It’s feeling very autumnal on the podcast this week, probably because of all the pumpkins we keep seeing around the place. Nic, our man in the Bavarian countryside, has seen piles of them on sale at the side of the road, but Dili’s only seen them in the shops. She’s not complaining though, because she’s found a novel way of getting a discount when she needs a Kurbis.

Somewhere that needs a discount or two is Oktoberfest, which Nic learned first hand at the weekend. After his adventure at the Wiesn, we learn how to dance on the tables, and fall asleep on trains after a day on the Festbier.

We also follow up on the elections in Thuringia, and how the AfD have begun to sow chaos, and we finish on government plans for national service.

For those of you looking to support Ukraine or the many refugees fleeing the conflict, please take a look at these different charities and consider donating if you can.

Ukraine Crisis Media Centre - A list of different donation pages to help the Ukrainian military response.

Disaster Emergency Committee - Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal

Save the Children

Ärzte ohne Grenzen

Theme tune courtesy of Kloß mit Soß

On the show this week, Nic has a run in with the Bishop of Augsburg as his kids’ Kindergarten is finally opened. We discuss Bavarian flavoured Catholics, the correct kind of wurst, and sermons for 4-year-olds.

Elections are in the air at the moment, and we start with Dili’s optimistic assessment from her former home of Sri Lanka as things seem to be taking a turn for the better after Presidential elections. From the positive, we turn to slightly more negative state election results in Brandenburg, as the SPD retain their position as the largest party, but the AfD also make large gains.

We close out proceedings with a surprise invitation to Oktoberfest and ponder what is the best outfit to wear to the Wiesn that isn’t a Dirndl or Lederhosen.

For those of you looking to support Ukraine or the many refugees fleeing the conflict, please take a look at these different charities and consider donating if you can.

Ukraine Crisis Media Centre - A list of different donation pages to help the Ukrainian military response.

Disaster Emergency Committee - Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal

Save the Children

Ärzte ohne Grenzen

Theme tune courtesy of Kloß mit Soß

On the show this week, we’re joined by translator, Würzburg resident, and all round top Scottish lass Lynn Nothegger! As if to celebrate Lynn’s debut, Producer Simon brings us some exciting news coming out of Frankfurt concerning one of Germany’s premier sporting events, the 11th European Tram Driver Championship. We discuss drag racing on the Straßenbahn, and our own experiences of Germany’s public transport.

It’s not often we have another resident of Bavaria on the show, but we quickly learn why not all Bavarians are the same, and why many in the north of the state don’t actually consider themselves Bavarian at all. We also discuss the different immigrant experiences between Berlin and Bayern, and Lynn offers some tips for dealing with Germany’s labyrinthian bureaucracy.

With Lynn being a translator, we finish things off by finding out how AI is impacting her job, and whether it will replace professional translators in the future.

For those of you looking to support Ukraine or the many refugees fleeing the conflict, please take a look at these different charities and consider donating if you can.

Ukraine Crisis Media Centre - A list of different donation pages to help the Ukrainian military response.

Disaster Emergency Committee - Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal

Save the Children

Ärzte ohne Grenzen

Theme tune courtesy of Kloß mit Soß