Our resident Bavarian with his first glass of the morning. Photo Nicolette Stewart.

Beer.  Pretzels.  Sausages dipped in sweet mustard and horseradish.  Sound like fun?  Probably.  Sound like breakfast?  Probably not.  But in Bavaria weissbier or weizenbier (both names for wheat beer), weisswurst (white sausages), and bretzeln (pretzels) are a long-standing brunch tradition.  And the name of the game is Frühschoppen.

Perhaps you remember the great cheap beer taste test of 2009.  Well it turns out one night, six people, and 15 of the cheapest beers that we could find wasn’t going far enough.  It was time to go advance to the next level in German beer connoisseur-ship and tackle wheat beer, with a side of sausage and pretzels.

Empty bottles by last_hero (Flickr)

Usually, clearing up after a party is a thoroughly depressing experience. Not only do you repeatedly discover as you open up draws, lift up mats and clean bathtubs that friendship is no barrier to people obeying their natural (and less natural) drunken urges in your flat, you also realise that you’re going to have to carry about thirteen stone of glasses down to the bottle bank, the bag leaking a mixture of stale beer and flat rum and coke onto your left slipper as you go.

After my first visit to the Oktoberfest, I’ve come to the conclusion that the world outside Germany breaks down neatly into two categories: those who have been, and those who haven’t. Those who haven’t might still think that Germans are all organisation, regularity and curtness. Those who have know that Germany is indeed organised and regular – but also exceptionally friendly. In other words, they are already kind of in on the secret of why I like living here.

So what is it about the Oktoberfest that is so great? Well, I’m not one for worrying about my reputation, so I’ll happily tell you straight down the line that the drinking is superb. The beer is strong, delicious and comes served in litre glasses termed Maßkrüge: with that as a starting point, what’s not to like?

photo by flicker user tmivy/Tracie Ivy

For almost a week now, the whole of Hamburg has been a fairground, with rollercoasters, big wheels and all the trimmings.

Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration; but we are talking about a part of the city so big that it kind of gives you that impression. The “Heiligengeistfeld” – also the name of the legendary St. Pauli FC football stadium next-door – is about half a mile long and several hundred yards wide. That makes it big enough to be served by two underground stops – one at each end. Which is a good job, really, since, until the last week of August, the area will be overrun with thrill-seeking teenagers and tourists, as well as the odd local adrenalin addict, like myself.

After having taken a look at the Hermannsdenkmal last week, I stayed overnight in Detmold, the nearest town. It’s a small, provincial place which, despite its exceptionally well-preserved old centre and attractive castle, has never quite made it into the big leagues of German day-trip destinations. That honour seems – in terms of medieval cities – to be have been reserved for Lübeck, Münster and Bamberg.

Yet, as I found out, the Detmolders are not disheartened, and are making a concerted effort to use the attention that the two-thousandth anniversary of the gigantic Varusschlacht – you know, the one from the start of Gladiator –has focused on the area to try and parley their neat little old-town into a big tourist attraction.