Maifest 2024

May 1 is a national holiday. In Germany, it’s a day for senseless violence by black-clad thugs. In Bavaria, the indigenous celebrate Mary, the Patroness of Bavaria and everyone can celebrate Maifest and the official opening of the Biergärten for the season.

Many small villages around Freising got new Maibäume (maypoles) this year; we went on a nice hike to Lerchenfeld, a neighborhood in Freising on the other side of the river, to see theirs.

This Maibaum is 26m tall, weights 2.9 metric tons, and when a group from a neighboring village tried to steal it in the middle of the night (this is a Bavarian tradition), they needed sixty people to carry it off. They nearly got it onto a trailer before someone called the police. Heh.

May 1 is also for St. Waldburga, which is how we ended up with Wally tagging along.

The Grüner Hof is a very traditional Wirtshaus, and we need to go there more.

The party was packed. They ran out of normal Weißbier glasses and we got served out of the special glasses that are normally only used by members of the a soccer fan club. “This is a great honor!” we were told, by an acquaintance who is a member.

The walk home was long and thirsty. We stopped in at our usual to enjoy the shade of the chestnut trees, some traditional dance music, and more beer.