Tamara in Switzerland: OLMA fair

Yesterday we went to a very popular yearly event called the OLMA fair. It stands for something to the effect of East Switzerland Agriculture and Dairy Exhibition (in German of course). From what I was told it is a big excuse for a lot of people to go get drunk. Even though where we live is only like the 3rd stop (out of about 12), the train was already full and we had to stand the whole way while more people piled themselves in, and of course people felt to need to go ahead and start drinking. The bus to the fair from the station also was packed in like sardines, but luckily Urs and Andrea knew other buses that would get us to essentially the same place, so we didn't have to mess with that. There were lots of booths everywhere and the food to buy is Magenbrot, which is a specialty a bit like gingerbread, roasted chestnuts, sausages and the like, and of course beer. We went into one of the buildings where there were lots of animals, mostly to be auctioned off, but also some for the kids to see and pet. We saw some baby chicks, and Ryan got to pet a little piglett. Then I saw a goat, and all the animals names were on the pens and it was named Tamara. Totally was not expecting that. Then we went to where the cows were and I was looking around and what do I see? A cow with my name, again. So from this I have learned that my name is very popular for farm animals. But anyway we walked around a bit and I bought some fresh apple juice, and then I split off from the rest of the family for a little while to experience the sampling hall. It was insane. People were packed in there shoulder to shoulder to sample beer and wine and whatever else. I almost got stuck in a mash pit, but managed to make my way out and just got out of the first exit I could find. I ended up having to exit the whole fair and going all the way around to get back to the entrance. When I met back up with everyone they had brought me a giant pretzel which was tasty. Then we went to go ride the Ferris Wheel, which Ryan enjoyed. At the end I bought myself some Magenbrot which also was quite tasty and we made our way home. Luckily this time the train was not nearly so packed. And tonight since fall is officially here and it's getting colder, Andrea wanted to start off the season with some Raclette.