Milwaukee,24th July 2015: Zicke, zacke, zicke, zacke, hoi, hoi, hoi!

Screamed the crowd in unimaginable ecstasy of the German Fest 2015 with the German Stein Beer in their hands held up high

This is a popular slogan from a German Drinking Song when people want to get drunk.German Fest Milwaukee was held from 24-26th July in Milwaukee,America.



 "Ein Prosit " 
 With Beer stein or glass in hand
 A Salute to Your Health or Well-being! 
 Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, der gemiitlichkeit Ein Prosit, Ein Prosit, der gemiitlichkeit (Cheer!) Eins, zwei, Drei g'suffa! 
 Zicke, zacke, zicke, zacke, hoi, hoi, hoi, Zicke, zacke, zicke, zacke, hoi, hoi, hoi, Prosit 


                                                     German Woolen Hat

 I wish I could get myself a Dirndl(which was expensive starting from 99 dollars) but looks so cute or a German woolen hat with the pins on the hat.You can also get Dirndl on Amazon.

And not to forget the yummy potato pancakes with apple sauce

For previous posts on Milwaukee,America click here

Potato Pancakes with Apple Sauce


With Pretzels,Dirndls,Pig Heads and more; let's begin with a quick photo essay...

How I wish now,I could someday head to Italy again to watch it all in the countryside.From the flag - throwers of Florentine to the traditional game of Bocce to the gondolas on the lakefront to the La-moresca dance from sicily which used bells to emphasize beats to the replica of Trevi Fountain,Festa Italiana 2015 ( July 17 - 19 ) was a day well spent for us.



Life comes full circle.When I was reminiscing about my past vacation to Italy,almost grieving with the fact that 5 days wasn’t sufficient to know about the Italian culture at all,there was a surprise in store.The Italian Fest called Festa Italiana 2015 in Milwaukee,gave me highlights on how culture,food and dance is celebrated in Italy without having to personally head to Italy again.

                                                   Check out my previous post on:
                                                            Backpacking Rome






Now the tradition of flag throwers dates back to 11th and 12th centuries when there were frequent battles for control of territories.It was then the Flag throwers accompanied armies throughout central and northern Italy.Since soldiers had no uniforms then ,the flags were used for recognizing and communicating between army units.Watch my #vlog for flag throwers and dance performances:





The Flag was considered to be of great importance then when the flag bearers had the obligation to protect  their flag with their lives,and never let the flag fall into enemy hands.The performance by flag throwers took us to that era when banner waves and choreography signaled danger or victory.Their costumes symbolize the two factions of the city that made up the army: the blue represents the noble families while the red recalls the people.



 There also were various dance performances that took us to the folk celebrations of Italy.


Many dance performances were done  including Tarantella Napoletana,Tarantella Fantasia and Ribbon dance of love.Tarantella is a very popular native dance of southern Italy , mostly performed during courtship.In this dance,the woman uses liveliness to excite the love of her partner. In turn, the man tries to charm her with his elegance. The dance is one of unity and separation, which sees dancers flying into each other’s arms only to bound away again. It is considered unlucky to dance the Tarantella alone so it is often danced by couples or by two women.


This is the dance called ribbon dance of love,typically done in weddings.And the story goes like when the young couple is married they put them on a pole,pour wine and dance around in ribbons.This dance is for happy ever after.If they make any mistake or if the ribbons become tangled,their marriage is in some form or another sure to fail.





 In the end there was an announcement on if we wanted to take part in the dance.They expected less people to turn up,but almost 1/4 of the crowd sitting stood up and went down to participate.In spite of the little chaos,we ended up dancing on a few steps.

                                                      ......And it all ends here

It is what it is but a cold beer always help.Mark my words,my friends or many of my readers would vouch for it.If you love beer,and you wish there was a place that had this collective awesomeness sometimes under one roof sometimes scattered,time to pack your bags and head to Milwaukee,America.




Life is brew-tiful when occasions like these make it freaking awesome.Milwaukee's status as one of the greatest brewing centers in America and also 'the beer capital of the world' may be for many reasons - one of which is its proximity to large beer consuming population of Chicago.

Firkin Beer Fest 2015 was one such celebration where samples from over 150 brews were for you to try.The choices of beer we have in Milwaukee keeps me and my hubby engaged be it chocolate beer,stout,wheat or freshly brewed ones.That also makes me resist if ever we'd have to move,then we'd be missing onto what we have here.Watch my vlog here:





The word Firkin comes from a Dutch word Vierdekjin(meaning 4th) which is actually 1/4 size of stand full of beer and contains 9 gallons or 34 litres.A firkin is typically dedicated to housing “true ale” (i.e., cask-conditioned ale), or beer that has not been cold-filtered, pasteurized and carbonated by outside equipment. The ale beer that is housed inside the firkin is naturally carbonated by its resident yeast and its ingredients have not been processed in any way outside of simple fermentation by the yeast.

Does that make it healthy?Uh Uh..not sure.But still sounds organic and natural :P So well a beer that has resident yeast and not processed sounds good to me.

I tried Chipotle Beer,Vanilla Chocolate Stout,Lemongrass Beer,Pinapple Beer and more.There were 150 samples to try from.

Check my previous blogs on Milwaukee,United States
Milwaukee All Posts

Let's take you to a quick photo-essay: 

“Beach volleyball isn’t what we are, it’s who we are. We play it, we breathe it, we live it. It’s in our soul. We’re driven by a pure passion to grow the game and share our love of the sport and the beach culture with fans across the country.” – Founder & CEO Albert AL-B Hannemann 

 Milwaukee’s Lakefront never disappoint me.It's as if with every new day there's plenty to see, watch and cherish.Weekends specially,with the summers coming late in,Milwaukee is opening up to more sports and more festivals.To match it with the mood are the people who are always more than willing to cheer up.Beach volleyball specially at beaches with pre-established nets are the coolest thing to play especially the locals who do not miss a single chance.The fact that I live near to lakefront makes my life all the more easy.I hop in every evening to check if I may be missing onto anything.


 Established in 2010, the NVL(National Volleyball League) is a professional beach volleyball league built by players for all players, united in one mission: to create a sustainable future for pro beach volleyball in the U.S

Previous Posts on Milwaukee:Summerfest 2015 Worlds Largest Music Fest
                                                   Polish Fest 2015 America's Largest Polish Fest


 In high school,I always had the fantasy to ‘Wear bikini and play volley with my friends at the beach’.That never happened.A few of my friends still make fun of the idea as I was simply never into Volleyball.I would feel my fist go numb with every serve and would wonder how is that others play with such ease.May be I need to exercise more,build up more muscles.Quite recently I coaxed my hubby into buying a volleyball which led to a minor quarrel between us when he said that I may be better at Football but Volleyball is a tough game even for him but then again playing what I may be better at,is never equal to learning what I may be failing at first,but eventually someday will learn.




 Coupled with a few games in hand like Frisbie,Ralleyball and Volleyball which we bought from Sports Authority,we moved towards Mckinley Marina.If you are into sports or want to be active,America would give you infinite chances and choices.Since Mckinley beach was less crowded than Bradford we chose to relax first and then play the games among ourselves.

It was funny when at one of the trials,my hubby served and the ball bumped on his own head.Then again we were learning.I felt my lost innocence of childhood came back with every trial because as and when my feet touched the sand or we fell in the sand to catch the ball,I felt getting dirty was so much untamed fun,yet again.

When I tried between my wrist and my elbow; It made me hurt less and the shots were flying high
 With quite a bruised fist,we realized our technique was flawed.The ball had to be hit from the area between the wrists and the elbow,joining both the hands.Guys if Volleyball is what you have been playing since childhood,comment please - need to know some tips and tricks.





 The stretch between Mckinley and Bradford has two beaches in between.One of the beach with the sand and not so clear water and another with small stones but immense clear water and both are very near to each other. Bradford beach being the popular one has many activities on offer including water sports,kayaks and more.I'll share a photoessay soon on the lakefront and beaches.



 National Volleyball League Experience

 As we walked towards Bradford beach we saw the enclosure of NVL. Confused if it was paid or free,we trolled further and found our place inside one of the camps. Yey it was open to public.The funny part was we were so near to the boundary that if the servings were done harder or if opposite party missed the shot,we would be the one throwing back the ball to the players near to us or the NVL volunteers. 



Here in my video thumbnail you would see hand signals being made.This in beach volleyball according to Quora signifies blocking schemes to relay information as the attack scheme chosen for the play or block strategy for other team mates before each action begins.Watch the video below for more details.

• Hand wiggle/wave or Thumb points towards preferred opponent to serve. 
• single finger: block line 
• 2 fingers: block cross 
• closed fist: no block 
• open hand: block ball (attempting to "roof" the hitter) 
• then there are variations that signal fakes like fake line/block cross, etc.   

Mark Williams, a 36-year-old two-time Olympian, partnered with Skyler McCoy, a 22-year-old newbie played in only his seventh NVL event.The competition was competitive to every point.The finals showcased the the veteran team of John Mesko & Mike DiPierro vs. new team of rookie Skyler McCoy against two-time Olympian Mark Williams.

The winners of NVL were awarded $50,000.




.Apart from matches of men there were matches of women and juniors.On the Women's side, AVP and NVL veteran Raquel Ferreira teamed with Vivian Cunha, a NVL rookie and won!




 Watching any match live is so much fun that for nearly 4 hours we were completely hooked to the seat.We even skipped our lunch or rather forgot completely about it.The teams who won played as if there was no tomorrow.In between the games where t shirts thrown in.One of which landed just ahead of the pavilion.A journalist gave it to me..telling that it ‘belongs to the lady’ and yo there we go,a nice day yet again..


That tshirt which I got!
For amateurs,I thought the video below would be helpful to learn volleyball
https://youtu.be/jQqmyfppu2w