Reason to Celebrate!

But, seriously, who needs a reason? The Germans have annual fests in nearly every little village and, in this case, on a mountain-top. You can find one on any given weekend between May and October. Last weekend, we hiked up the mountain in back of the kids' week-day home, the Walberla (the link is in German, but there are more pictures and even a photo of the church on top), for the annual Walberla Fest. It was a beautiful but much more strenuous hike than I had expected.

Cian was thrilled to bits ;)

And an ice cream stand half-way up made the walk a bit easier.

Nearly there: here's a view of the fest as you round the last corner. It really helps with the last leg of the journey when you can smelled the roasted, candied almonds and the bratwursts. I admit, the sight of the beer tents may have been more motivating for some of us ;)

And the view from the top makes it all worth while. Note: I think this is a great picture since my attention was focused on not spilling my Radler (a beer and Sprite mixture that is quite refreshing after a long hike).

And I haven't forgotten how to knit. Here's a shot of my finished Regia Bamboo socks. The pooling was completely different on both socks, so I took a photo of the most interesting one. This was a great yarn to knit with and I'm having trouble with the idea of giving this pair away. Maybe I need more Regia Bamboo......

Nuremberg's Spring Volksfest!

I know, I know.....major slacker points here, lately. I have a great excuse - I've been totally run off my feet lately. My two classes at the university immediately doubled, but it's still only part time, so I'm not quitting my day job any time soon. Which makes for a very busy knitter. Happy, but busy :)

So to keep you all updated on what's been happening around here lately (that you actually WANT to hear me go on and on about), I've posted some pictures from this year's Volksfest. Please note compact knitting was stuffed into my tiny bag so as not to miss a single stitch.

















Masskrugs (liters!) of beer, greasy food stuffed in a bread roll and slathered with mustard and goofy German pop music aren't the only highlights of this event. This year, we concentrated our efforts on finding the quintessential Franconian male. This usually includes hair that is short on top and long in back, as many things as possible hanging off of his belt area, a mustache is a must and they are usually found in t-shirts or jackets with the Nuremberg Soccer club logo (FCN).

And Mom, before you start wagging your finger, it's not making fun of anyone, it's embracing the culture we live in.

Shields even took some time to appreciate the female of the species.

















And the table next to us started their own Olympic sport of stacking Krugs. It was great fun to watch, but I'm glad I wasn't in the way when they came tumbling down. One guy got a nasty smack on his hand, the glass was fine, but he was full of blood.























I'd rather jump up and down on the benches to goofy cover band and poke fun at the table of soldiers next to us who can't dance.























It was a great night in the end, we didn't drink too too much and we were completely exhausted from dancing on the benches and singing along at the tops of our lungs.