Octoberfest

Marty and I went to our first ever Octoberfest party on Tuesday night.  Wednesday, Oct 3rd was German Reunification Day and therefore the kids didn't have school the following day which allowed us to stay out without guilt.  They stayed at home and they have been pretty good about just taking care of themselves while we are out (with a few texts back and forth or calls) but they are never very good at getting to bed.  So unless it is a weekend or the day before a holiday I don't like to leave them alone.
Anyway, it was the Octoberfest party for a neighboring private school (BBIS) and our good friends, Gillian and Andy invited us to join them.  It was billed as "Octoberfest attire optional - but much more fun if you dress up"  Neither Marty nor I have ever had a dirndl or lederhosen.  We didn't want to buy them just for a one off

party but I really did want to dress up.
A friend here set me a picture of her in the German Alps near Munich with a newly purchased dirndl.  I commented how cute it was and that I needed one for an upcoming party.  She said I could borrow hers.  I also had posted that Marty needed some lederhosen and asked where to buy them in Berlin.  Another friend said that her husband had some that Marty could borrow.  Marty and I are both nowhere near "average size" 

He is super tall and I am super short.  The chances of anything randomly fitting us would be slim but I thought we should give it a try.  Lo and behold they both fit us perfectly.  Neither of these garments are forgiving.  The dirndl is like a wedding dress - very tight along the zip up sides.  The lederhosen are thick, leather pants - no give at all!!  We could have spent an hour at several different stores looking and not found clothes that fit us this well.
The restaurant had an authentic Octoberfest keg from Munich area.  Octoberfest is MUCH more a southern Germany thing that a northern one but still celebrated here and there just without as much gusto.  The keg is apparently "tapped" by hammering in a tap into the real wooden keg.

As you can imagine much of the beer came pouring out as they were trying to hammer in this tap.  It came bubbling out of the top and spilled out over the floor.  The waste was kind of crazy actually.  Not sure if they just didn't know what they were doing or this was typically when tapping this type of keg.  Nonetheless the beer finally came out and it was tasty.  Different than the typical Hefeweizen or Pilsner type you get in Berlin.

 The food was VERY Bavarian - basically huge chunks of meat.
Very fun for our first taste of Octoberfest.