May Day

Hello there! I am just waking up from a night of sleep after a lovely May Day. Yesterday, I went to two "Mai Tag" celebrations with my friends Jess and Chris. Our first stop was the town of Zuffenhausen. We watched as men in costumes slowly lifted the May pole from the ground to the sky, using wooden poles as levers. Of course, french fries and tortes helped to make the process more enjoyable (and a variety of colorful figures that showed up for the party)!




After the May pole was raised the festivities died down a bit, so we headed to the town of Feuerbach to check out their May pole. It was, well, a bit disappointing. The Zuffenhausen pole was made of wood and decorated with garland, and "woodsy" things, along with the town's symbols. But the Feuerbach pole looked like just a metal pole wrapped up with streamers. So disappointing, in fact, that I didn't get a very good picture of it (mostly for lack of trying). You can see it in the background below.


The Feuerbach party was a bit of a bust, so we headed into downtown Stuttgart. You see, May Day isn't just a fun day of poles, food, and beer in Germany. It is also some sort of Communist "day of work" where people go out and protest their working conditions. We were hoping to find a few riots, or at least a protest (Chris had received emails at work strongly advising all U.S. personnel against going downtown, for fear of pain or death at the hands of rioters). But, we must have missed the party, because all we found were a few people lounging around on tables, drinking beer, and a few signs flapping in the wind. Down with Capitalism!!!!!



Poles, Pommes (fries), and Pairs of Lederhosen = Perfect first May Day.