Austrian..Fashion?

I have to quickly note a realization here in regards to the dirndls, lederhosen, and other traditional Austrian garb commonly seen in my photos. Contrary to what Americans might find in Halloween catalogs, the Austrians aren’t playing dress up or showing off costumes. This is a custom in both their historic AND modern culture.

When I went to Oktoberfest two years ago, I ignorantly thought the attire was more of a historic mockery, and rather silly looking too. After living in Linz for a month now, I’ve observed and realized that the outfits are more honorable than anything else. Most Austrians own at least one dirndl or pair of lederhosen to wear to special occasions. However, it is not uncommon to find people walking down the street dressed in such clothing.

My friend Vicky (from Austria) informed me that many Austrian weddings and formal events expect guests to dress in authentic clothing. Interestingly enough, dirndl and lederhosen aren’t as mainstream in Germany as they are in Austria. The Germans typically wear them at Oktoberfest and other particular events to demonstrate tradition and national pride; whereas some Austrians sport them as modern fashion.

After this bit of enlightenment, I have to say, I was more comfortable dressed in a dirndl at Oktoberfest than a hoodie (like my first time). ”When in Rome," right?

So to anyone else who initially thought of the Austrian attire as quaint and outdated…now we both know better.

Oktoberfest, we meet again!

I never thought I'd have the chance to go to Oktoberfest again. I went two years ago and considered it one of the best weekends of my life (or perhaps, the beer swayed my recollection into thinking so).  It’s one of those experiences you believe to be “once in a lifetime." So you could imagine my excitement when the opportunity reoccurred this year. We planned a while back (when Reid signed his contract) that we would attend Oktoberfest, especially with this year being the 200^th anniversary celebration.  And so, we did.

We were out the door by 6:00am, buying our tickets and McDonalds breakfast at the train station by 6:45am, sprinting to the train at 6:50am, and luckily on our way by 6:52am!

Two and a half hours later we arrived in Munich dressed in our lederhosen and dirndls. We were ready to go! 

By 10:00am we were in a tent (Augustiner), at a table, and had ordered our first round of “groses biers.” I'd like to think of it as a healthy German breakfast.

As time passed, the tent grew busy with a diverse crowd all coming together for the celebration. Every tent develops a communal energy and suddenly it’s as if we’ve been friends with the people surrounding us all our lives. Okay, I’ll admit…the beer drinking has something to do with the over-friendly Germans, but it’s more than that. People walk into Oktoberfest with happy, energetic, and optimistic attitudes; which I believe to be the true foundation behind the cheerful atmosphere. The beer just enhances it…obviously.

Outside the tent was a different world.  The streets were overwhelmed with crowds, carnival rides, games, gift stands, and food vendors galore. It’s a good thing we already had our tickets booked home for that afternoon, otherwise we would have gotten caught up in it all night long!

We got to the train station just in time to see our train leave without us. Perfect. We waited an hour or so and jumped on the next train back to Linz. The combination of the day's festivities and our animated bunch made the train ride back far more amusing than the ride there.

By 8:30pm we arrived back in Linz. We went, we saw, we drank, and we survived another Oktoberfest.