Stuttgart, Part 3; Where are your Lederhosen?

Penelope, why did you forget to wear your Dirndl for the Stuttgart Volksfest?



Upon arriving at the Stuttgart Volksfest we quickly realized that we were underdressed--or, better yet, not appropriately dressed.

You see, Germans take their festivals very seriously. And these very serious occasions call for nothing but the proper, very serious attire.



And before you question our photographing skills, please keep in mind that the pictures we have displayed here were very difficult to get. The Germans take their traditional attire very seriously, and we didn't want to upset them by making a mockery of them. This ain't no Halloween party folks. Besides, we were the only non-Germans around.

The traditional women's clothing is called Dirndl. Penelope is modeling--rather reluctantly--a lovely Dirndl outfit here.



By the way, when the above picture was being taken, the storekeeper got very upset with the father for taking a picture. He apparently didn't appreciate the Americans joking about the clothing in his store.

We did manage to secretly snap this photo a few moments later. (Gotcha!)



The guy in the picture above is wearing the traditional Lederhosen. Isn't he cute? It looks like he is shopping for a little something for his Frau (or his Mann).

What most surprised us about these outfits is that even the cool people were wearing them proudly. Observe the young, attractive couple below.

And look at these guys. Hanging out after a long day at work...in their Lederhosen.

And this guy complemented his Lederhosen with a delightful feather hat.

With this gentleman we observe the interaction between classic and modern.

Lederhosen + Cellphone = GQ



And the picture below is the best of all. What more can I say, he's just so serious about it all.

Though we were careful, the picture-taking did eventually get us--or really the father--into trouble. We ran into two kids who had had a few too many liters of Volksfest beer to drink. The one couldn't stand up. The other tried to help. And the father found it funny. So he decided to take some pictures.

The more sober of the two drunk dudes didn't find the father's picture-taking so funny.

When he saw the camera he lunged after the father shouting and swinging and shoving. He wanted a fight.

Luckily, the security guards swooped in and grabbed the two guys before the father--as he would say--took care of business on his own. Nevertheless, it was quite a tense moment.

Soon after we called it a night and headed to the train station. While on the train we had another curious encounter--but not so violent this time. I'll save that story for tomorrow's post...