May Day

Who knew May Day was such a big celebration in Europe? Apparently riots in the streets in bigger cities (which is why we're headed to Berlin this afternoon, to avoid said rioting, instead of yesterday) and bank holidays (three day weekends!) everywhere. Here in Weimar, no crime, no rioting, just good old-fashioned fun. A giant flea market and soapbox derby races. And, per usual, beer and sausages abound.

I knew there was going to be a flea market, so I sent Russ and Fiona ahead to check it out, and as I was walking there to join them, I noticed that sleepy, can-be-boring-at-times Weimar wasn't quite the same. Big crowds of people (not like the Onion Market, but still, more than normal). A woman walked by me carrying a pair of skis and a piece of art. A few parents shoved their baby strollers by me, carrying their babies because the strollers were full of stuff- toys,  baby gear, and clothes. I saw a team of college students race by, each pushing two rolling desk chairs uphill. All the chairs matched and I wondered if we should have purchased them for school! I saw people dragging sleds, bikes, and one man wrangling a bookshelf. 

When I finally found Russ and Fiona, we marveled for a few minutes, and then got to shopping. Now we don't really NEED anything, in fact, we're doing quite well with our minimal existence, but we did keep our eyes open for a blender (appliances are EXPENSIVE here!) or some furniture (for the new flat). No luck. Furniture was all, uh, flea marketish, and very few appliances (probably due to their pricely nature, people must hang on to them forever). But this market was HUGE! People were selling all kinds of junk, and it was interesting to look. We did spend about 5 Euros and get 8 plates and 8 bowls (DDR era china!) so now we can invite more than three people over for dinner and have enough plates. But for the most part, we just looked, tried not to get mowed down by the pushy crowds, and realized that flea markets are inherently better with carnival food and beer. 

Then, off to the soap box derby! It was actually a gorgeous day outside, so we biked through the park and past our school to yet another carnival-like site (caravans with food and beer, balloon-clutching children, lots of people wandering the streets drinking). I don't know how many soap box derbies I've actually seen (maybe only on the Brady Bunch?) so it was new to me. Pretty interesting, lots of Bauhaus students and their very cool, very artistic designs. Fiona liked seeing the "funny cars" but was concerned about the ambulance at the finish line. When she saw that no one needed its services she rallied. 

The most challenging part was trying to understand the radio-announcer guy (made more challenging because he was holding a microphone and running up and down the street, I could never tell where he was, but I knew he was definitely NOT in the tent with the other radio guys) and his fast, slang, German. I was great when he said " Drei, Zwei, Eins, Start!" and quite proud that I could manage to understand that bit. But I spent the rest of the time on the edge of panic that he'd pluck me out of the crowd (I hate that in English, you can only imagine my terror at the thought of it in my "mein Deustch ist nicht zehr gut" German)  and start asking me questions. I sort of ducked behind Fiona when he came lurking around where we were standing on the race route and figured she could handle any of his questions. 

Now, derbies and flea markets and radio announcers behind us, we're headed up to Berlin. We'll be there all weekend and I can't wait- Starbucks, shopping, DDR Museum, and tourists, here we come. Drei, Zwei, Eins, Start!