Saturday, April 24, 2010

Siebenundzwanzig

Because it was another a-MAZ-ingly beautiful day in Germany today, we hopped a train up to Bad Cannstatt and went to the Stuttgarter Frühlingsfest (Spring Festival). It was bigger than I thought it would be, more carnival-y than I thought it would be, a little more rowdy than I thought it would be, and all in all even more awesome than I thought it would be.

We knew we were in for something a little wild when groups of en route to drunken guys kept getting on the train singing songs at the top of their lungs. We met up with some friends on the train, but I think we could have found our way to the festival without their help...just follow the people in dirndls and lederhosen with beers in hand.

The festival was the combination of traditional and modern that I see all over the place in Germany. You'll often see ultra modern architecture and medieval construction in the same space, and it's aesthetically very interesting and attractive.

Stuttgarter Frühlingsfest


On a side note, is that not the highest swing thing you've ever seen!? And check out this ferris wheel.

Stuttgarter Frühlingsfest


The safety rules seem to be completely different here, and if you're not a complete weenie (like say...me), I'm sure it's a lot more fun. They don't seem to have any rules about what size children can do what or adaptive safety measures taken for small children swimming in large safety devices - the responsibility is with the parents to use their judgement and keep their own kids safe and I like that.

I also learned that each of the rides was individually operated by different families and/or companies, and I thought that was pretty cool, too. But, as much as we focused on the rides, for everybody else the focus was very clear.

Stuttgarter Frühlingsfest


Ha ha ha, we were heading out around 5:00 and things were really just getting started. I can't imagine how wild it gets as the night goes on!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Neat that you're seeing so much. Are the kids appreciating the differences from, say, Fayetteville?

Jennifer said...

Yes, definitely! There are the differences they appreciate, like all the kinderzimmers and fun kids' playground equipment spread out all over the place (even randomly plopped down on sidewalks), the delicious food and the fun train rides. And there are the differences they are not huge fans of like all the walking...