weekend of street festivals

Handschuhsheim. There were many street festivals last fall and as the weather is once again warm, they have started up the new season. Handschuhsheim is a Stadtteil (city part) to the north of Heidelberg. This weekend they held their street festival. Alison, the previous Au Pair, was visiting for the weekend so she and I went on Saturday evening. We walked around and viewed all the normal things, sweet vendors, bratwurst vendors, beer vendors and of course, all the rides for kids. We met some of her old friends for dinner and beers in the remains of the Handschuhsheim castle. It was great fun hanging out with new people but the best part was watching all the drunken adult dance to America oldies. It was entertaining enough that I decided to take some video footage!

Heidelberg. Yesterday was a different kind of street festival in Heidelberg where local organizations had booths to educate the community and raise money for their cause. The main street along the Neckar was closed for the day (which is not that complicated since no one really has anywhere to go on a Sunday in Germany). Alison and I met the Herzbergs for lunch in the field at the monastery. There was a maze of hay that Tom and Max spent most of their time enjoying. They biked the street for the rest of the afternoon while Alison and I walked. We past old fire trucks that were on display, the plans for the new tunnel that is expected to be built starting in 2012, bike vendors with a new model of a bike with an electric engine and much more! It took hours to make our way to the end, over two miles from the house. On our way back, Isabel had her hands full as she was working Moritz's kindergarten table and had an extra kid for the day. She spotted me and I volunteered to walk around with the baby and the kids. We saw some bike riders who had drawn a crowd; they were biking off ramps into the Neckar. It was a nice afternoon. I walked home on my own, as there was no other transport available. It wasn't raining when I started my was pouring when I finally reached home. Needless to say, I was in need of a warm shower!