viel spaß!

I dunno what it is about Munich that keeps calling me back (well, besides the friends I've made there), but I'm headed back again. On my first visit there after the 2006 Olympics, I happened to be there during what is known as "Starkbierfest" - completely unplanned and coincidence. But being such a novice about Bavarian ways, I ended up missing the main event. The website was in German (naturally), but I was able to figure out the basic information, which showed the event to run from midday to evening. Thinking that surely most people would go to an event that included beer later in the day, I showed up later in the day. Silly me. What I found were the last remnants of what looked to have been a great celebration - a few stragglers, the band and waitresses cleaning and packing up. I had missed it. That is probably what gave me the impetus to go back for Oktoberfest in the fall of the next year, and once I did that, I had to go back again. Well Starkbierfest is next weekend, and I intend to be there. In all honesty, this really is the product of the cheap airfares that are out there right now. My round trip ticket was around $480. I checked it daily for several weeks, and just couldn't say no any longer. (traveltip - there are still fares like that out there to most everywhere in Europe; be sure to search dates that include flights on Mon/Tues/Wed). I will admit that I didn't realize it was up so soon after the Dallas Rodeo - which fell on my February calendar and thus made this trip "in March" seem longer after it. But it has even worked out nicely with work: a backburner project has come to the fore, and it happens to be one that will travel well with me. So Monday night I'm on my way... stay tuned.