May Day at the Deutscher Hof

After a long period of NOt going to the DH, not being willing to shell out for exorbitantly priced weinersnitzel, or something which is nothing like what I thought bratwurst was like, I have started going again. Maybe everyone is in better spirits now that the dust storms are less frequent and the sun is out... or maybe because the beer really is the only good beer in Erbil, not being familiar brands (like Heineken, Grolsch or Budweiser) produced in unfamiliar places... or fake spirits imported from China.

In the evening, before International Workers' Day, a Maypole was brought out, but there was no dancing around it, or scaling of the pole... Instead people drank ridiculously huge draft beers or beer from little boots...

Or hammered nails into stumps. Who knew this was a competitive sport? Sorry to report that all the pictures of Gunter hammering nails in his lederhosen are too dark.

And on May 1st, we returned for lunch! In fact, the meals were surprisingly OK. But better than that was really just the chance to sit in the garden under a big umbrella amongst the garden gnomes (not pictured)...

And listen to the budgies and love birds twitter.




All photos by Corinne