Friday at German Fest in Milwaukee

Friday at German Fest was jam packed with fun. The visitors were very enthusiastic about Styrina's show. Styrina has beautiful long blond hair as you can see from the photo to the left. So I asked her to take a spin.

Styrina has a great mix of both Volksmusik and Schlager. She had people "schunkling" (which I call the German Arobics) and she came off stage, got up on the bleachers in the audience and interacted with the people while she was singing. This is her first time to the Milwaukee German Fest and there are many people who are hoping this will not be her last.

The Sandlers played most of the afternoon and enjoyed singing to the crowd that kept growing. As people walked by and heard the great sound that these muscians produced, they were just drawn in like a magnet. There were a lot of people who had become fans from years before and were very happy to see that the Sandlers had a new CD to offer. Willy, the lead singer, led a polanaise and got everyone on their feet. Willy is also an accomplished glass blower and if you had time to explore the shops you may have seen some the detailed glass items he & his wife had for sale there.

If you are looking to download some of the pictures in the Slide show below, just click on View all Images. It will take you to the slide show website and you just need to right click and download the picture you like. And... it's all FREE.

Thursday at German Fest

Milwaukee's German Fest opened last night and the crowd was treated to FREE admission and fabulous entertainment. The Widderstein Buaba/Oberallgau Musikanten are a fantastic show band and had everyone hopping to the newest music in the Volksmusik scene and a lot of old favorites as well. Hans (Big John) is pictured to the left; he really gets into his music. The program said Widderstein Buaba, but this is a combination of 2 bands: Widdersteiner and Oberallgau Musikanten for when they play big festivals. They seemed to get their own groupees before long and if you would like to sign the Widderstiner guestbook or/and Oberallgau Musikanten guestbook to let them know how much you enjoyed their performance click on the guestbook links above.

Styrina from Austria is the headliner at German Fest this year and had the crowd (especially the men) mesmerized. Her long beautiful blond hair had trouble keeping up with her as she flew around the stage. We saw this talented singer during our Bus Tour in Austria and there is a short video of Styrina in the side bar on the left. Styrina is a beautiful young woman, but she has been on stage for many years. A friend of mine brought a tape of her from when she was only 12 years old.

The Sandlers, who I often refer to as the "red shirts", had the people on their feet and dancing. Peter, who is the leader of the band, was also our tour guide when we were on our bus tour in May. He was a great tour guide, but he is a fantastic muscian. He brought 4 talented muscians with him and we are so grateful that they were at our house entertaining our guests. We are proud to say that they have also become very good friends of ours.

Pre-German Fest Party

We had a great time giving a Welcome party for the Sandlers, last night. They will be playing German Fest all weekend. When Peter generously offered his band to play, I quickly said YES! It was a great feeling to have the Sandlers play in "my" backyard. Click Here to go to a link where our son, Tim, took a few pictures and even some short videos.

We were also treated to Milwaukee' s own Peggy Mueller, who played a few songs with Peter and, of course, Hansi on the spoons. There were even some sing-a-long moments. These musicians gave everyone a glimpse of the fine music that there will be a German Fest this weekend. Styrina was also there and she enjoyed getting to know some of our guests better before the big weekend.

Thanks to all our friends who brought delicious food and drinks and for helping us give this party for these talented muscians. It is a party that we will always remember. The evening got us all in the mood to have a good time at German Fest this weekend that will be filled with good music (like we heard this night), good food and a wonderful time spent with old friends. Later in the evening the Widdersteiner (Oberallgau Musikanten) band arrived and we all had the opportunity to get to know them better.

Springtime in Germany

We spent 2 wonderful weeks in May on a fabulous Bus Tour of Austria, Slovinia, Czech Repulic and Germany. The trip was organized by Gisela Lewis of Special Event Consultant, LLC and Peter Matthai, who is the leader of the Sandler. Peter's band performs any many German events along the East coast, Florida, Canada and Milwaukee's German Fest.

I have put some of my favorite pictures of the trip that include great scenery and having fun with our new friends in the slide show below. However, I will have a separate posting of just pictures of the entertainers we saw during those 2 weeks. After all it was a Reise mit Musik!

The trip started in Austria with stay at the beautiful Hotel Donauschlinge on the shores of the Danube. The view from our room was breathtaking. The food was so delicious at EVERY meal. It was really fun when we decided that for lunch we would go to a Konteterei and just eat Tortes. And we had our first Salzburger Nockerln, it was fantastic. We will definitely be having that again.

We visited such well know places in Austria such as Vienna, Grinzing (sampling the Heurigen) , and Linz. We had a day in Passau and a ride through the Bavarian forest with a stop at the Joskas Crystal world. The trip also went into Slovenia with a visit to the Slavko Avsenik museum & fest hall where we listened to Oberkrainer music, drank Slibowitz and enjoyed watching a tour group of almost all ladies who came from Russia.

But most of all it was a great group of people that we spent those two weeks with. We immediately found that we shared a love of German music and just plain having fun. If you get the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung then you have already read the articles published about this trip. Our friends, Otto & Sieglinde, wrote that detailed account of this trip. I loved reading their articles because it was almost like reliving it all over again and they had details that I had already forgotten. We met this talented couple several years ago on one of Ted Hierl's German Radio Cruises. We are all looking forward to the next one in May 2010.

Gisela & Peter are already getting plans together for next year's trip. So if you see either one of them at German Fest ask them about what destinations are in the works for next year. As soon as I get some details I will be making a post here and letting you know how to sign up.

We went on 3 boat trips, one on the Danube River, the Worthersee, and the Wachau. The trip on the Danube was private and only with our group while 2 musicians accompanied us on the whole trip. We toured the Schoenbrunn castle in Vienna, famous Melk, and saw breathtaking vistas upon the top of the Grossglockner (Austria's highest mountain).

We had music every day. If we were not at a fest enjoying a fine blaskappelle, we were being entertained after dinner at our hotel or enjoying country music Czech style. On the last day of our tour we went to the 125th Stiftungs fest of the Musikkapelle Neubeuern just minutes from our hotel. We were amazed at how many people showed up at this little Bavarian town's celebration. It was a week night and there were about 2,000 people in the large tent. I would estimate that at least 80% of the people were dressed in tracht; including this adorable little guy featured on the right. The slide show has several pictures of when the keg was tapped and of course a hardy "PROST" rang out after that!


It was truly a reise Mit Musik !!!

European Spring Tour

If you are looking for a great tour this Spring, take a look at the flyer to the left (click on flyer to enlarge). This 2 week tour of Germany, Austria and Slovenia/Czech Republic takes place May 6 - May 20. This escorted tour includes hotels, bus transportation with Bilingual tour guide, all breakfasts & dinners, admissions to several attractions (see daily iterary at our Events page), and entertainment galore.

I found out about this fabulous tour from friends we met on Ted Hierl's German-American Radio Cruises. Otto and Sieglinde wrote those terrific reports in the New Yorker Staats Zeitung about the Hawaii Cruise in 2008 and the Carribean Cruise in 2007.

This tour is being offered by Gisela Lewis of New Jersey. Gisela has provided German entertainment all over the United States and the Milwaukee German Fest. And now she has put together this music filled tour with Peter Matthai of Thuringen Germany. Some of you may remember Peter when he was at the Milwaukee German Fest with his band Die Sandler. You will experience several boat tours (one is on the Danube), Passau and Vienna. But that is only a small sample of what this tour has to offer.

If you would like more info about this tour, give Gisela Lewis a call at: (732) 528-5135. If you prefer talking to the booking agent, call Hans at Murray Hill International (Global Travel Solutions): (800) 776-4655. Hans can book this tour for you and if you would like him to help you book your air flight, he will be happy to help you. By clicking our Events button on the left sidebar, you will find a detailed list of where this tour will go day by day.