankfurt, where we had a beautiful sunset.  One thing I do like about Frankfurt are the old villas - most now are hotels or offices - and the greenery. This view was out of my hotel window.

Wishing you all a good start to the school year, a good jump back into work after summer holidays, an escape from the heat, or just a really great September!

Have you seen... [laughing babies]

We are evolutionarily disposed to love babies.  And laughing with a baby is good for you.  That's why this guy has almost 200 million views.  It even has an entry in Wikipedia!.

Something about tearing paper must drive babies to laugh.  This one has made 24 million people smile...

 ...and this baby laughs so hard he falls over!

Finally, what happens when you multiply a laughing baby by four?