Ribeauvillé 2: Pfifferdaj (by Jess)

Going back more than 600 years, Pfifferdaj is the oldest medieval festival in Alsace. It's the day when the pipers (the pfiffers, I assume) would pay homage to their lord. So there's a lot of piping!

The big draw for the day is a parade. There was a market with handicrafts, too, but it was very small--rather disappointing in comparison to American Renaissance fairs. Instead of shopping, pfifferdaj-goers seem to make a day out of sitting around waiting for the parade and drinking. (After the parade, there's free wine in one of the city fountains, but we didn't make it to the end of the parade.)

Ribeauvillé is absurdly picturesque, too, so it's rather nice just to walk around--until the crowds get too dense, anyway. Plus, there are lots of people in costumes just wandering the streets.














Skelly in church




This dog was too ridiculous not to photograph.





Lunch break with some costumed (or at least made-up) parade participants.


The crowds are gathering

Silas took pictures and videos of the parade. We didn't get to see a lot of it; it started at 2:30, so we thought we'd be able to make our 4:35 bus back, but by the time it got to where we were (near the end of the route) it was like 3:40, and then the whole thing just moved really slowly. Still, what we saw was quite impressive! The theme for the year was Le Reveil d'Odin (Odin awakens), and you can see that theme in one of the floats below.
















OK, so this was rather bewildering.


Finally, heading home. We were soooo tired.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Château de Haut-Koenigsbourg - Oct. 5 (by Silas)

Image
    So when we went to Ribeauvillé, ( See post ) we saw this huge castle on a hill. It turns out this was Château de Haut-Kœningsbourg. It looked REALLY cool in photos so we decided to go there with Jessica's friend Lynne. It turns out it's a semi-rebuilt castle. And, in case you're wondering, it was very cool. The castle in all its glory portcullis me Bill, me and Lynne a well Little windows Woah! This is a stove, believe it or not Even the graffiti is antique! What a view! Weapons Horse helmet Lynne and Jessica WOW! This is looking down a cannon I got a nice tunic here King skelly Knight skeleton Traveler  
Read more

Saint Malo (Aug. 8-12) (by Jess)

Image
We've actually been in Strasbourg for a week, but we're behind on our posting. Saint Malo was beautiful! It's a seaside town in Normandy, on the northern coast, and best known for its little islands that are accessible during low tide. The tides are very dramatic--you'll see in the pictures below how huge the beach can be, but it almost disappears during high tide. It's a lot of fun to watch the tide come in over some of the little walkways and islands. On one of the islands is a fort; it's at the beach where we spent the most time. On another is Chateaubriand's grave, which we walked out to on our last full day (Thursday the 11th).  The old town, where we stayed, is also stunning. It was mostly destroyed by American bombing in World War II, but the residents decided to rebuild it according to the medieval plan and using most of the same materials (more stone than half-timbering, though). The cathedral is quite lovely and was only finished in 1972! It really...
Read more