10/17/2014 0 Comments Calgary Tattoo & Arts FestivalAND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT . . .
After our fun show at StoryBook Theatre, we went to an amazing event we've never been to before: the Calgary Tattoo & Arts Festival, hosted at the BMO Centre at Stampede Park. Although we didn't get tattoos done at the Tattoo Festival, we did run into the lady who did Neal's most recent piercings (a few months ago he got two new earrings with his friend Krista). The piercer's name is Miza, and it's memorable, because her business card looks like it says "VISA" - complete with the logo and colours! www.calgarytattoos.com 9/27/2014 0 Comments Oktoberfest | BMO Centrecalgaryoktoberfest.comOktoberfest, in September?
I've never been to Oktoberfest before, and certainly not in September! I don't have a "bucket list", but if I did, one of the top things would be Oktoberfest in Munich, where it really originated! There's something amazing about German food, German beer, German music and German culture that makes it a very attractive goal to have! I've never been to a tasting event like this before. We had to purchase admission, and then little coupons we had to trade in for drinks. I think it's quite a common way to sample food and drink, but I've never been to an event, so I didn't know how much we should be spending! Beer samples, on average, were two tokens (i.e. $2.00), and food ranged from about $3 to $9, so we thought we'd get $40 each. Das Bier I guess in general, I usually like what I like when it comes to beer. I was certainly willing to try a lot of different things, and really enjoyed all of them - but in some ways, I already knew what I'd like and what I probably wouldn't. There were a few surprises and a few new brands for me to try when we're out next time. One thing that was very exciting was to try a new ToolShed brew that was uncasked right in front of us! It was a beer infused with maple bacon, and believe it or not, it was pretty fantastic! It didn't have a smokey flavour of other bacon-flavoured food and drink, but had a rich and dark flavour, accompanied by a dark beer - almost a stout. What an experience that was! Other favourites included a blueberry ale and a light crisp radler. Das Essen Apart from the Bier offerings, there were many different food choices from local vendors and restaurants. My favourites have to include the large salty pretzels, and the Schnitzel Lasagna! We now have a few more restaurants to try out - especially Wurst, which I've heard a lot of good things about! The pretzels were a hot commodity, and we were asked no less than five times where we got them! Die Musik One of my personal favourite parts was the Oom-Pah Oom-Pah of the live polka band! The German Knights Polka Band (aka the Dixie Knights) were awesome! They were better when they played, and didn't worry about trying to engage the audience in drinking games and shouts of Prost! Honestly, if it was just asking the audience to "cheers", it would be one thing - but it degraded into a long, elaborate and repetitive scenario each time; same jokes, same songs, same delay and eventual fizzle out of everyone's attention! Maybe if we'd all been a little drunker, the jokes would have gotten funnier! Maybe not. That being said, the music they played was very entertaining. It's lively and quick and all seems very familiar, even when it's Polka #72, which I'm sure I've never heard before - it really does sound familiar and nostalgic! Absolutely, without a doubt, we will be back for Oktoberfest 2015! It really was a very fun event! Auf Wiedersehen! |
AuthorMonti Tanner (he/him) BEd, BA, MEd Archives
May 2023
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