Easter Market/Medieval Castle

Kerryn, the Aussie; a great lady! Lucky duck gets to go to Italy the end of this week!


The "common square" at the center of the castle


Dad and I outside the castle


The bag piper and his drummer. Some interesting dudes.


The basket weavers. Quite an art form.


Who has costumes like this at home (aside from halloween?!)


















Dad and Jim in the castle...

We went to the medieval castle/easter market yesterday in Ronnenburg. It was quite an interesting affair. I'm not sure what I'd envisioned in my mind, but it was not at all what I'd thought. There were literally hundreds upon hundreds of people there, all dressed up in their most festive medieval garb. Evidently the Germans take their medieval history quite literally, as entire families were adorned in capes, furs, etc and carrying medieval weaponry. Talk about culture shock! And, the best part of it was- there was no joking about it. It's a very serious outing/event for them! We had thought we'd be taking a tour of the castle, which I hear is over 700 years old, but in fact the "market" was in each of the rooms of the castle. Easter is a HUGE event here, and eggs are hung all over the place. Many craftsmen were selling jewelry, handpainted easter eggs, and one room even had some people weaving baskets! All in all, it was a LOT to take in. SO many people crammed into little spaces = unhappy campers + cold weather = no good. So, all in all, it was very interesting to see, but probably not something we would have done again. Though, it was very kind of the Dr. to pay for everyone's admission as well as coordinate transportation to the festival. How many doctors in the States do that?! :)

Today, Dad had his feet wrapped in fabric a certain way by the massage therapist (each patient gets roughly 5-7 massages per week- not a bad deal!) and it's meant to reduce the swelling. It seems to be working, though I can't help but laugh because his feet look like Frankenstein all wrapped up in gauze and ace bandages. I'll have to send a photo when I can get one! He seems to be doing quite well; it was very sunny this afternoon and so we soaked up some vitamin D in the solarium at the clinic. Dinner was again, fairly yuck, so better luck tomorrow! We're hoping for good weather in the days to come! Another ultrasound tomorrow will hopefully yield the answer he's hoping for on the go-ahead for the whole-body hyperthermia towards the end of the week. Keep your fingers crossed! :)

Thanks for all your responses! It's so great to hear from all of you! I share them all with Dad, and he enjoys that.

Love,

Chels

Here are a few selected photos from the medieval festival, as well as a few others.