Luthers Hochzeit

So this past weekend there was a big festival in Wittenberg to celebrate the marriage of Martin Luther (sort of an important guy here) to Katharina von Bora. The streets of Wittenberg were packed with tourists and kiosks selling food, alcohol, and souvenirs. I would compare it to a prettier, cheaper, and yummier version of Musikfest.

The group of us went each of the three days, each day sampling new foods and other refreshments. It was quite an interesting experience, even if we still managed to spend most of our time at our usual hang out, the Independent, which is right across from our university.

Every day there was a parade of people in medieval costumes with weapons and instruments that also matched the time period. I only watched one of the parades and the other days we typically sat in the courtyard of the Leucorea and waited for it to end while we indulged on the food vendors in that area. There were also many concerts every day at different locations spanning the length of the old town, which takes forever to navigate when it's full of people.

Perhaps one of the most memorable experiences was going to try to find hot mead. Whose awesome idea was this? Eric's of course. The only place we could find selling it was at the field next to the Schloßkirche, and we started our adventure from Independent, which may mean nothing to the average reader, but that means we went from one side of the festival all the way to the end of the other. Without people it would take, maybe, 7-10 minutes. With people? at least 20. The most frustrating part is that once we found it, it was terrible. Absolutely disgusting. Worse than normal mead by far.

Other than that, the weekend was an ultimate success. I broke my record for most beers in 1 day (previously it had been 2, now it is 4, 3 of which were within and hour of each other. I have never had to go to the bathroom more often in my life). I had something else, but now I forget... hmm. If I think of it, I will randomly add it in.

I will try to list all of the food I had... Let's do this:

- Quarkbällchen
- Nutella Crêpe
- Thüringer Roster
- Rauchwurst
- Schokoknäpplchen (??? I forget the name, but I know it started in 'Schoko' and ended in 'lchen')
- This bread with ham and cheese baked in the middle. (So frickin' good.)

I guess that is all... it felt like a lot more... I know I sampled other people's things (z.B: Knobibrot). There was a lot of food, and it all was good. I also had Honigbier (honey beer), which was pretty good. It is Pils mixed with mead.

Anyway, I guess that is all for Luthers Hochzeit. OH I also saw kids from the other USC group there. They are taking part in a program called Checkpoint Charlie. I was walking out from school on Friday and heard someone call my name, which (obviously) shocked me. It turned out to be two kids I have had German class with before who were in town for the festival. What are the chances?

On a more recent note: today the girls didn't show up for Phonetik, so afternoon class was canceled. It was so great. I also presented my song today ('Dieses Leben' by Juli), and it went pretty well, though it was awkward just sitting in the front of the class in silence for over 4 minutes while the song played and Christoph jammed in the seat I usually occupy. I really hate public speaking of any sort, but I appreciated the fact that my classmates seemed intent on making me laugh. It made me feel less awkwalk (I don't really use this term, I promise. A kid from out program used it. We all acknowledge that it is the stupidest term of all time).

Yes well... 'Tis all!

Ciao!

Holland