Week 8 or 9

Sunday May 15 -

I think I owe you last week's blog, from two weeks ago now.  So, uh, lemme see.

I went back to the air base in Moron, Spain.  I met with my kinda-sorta Air Force counterpart.  It was a good & bad visit.  The good part was a dinner out in town, I was the only Marine in the group of Zoomies but had a good time.  I don't remember the kind of steak I had but it was muy fantastico!
The bad part is I hurt my leg.  I went out for a run in the afternoon which is usually great.  Since it's an air base it's flat and nicely landscaped so it's easy to get a good pace, impossible to get lost, and the palm trees wave gently in the breeze.  But, about a mile into my run my leg cramped.  So I had to hobble all the way back.
Hobble, hobble, hobble, hobble.......

But here's a nice photo of the flight line from our billeting area.

A few days later I was back here in Germany, just in time for the end of Stuttgarter Fruhlingsfest!

It's the springtime version of Oktoberfest but also with normal modern fair rides, tests of strength & skill, and ice cream.  

I went with a bunch of people from work and their spouses.  Most of the men & women wore leiderhosen (for men) or dirndl (for women).  I couldn't see spending $200 for leiderhosen that I'd only wear once, and I didn't want to scare people with my skinny white legs.

Entrance to the beer tents is free but almost everyone makes a reservation to guarantee a table.  Here's what it looks like walking in.

Yeah, it's a lot of people.  And it happened to be an unusually beautiful sunny day so you can imagine what the tent is like after a few hours - it's a big hot smelly smokey endurance contest for your kidneys.  I tried getting good pictures but it was so crowded there was always someone in the way of a good shot.  

There's a band that plays non stop for about 90 minute sets and it seems every other song was the drinking song.  And everyone stands on the benches, except when you're eating.  At the table behind us was a bunch of girls that we all said looked like they were 16.  It turns out they probably were 16 since the rules (law?) says anyone over 16 is allowed in without a parent.  Holy schnitzel.

Last thing. the next day was a Sunday and to recover I went out for a run.  Actually I was good and didn't drink too much so I wasn't hung-over.  But once again I got about a mile out and my leg cramped again.

Hobble, hobble, hobble, hobble....

It's not a muscle cramp so after a little internet searching I think I strained my achilles tendon.  So, ok, no running for awhile, just beer.  Das es gut!

http://stuttgarter-fruehlingsfest.de/en/service/haeufige-fragen/