Durch die Strassen auf und nieder, leuchten die Laternen wieder... ***Herbstunterhaltung im Deutschem Eck***

[MmeLindt]

Durch die Strassen auf und nieder
leuchten die Laternen wieder:
rote, gelbe, grüne, blaue,
Lieber Martin, komm und schaue!

Wie die Blumen in dem Garten
blühn Laternen aller Arten:
rote, gelbe, grüne, blaue,
Lieber Martin, komm und schaue!

Und wir gehen lange Strecken
mit Laternen an den Stecken
rote, gelbe, grüne, blaue,
Lieber Martin, komm und schaue!

*

It is that time of the year again. Check your lanterns, get enough batteries, start the Bastelaktion.

boy am I whacked. Didn't sleep at all last night. Have a birthday party today (yippee, sigh) taking a ton of dc to the circus and I have somehow made a reasonable looking castle cake this morning. Have one heck of a head-ache already though.

Lol at brötchen ohne kümmel.

Reminds me of one of my favourite wü stories. A friend left her American visitor at the Marienkappelle to go to the bank. She was most impressed to see him eating a bratwurst and when she asked how he managed to order it in his nonexistent Deutsch he replied that he just listened to the guy in front of him and ordered "eine MIT bitte".

If the guy in front had not wanted senf then the visitor would have eaten his bratwurst without senf too.

I am still sniggling about that 10 years later.

Zzzen
you were a right rebel.

Dh wanted to go into town alone today. I am hopeful that I am getting an anniversary present tomorrow. First time in years.

Going to bake a cake. Have got sparklers in the shape of the numbers 12. Not sure what kind of cake to make.

not around this week - we've had lovely visitors from the UK so been out doing nice things!!

but had decided to go to Wuerzburg today (shops closed but therefore less people make it easier with 3 small dc) but now ds2 is properly poorly - he's got a raging temp that i cant bring down with paracetamol and dh is working today so i cant leave him with dh! feel gutted - i love wuerzburg and was looking forward to a bratwurst in the marktplatz!

feel a bit stressed about them going back to the UK tom with the terrorist threat hanging around for after the election - but they said on the way here the police presence in the airport was massive!

will read the rest of the thread tom - skimmed it before - think i might take a good look at the recipe - think i should show willing since i live in Unter Franken!

dire times we live in Canella with all this terrorism. Hope nothing drastic does happen but I think something is planned by the sounds of it and all the extra barricades and fences put up everywhere around American facilities etc. Just takes one idiot willingto die him/herself and that's it really, hard to prevent.

Sorry you missed out on your Bratwurst. Is ds any better today?

thanks zzen - ds is a bit better today - no fever but he's lost his voice and has a crackly cough! so no kiga for him this morn - instead he had a nice time with us grown ups!

havent read anything specific about the level of terror threat today but will feel better when they're home. I'm also going back to the UK on sat for a couple of days and i hate flying at the best of times so will be a nervous wreck by then! its the anniversary of my friend's death next monday so just wanted to be back with friends then so we can celebrate her life together. amazing how quickly a year goes by!

it has gone fast canella. Or it feels that way. I remember you mentioning her death and it doesn't feel like it was a year ago. Well, I do find flying a bit stressful at times, it's not that I'm scared (I blank all that out generally) but with the crowds and checking in, your luggage going astray etc etc, it isn't exactly an enjoyable experience at times.

Hope you have a nice trip back even if the occasion is a sad one. How is her family getting on?

they are amazing - he's coping so well considering how little he did before she died! and the kids are coping remarkably well too - think they're too little to understand it all. they're only 6 and 4 now - just makes my heart break to think of all the things that they'll do in life that she'll miss out on - the little one will just have started school - so sad.

but i'm hoping the trip wont be too sad - want to remember nice things about her and we'll probably have a good time reminiscing.

sorry to hit & run, no time for catch up, just wanted to thnk nn for nitty gritty advice - kids back at school hurray

had much fun at wiesn

Well done ernest, that was a quick recovery! Nitty gritty comb must be good.

Still no flat here, few calls but from people who didn't read the advert properly so offering flats miles away!

There is an Oktoberfest in Hannover according to the paper, expecting up to a million visitors but don't fancy it really. I'm sorry to say that along with Fasching, the Wiesn is just part of German culture that I don't get!

Canella
Gosh, the year has gone fast. Good to hear that your friend's DH is coping well. Must be hellish.

DS is also off school today. He has a bad cold, a really barking cough. He has just got up 10 mins ago and is now sitting watching SuperRTL. Thank God for satelitte TV when the DC are ill.

I was wanting to go out for coffee with friends this morning but it will be a quiet day in with him. Oh, well. I can get caught up on my emails and French homework.

Admylin
I have never been to the Wiesn, after living 16 years in Germany, 10 of those years reasonably close to Munich. I am not a great Beerfest person anyway so not bothered particularly. It was a bit scary to see the security measures.

I've been once when I first came to Germany as a student. Went with a group of foreign students in coach and I just thought well this is just an over sized fun fair. LIked the guided tour around Munich though, that was great and going into the Bräuhaus in the centre where we foolishly sat on the Stammtisch - but we were all speaking French to each other so they sort of accepted us as foolish tourists who don't know the rules - well we didn't then!

Hi all - may I join your thread? I live in Munich and have been teased by the Weisn this year as am pregnant with triplets, so not even a sip of the liquid heaven has been permitted (although in fairness I probably had more than my share last year ) We took DD1 on Saturday and I wore my dirndl - I think DH quite liked my fuller preggars boobs look!

I´ve never been to the Oktoberfest either, even though my brother has lived in München for over 10 years. We keep saying we´ll go, but never seem to make it.

MmeLindt - hope your ds starts feeling better soon. I like your good intentions of catching up on French homework etc. I know I´d end up on mumsnet all day .

My news is that the local Grundschule have asked me to work as supply cover and I´ve foolishly said yes. Hessen offers an Unterrichtagarantie which means that the dc won´t be sent home if their teacher is ill. Of course, they haven´t got enough teachers to cover this situation, so students, retired teachers etc. are asked to plug the gaps. I´ve got my first class today. It´s only 1 hour and then 2 hours tomorrow. I´m really dreading it. My German is good, but by no means perfect and I´m recalling with horror the hard time some supply teachers had when I was working in England. Oh well, if it´s a nightmare I suppose I needn´t go back, but it will be embarrassing as it´s so local.

Welcome CakeBuddy - wow triplets! When are they due? You`re brave facing the Weisn when pregnant. I always imagine the queues for the loos must be horrendous and when I was pregnanat it felt like I had to go every 10 minutes. How long have you been in München?

Hupa
Well, so far I have been on MN all morning, but he is not long up and I am intending to put the PC off sometime soon.

I was good yesterday and did not put the pc on until 5pm and I got so much done. Who knew?

Cakebuddy
Welcome. Have you been in Munich long? Wow at triplets. Are you fed up of the "ohh, you are a glutton for punishment" kind of comments yet? My friend had twins and I am always aghast at the questions she is asked. Must be much worse with triplets.

She had boy/girl twins and has been asked if they are identical twins.

I am into my third year in Munich and still haven't been to Wiesn. DH has been the last two Saturdays and it is wearing thin seeing him struggle on Sundays...He reckons we should take the boys one "quiet" day but I think it's a recipe for disaster. We will lose one of them for sure..Oh and I don't like beer either!

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of Hans Dieter Genscher's speech in the Prager Botschaft I still cannot watch that without welling up.

Agree mmelindt, always get goose bumps with that one.
Same with films of the first night they went through the Berliner mauer. My friend in Berlin told me that she used to just walk through the west Berlin streets when the wall fell, just wander for hours looking then she'd go back to her east side flat and say 'don't know what all the fuss is about'! The rest of the world felt so differently and someone who lived right on the border just didn't see the fuss of it all!

We've been living here for four years already - how time flies! We already have DD1 who will be two in a few weeks time, and then the triplets should hopefully be with us in March. I'm only 9 weeks and not really showing yet so not had many crazy comments - but as it's going to be a short pregnancy (approx 32-34w) we've been telling people as needed the reality boost to get our heads around it! They are non-identical and a total surprise!

And I only needed to pee at the Weisn twice which I thought was pretty good going, and the toilets were clean-ish, hoorah!!

Oh, I didn't know this was on youtube, have to watch it at home. I remember sitting on the sofa crying my eyes out watching this live on TV. I grew up thinking the DDR was a different country and always would be and then it all came differently. Another blub fest for me was watching Leonard Bernstein conducting the Berlin Philharmonic on New Years day 1990 playing Beethoven's 9th.
I went to the Wiesn every year a few times while I lived in Munich. I loved it but I do love a good party and I'm good in crowds. I don't mind Fasching either. I used to waitress during Fasching and I could live of the money I made during that time for many months.

Well, get your replies ready for the comments you are bound to get. My poor friend got upset at one old lady, who said, "Um Gottes Willen, wie furchtbar" when she saw the twins and their 2yo sister.

I replied, "Ja, Kinder sind ein Segen, gel?"

That shut the old biddy up.

I don't care for the Oktoberfest in Hannover either. It's really just the Frühlingsfest and the Schützenfest all over again. Been many times, never liked it much. My husband used to take the kids on Familientag, but they're bored with it now too. I guess when they start drinking beer they'll think differently. :-)

Only one more school day until Herbstferien in Lower Saxony begin so I'll be able to sleep in again. Looks like the rainy season is starting too.

Nah, Oktoberfest is great. I'm not so bothered about the fair stuff, don't enjoy rides so much, tho of course, the kids love it. But it is fun to see so many people in Trakt, tho some of the Dirndl are truly eye popping. Next year I will get one, when I've finally slimmed back down, but I will remain decent

But you have to go in the tents to really get the feeling for it. The atmosphere is so great, everyone's singing and laughing, it's a real fun party atmosphere. I had the best night out last week, though it was also to do with meeting new people and having a laugh and been child free for a couple of hours. It was fantastic.

We took the boys in a tent on Monday, during the day, and they loved it too, the music and singing and watching everyone. So an unreserved thumbs up. I can't believe so many of you live so close or have access to it and haven't given it a go!

CakeBuddy, welcome and congratualtions. You must still be in shock and totally terrified and excited. Whereabouts are you living? I'm to the east, in Feldkirchen. I've been here just over 1 year.

Is that right that everything will be shut on Saturday as well as Sunday??! Can I try in vain to get dh we mow the lawn on Saturday?

Yes, October 3rd is a national holiday - everything shut up tight. Mowing the lawn is probably all right, though.

Arrgh another blinking bank holiday on a Saturday?! Thank you for the warning - I'll get organised tomorrow instead!

@ ErnestTB - we've just north of the city in Unterschleissheim. We've been here 4 years and have a 2yr DD1. How old are your boys? And I agree, Oktoberfest rocks!!