More Schwaebische Fasnet

The days before Ash Wednesday are very crazy in this part of Germany and every town here has a unique set of costume groups who take part in parades that take place all over the Southwest of Germany. This is known as Schwaebische Allemannische Fasnet, and here a few images from one such parade in Bad Saulgau on Fat Tuesday morning.

And the parade is on



My friend Siggi noticed me during the parade



One thing is for sure,you don't want to end up on one of these witch wagons



The witches from Aulendorf have a very distinctive color scheme



Several folks were looking, posing for the cameras



The witches from Altshausen



Not all costumes have a mask



The witches from the town of Mengen



Birds strutting their stuff



The witches truly come in all shapes and colors and pretty much every town has a unique set



A traditional Fanfarenzug in action



I don't recall the name of this costume



Yes, bulls were part of this parade too



This band was awesome and they played a very fast and loud Country Roads as they came by



Passing out candy to the kids



There are indeed plenty of friendly costumes



The Blechrebellen made very good sound



In case you were wondering, the Blechrebellen were wearing Rockabilly hair "hats."



Stefan, Moritz and Siggi posed with their costumes at the end of the parade

Rottweiler Narrensprung

On Monday I took part in the very traditional and historic Rottweiler Narrensprung. It is truly an amazing experience and I would highly recommend for people to check it out one year. But beware, it might be very cold.

As far as the eye can see there are Narren waiting for the Narrensprung



At the end of the first segment of the Narrensprung near the Spital



A Federahannes in the thick of the action



A little bit of Vitamin C for this tiny Fransenkleid



From early childhood on, the Benner Roessle always fascinated me



The "Lange Mann" is at the front of the Narrensprung, ready to go uptown



So yes, Narren are hungry too



While waiting for the last segment of the Narrensprung to start, this Schantle "sagt auf" / "tells a story" to a group of interested Rottweiler Narren



This is the Biss Kleidle of my family that I get to wear every few years



Upclose and personal with me at the very end of the Narrensprung. We started at 8am and now it is almost 1pm.

Fun in the snow

Today I drove to Pfullingen to visit Matze and Jutta and their now 2 year old son Oscar. Matze and I met in Hawaii at a post race Ironman World Championships party almost 10 years ago and have been friends since.

The Hohenfels castle is on the way to Pfullingen and is quite an impressive place. It looks very cool with all the snow around it.



Oscar loves books and Jutta obliges



It is almost time for Oscar's nap time and for Matze and I to go on a run



One of us has a top 20 in Hawaii, and not in a dream as I.



We are on our way to up there



Up and up we go



The well deserved view from the top



Matze never looked like he was in trouble



Great run indeed, but we are not yet done



Mmmm, that lollipop after a nap is great



It is time to put the snow gear on



And we are ready for some snow action



Oscar riding down the hill



Since the camera man sat backwards on a sled earlier, Oscar wanted to experience the ride backwards too



A bit out of control with Dad

Hanging out in Ostrach

Here are a few pictures I took this morning. It is still cold and there is still plenty of snow.

It looks all very quaint with all the snow



The view from the creek "Ostrach" on our property. We used to have quite a large apple orchard in that yard. The garage is in the foreground, with the old barn next and the house behind it.



I usually visit the "Metzgerei Ermler" in Ostrach several times when I am at home



Sausages wherever you look



An interesting way to package beef broth



But this is what I came for, "Fleischkaese."



The warm "Fleischkaese Wecken" hits the spot on a cold day, or any day



Beer is relatively inexpensive in Germany and word has it that it actually tastes good too



There are lots of chocolate choices available



This is the driveway to our backyard

Party on

During the Fasnet preparations in Saulgau they were setting up these "out" houses for party goers and for some reason it amused me. But I guess it is no different then setting up a little fire hydrant for your dog in your backyard. :-)

Driving in Germany

Arrived in Frankfurt Germany yesterday around lunchtime and here are some impressions from my drive from the airport to Ostrach, the small town where I grew up in Southern Germany.

Leaving the Frankfurt Airport in my Hyundai rental rocket



Along the way there were quite a few heavy flurries



Not quite sure what the Garmin is pointing out here. :-)



Getting closer to where I grew up.

Another one down for the count

A nice postcard informed me today that Metropolitan Home magazine will end its run at the end of this year and that I would receive Elle Decor magazine for the remainder of the subscription. Well, I don't want Elle Decor.

Watching you

Yes, I am watching you and I know who you are.

Pencil art t-shirt

I painted this pencil for the recent ARTpARTy and decided to make a t-shirt out of it. You can buy this t-shirt in my zazzle store and you can custom modify it for whatever t-shirt brand/size they offer.