Dirndls, oom-pah, sausages? Oktoberfest in Iraq

[eju]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081012/...Pv8VKHt.BvaA8F

Dirndls, oom-pah, sausages? Oktoberfest in Iraq

By BRADLEY S. KLAPPER, Associated Press Writer 18 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - Dirndl-clad waitresses deliver frothy beers, the brass band has the oom-pah music in full drive and there are sausages on the grill.

Welcome to Iraq?

It may still be a far cry from the Oktoberfest party in Munich, Germany, that draws in 6 million people each year. But Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq is looking to cash in on the relative peace it is enjoying with new investment and — despite the challenge of attracting foreigners to one of the world's most dangerous countries — perhaps the beginnings of a tourism industry.

In Irbil, a city 350 kilometers (217 miles) north of Baghdad, German beer house owner Gunter Voelker wants to dispel the notion that Iraq isn't a holiday destination. In the north, at least, beer is bringing people together.

"It is good to have an area here in Iraq where we can make this festival in peace with friends," said Volker, whose restaurant, the Deutscher Hof Erbil, ended its three-night celebration of the famed German beer festival early Sunday.

"We can make this festival with Iraqi people, Turkish people, Kurdish people, American people, German people, with (people from) all over the world in peace and in a real good mood."

He also had a special message for his compatriots, who as Europe's biggest travelers can contribute greatly to any nascent tourism industry.

"For my people from Germany," he said in German to AP Television News, "Iraq is not dangerous everywhere. There are good areas here. There is Kurdistan and the Kurdish region, where you can get around well, where you can get work done, where you are welcome, where the war stays away."

Iraq's Kurdistan region is already a travel destination for thousands of Iraqis, eager to leave behind the heat, dust and daily killings in their country's heartland for the green, tranquil mountains of the north.

Organized bus tours are possible as a result of the improved security that has taken hold in much of the country over the last year. A week in a modest hotel, with bus fare, costs about US$160 per person, or just one-third of an average monthly Iraqi salary.

Arab visitors are still carefully screened in the semiautonomous region about the size of Switzerland and home to nearly 3.8 million people.

The relative calm, however, is even bringing in tourist operators from farther afield. France's Terre Entiere recently added Kurdistan to its catalog, billing the trip as a Christian pilgrimage and timing it for the Christmas holidays. In June, the Long Beach, California-based agency Distant Horizons conducted a 12-day visit to the region.

"The north of Iraq is ready for (doing) business," said Raik Mingramm, a German who sells electrical machinery and one of a few dozen guests at the beer hall. "Maybe we can bring some money into the country."

Behind him, members of the brass band "Edelweiss" in their Lederhosen gear up for yet another rendition of "Ein Prosit der Gemuetlichkeit," a Munich standard that roughly translates to "Cheers to our well-being."

It's a strange song perhaps for a gathering of people in Iraq, where tens of thousands have died since the 2003 U.S. invasion.

It is one, however, that those in the north are learning the words to.
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[lumburg]

wow, i wish they had that when I was there, and when I go back, I need the address. The reporter mentioned Eidelweis...awesome vacation spot and its the castle model Disney used to make his Cinderella castle (a little history fact for ya)