The main ride road of the Oktoberfest 2010 with the church of St Paul in the background, Munich, Bavaria Some background information: The Oktoberfest is a 16- to 18-day festival held each year in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, running from middle of September to the first weekend in October. It's one of the most famous events in Germany and the world's largest fair, with some six million people attending every year. The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations, modeled after the Munich event. In 2010 the festival lasts exceptionally until the first October Monday, to mark the 200 year jubilee of the event. The Oktoberfest is held on an area named the Theresienwiese (Therese’s green), often called “the Wiesn” for short, which is located near Munich's centre South East of the main train station. Each year visitors eat huge amounts of traditional hearty fare such as Hendl (chicken), Schweinsbraten (roast pork), Schweinshaxe (ham hock}, Steckerlfisch (grilled fish on a stick), Wuerstl (sausages) along with Brezln (pretzels), Knoedel (potato or bread dumplings), Kasspatzn (cheese noodles), Reiberdatschi (potato pancakes), Sauerkraut (sour white cabbage) or Blaukraut (sweet red cabbage) along with such Bavarian delicacies as Obatzda (a spiced cheese-butter spread) and Weisswuerste (white sausages). The beer of altogether six Munich breweries is served in one-litre beer mugs. It’s a strong beer with 7,5 to 8% alcohol. Many people overestimate their ability to handle large amounts of this beer and therefore drunkenness and its consequences are always problems on the Oktoberfest. Nowadays 14 large beer tents and 15 smaller ones serve the visitors’ thirst for beer, wine or even sparkling wine. Many of the visitors of the Oktoberfest picture German men as wearing Lederhosen and hats with so called gamsbarts and German women as wearing Dirndls. That’s why during the Oktoberfest you can see many people wearing more or less traditional Bavarian costumes. But don’t deduce from this fact that Bavarian people are costumed like this all year round. During the rest of the year locals as well as tourists prefer wearing business outfits or common casual clothes. The original Oktoberfest occurred in Munich on October 12, 1810. For the public commemoration of their marriage that took place five days before, Crown Prince Ludwig (later King Ludwig I) and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen (namesake of the Theresienwiese festival grounds) organized a great horse race. The event was so successful that it was decided to renew it in 1811, where an agricultural show was added. In 1816, carnival booths appeared whereby the main prizes were silver, porcelain, and jewelry. A parade took place for the first time in 1835 to honour the marriage of King Ludwig I and Therese of Bavaria. Since 1850 the statue of Bavaria is watching the Oktoberfest. This worldly Bavarian patron was first sketched by the famous architect Leo von Klenze in a classic style whilst Ludwig Michael Schwanthaler romanticised the draft. It was constructed by Johann Baptist Stiglmaier and Ferdinand von Miller. In 1880 the electric light illuminated over 400 booths and tents (Albert Einstein helped install lightning bulbs in the Schottenhamel tent as an apprentice at his uncle's electricity business in 1896). In 1881, booths selling bratwursts opened. And beer was first served in glass mugs in 1892. Since then the festival’s evolvement to the world’s largest funfair has been continuing until the present day. PS: This is the final photo of a series of altogether eight snapshots taken on the Oktoberfest 2010. Phew! Thank goodness it's over! :-)

Merry Christmas everyone! I can't believe it's Christmas, I really can't. I was just here, at this same room a year ago, unwrapping a Nikon camera. I didn't know it then, but that was a big beginning and turning point for me and my photography, and that was already a year ago.... WHAT? This 365 project makes a year seem so short and insignificant. I guess a year already is, even though it seems like a long time, it really isn't. But Christmas was nice. I got my parents two porcelain mugs from Rhode Island to drink their coffee in, and we all pulled our money to buy them a new gourmet coffee machine. But it's not really gourmet. I got my brother a jacket and two v-necks, a vanilla candle, and six pairs of ankle socks. And I got my sister some prints of my photos, yummy organic soap, a few blouses, a bonnet, and some silver bracelets. I got a new pair of shoes, a sweater, and a NEW CELLPHONE. Yeah momma!! After that, we went to pick up my Aunt Lilian and Cousins Gabriel and Liam from the airport, on Christmas morning, yes. It was great fun once they got here. I haven't seen Gabriel since he was 12, and now that he's 22, it freaks me out; it was like I was re-meeting my cousins. In the afternoon, I drove my sister and Gabriel to buy a bottle of wine and a box of beer, even though most of the stores in the mountain area were closed. That night, my aunt taught Krystal and I how to salsa dance. Krystal was drinking a ton of wine, so she was laughing and stumbling all over the place. It was quite hilarious. We all went to bed early.