Das Stocherkahnrennen

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Trysta

Every year, the college town of Tübingen holds a “Stocherkahnrennen” on the Neckar River. Basically, a fraternity punt-boat race! There were fifty-five punt boats entered this year to race 2km up and down the river…all for a barrel of beer…which the cultural office pays for!

The crowds and the punters were getting ready pretty early along the Neckar.

But first, the Kostümparade (costume parade)!

There were some Spidermen…

…and some Hula-men.

You know you’re in for an interesting day, when the ambulance is on-call and ready to go!

The A-team had a small run-in with the tourist boat.

Then there were these guys. I’m not sure how a German flag constitutes a costume, but hey, that’s one way to do it!

Here were the winners of the costume parade…the Lego-men! They were pretty impressive!

Finally, it was time to start the race. 1km downstream and then 1km upstream.

Of course, there was a catch: halfway through the race, the punt boats had to make a 180^o U-turn through the “needle eye”. About 10 feet across, the “needle eye” is where all the drama of the race takes place: traffic jams, collisions, shoving, sinking!

The “needle eye”

Everything started pretty calm in the beginning.

Looks like the spider-men had a busy day!

Just a few crashes…

…a few men overboard…

…and even some voluntary disembarkments.

Hopefully the knee pads will help him float.

Then, more of the 55 boats started coming into the danger zone…all at the same time.

Eventually, no one was moving. The boats had totally jammed themselves into the tiny crevice under the bridge! Emergency services were not needed, thank goodness, and the boats slowly pushed and shoved themselves out of the needle eye. After the 1km haul upstream to the finish line, the losers got to claim their prize…a liter of cod-liver oil, which they had to drink in front of all the other boats.

We didn’t stick around for the “drinking ceremony”, but at 54 losing boats, about 6 members per boat, I calculate over 300 liters of cod-liver oil imbibed! Gross!

I never thought I would stand over the Neckar River and watch a bunch of boys put so much effort into winning a free barrel of beer! I guess this is just another delightful discovery we were able to enjoy during our journey though Germany. Maybe we’ll return to Tübingen sometime and try out those punt boats ourselves!

That’s What Dads Are For

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Trysta

Today I dropped my Dad off at the airport after a great visit. It was filled with highs and lows, both literally and figuratively. I’ll expand on the highs, keep the lows brief, and leave everything between for him to tell!

We headed to Garmisch-Partenkirchen for my Dad’s first Alpine ski adventure. First day’s highlight was a trip down the Kandahar! Now, when he watches it on TV he can tell everyone he has skied it himself!!

The next day was even better! The weather was perfect, so we decided to head to Germany’s highest peak, the Zugspitze.

It says, “Treading on the roof area forbidden. Beware! Mortal danger”. Yeah, clearly!

It was such a great day skiing in the bowl of the Zugspitze. No clouds, no wind, shining sun, good legs. One of those days that you doze off a little on the chairlift in the warmth of the sun. God, I love those days!

Now, here comes the low. Thankfully it waited until after our great day to strike. I don’t know if it was the Frankfurter I ate at high altitude, riding backwards on a cog-wheel train from the highest peak in Germany, or some creepy bug deciding to take residence in my stomach, but within seconds of climbing off the train, everyone still aboard was gifted with a nice show of me disgorging my lunch.

If that wasn’t bad enough, it just got worse. After retch #10 I figured I better start keeping track, because something wasn’t right. Around #15 my Dad urged me to get a doctor because he was clocking me at a consistent 10-minute turn-around time. When I was in high school he used to time my splits in the 500m Freestyle. As an adult, I guess it is heave-intervals! In the middle of the night I woke up to pray to the porcelain gods and really thought I had been successful at not waking him. (Who was I kidding?) I heard him say, “Well, it’s been three and a half hours since last time. That’s a record!”

The doctor called it a “stomach infection”. After regurgitation #29 I called it “pure hell”. The following day, after finally mustering enough upchuck-control, we headed for home. When I thanked him for taking care of me and wandering into a foreign town in a foreign country late at night to pick up three prescriptions from the doctor, my Dad’s simple response was, “That’s what Dads are for.” I chocked back a few tears and hoped they wouldn’t trigger my gag reflex.

Back on the mend, we headed for the Swiss Alps. Europe’s highest peak, the Jungfrau, is located just outside Interlaken, Switzerland. We opted to skip the 175Franc (each!) price tag to take the train to Europe’s highest train station and instead enjoyed a view that included the peak.

Dad and Joe trying to figure out which peak was the Jungfrau and which was the Eiger.

It was yet another fantastic day in the mountains!

The Bernese Alps

Brienzersee

My Dad added 4 countries to his log during this visit! In his own words, “ain’t bad for an old man!” Nice work, Dad!

Die Reservierung

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Trysta

Thanks to Joe’s fancy fingers, we enjoyed a table reservation at the coveted Hippodrom!

Our view from the table, inside the Hippodrom.

Hippodrom decorations

The band members kicked off the celebrations by downing a liter each, within about 30 seconds! “So, you play a mean accordion, but what is your personal best on emptying a Maβ? Over a minute? I’m sorry, we are going to have find someone else.”

Don’t forget some snacks to wash down the beer.

So, I’m pretty sure the waiters were required to pass fitness tests prior to the start of Oktoberfest. Count ‘em….that’s seven! And he held them patiently while I clumsily dug my camera out.