Oktoberfest!

It's been a busy fall here in Italy.  Temperatures have finally started to drop and even the leaves are changing color.  It's not New England foliage, but we'll take the burnt yellows here and there.

Fall is synonymous with Oktoberfest and of course, most Americans want to travel to Germany to experience the renown beer festival held annually in Munich.  Although we were actually suppose to go to this event (blame me...I had to work the weekend we planned to go), we found a suitable alternative.

Beer & Pretzels- Both GF!

Just outside of Munich to the northeast lies the suburb of Aschheim.  This small town is not only home to the BMW test track, it also hosts a Gluten-Free Oktoberfest!  How could we not go?

Signs demanding GF nutrition-  This place is for me!

After a long 5+ hour drive, we arrived at the local civic center for the festival, which was hosted by the Celiac Society of Bavaria.  It was primarily reserved for local Germans and when we arrived speaking English and from the US, the event organizers were shocked.  How did we find out about this?  Why were we here?  Did we come all the way from the US just for this event?  While in line for some delicious food, we spoke to a German man who, upon learning that we were American, asked if we had found a "cure" for Celiac Disease yet.  If anyone would have it, it would be the Americans, he argued.  I didn't want to tell him that GF living in Europe seems a lot better than in the US.

I could get used to this!

Speaking of the food, the Munich Dietician School was on hand serving delicious GF schnitzel and strudel.

Delicious Food

While this was certainly not a rowdy event like the famous Oktoberfest is portrayed, it was certainly authentic.  An oompah band played on stage and men and women dressed in lederhosen and dirndls.

Very authentic...

The festival was also a chance for many gluten free vendors to sell their products and I left with samples of many new treats, a GF cookbook in German (it has nice pictures and it was free) and snacks made by my favorite GF brand of all- Schar!

Look at all my goodies!

After the festival, we ventured back through Austria and visited the town of Hart im Zillertal.  While this small town is nothing more than a church, school, hotel and some homes, we were passing right through our namesake and decided we had to stop for some good photos.  It was a beautiful day and the views and surroundings were worth the effort.

Cemetery in Hart

Willkommen in Hart!

From Hart, we ventured to Innsbruck, Austria- a favorite small city of ours.  Although we've been to Innsbruck before, we decided it was a good stopping point for the night.  After a brief stroll through the city, we headed to one of our favorite European restaurants and enjoyed some more good food.

The Golden Roof in Innsbruck

While we didn't make it to Munich for the spectacle of Oktoberfest, we certainly experienced our own local and more authentic celebration of German (and Gluten-Free) delicacies!