Mannertag

Today we celebrated Mannertag. Dear Readers, I know you're asking, "Isn't every day "Man's Day?" Indeed. But here in Germany, this is the equivalent of Father's Day but extended to all men, fathers and non-fathers. Men gather in the streets to drink beer, celebrate, and then go for hikes in the woods. A bizarre combination of activity, I know... but very German. I have heard tales of it being a bit like one big frat party complete with pranks and vomiting in the streets. We missed it last year- I think we were out of town (Poland? Berlin?) but this year we were invited to a barbeque at a friend of Fiona's parents' home. The kids played in the garden, we ate Bratwurst, and of course, the men drank beer. Would have been gorgeous if we'd had sun- but as has been the case most of the spring, the weather was cold and damp. The only hint of Mannertag was the two separate groups of "carolers" that we heard going down the road- men singing loudly and drunkenly. A bit weird, to be honest, to be playing on the swings with Fiona and to hear bar songs going by in the front yard. But very German.

I thought it was a rather civilised Mannertag until I nearly ran down a crowd of rowdy men in the street on our way home. They were doing something with signs and cones- carrying them into the middle of the street and setting up some sort of obstacle course, I think. They were yelling and singing and drinking while performing these stunts. Now that's what I call Mannertag.