Ritter Sports

(Please note:  I started writing this on September 17th.  I fail at blogging.  Sorry.)

Another week down in Germany, and in that week I have (kind of) a schedule down at school, made an appointment to get a visa (look out soonest possible date October 30th!), started watching The West Wing on Netflix, and done many other exciting day-to-day things.  But another week in Germany means I also had another really weird, really great weekend in the Ruhrgebiet.

It started off pretty chill, Saturday morning Susanna and I went to the farmer’s market outside the Bochum Hauptbahnhof, and then we explored our neighborhood in Bochum.  On the other side of Universitätsstrasse there’s a hip little quarter of the city with boutiques and, among many other cool little cafes, a to-go/delivery cocktail service (not kidding… I’ll give y’all my reviews as soon as I try it out).  So yes, we walked around there for a bit, and then met up with our cohort of other English-speaking TAs in Dortmund for a night out on the town.  I regret to inform you that our night was not filled with the sights and sounds of Scotland’s finest football fans, but we had a very nice time hanging out in the city center.

Sunday was my wacky day this weekend.  We (Susanna and I) started at the Alsenstrassenfest (a block party on Alsen Street), which had a huge flea market and I scored a super duper cute winter coat for 15 euro.  I am extremely proud of this purchase.  Then, we headed to the Herne Mittelalterfest at Schloss Strünkede (translation: a renaissance/Middle Ages fair/festival at the Strünkede Castle in Herne) and met up with fellow Fulbrighter living around Dortmund (and for me, a fellow Southerner) Gabby.

Schloss Strünkede – check out that sweet moat

Another view of the castle

I have never been to an American version of a Renaissance fair, so I can’t really give you any insight into how good or bad it was.  I can tell you that it was really cool to be at one of those things on the grounds of an actual castle that was actually around in the 12th century.  Granted, the Herne Schloss isn’t particularly grand or imposing, but it is quite lovely and it has a moat.  Anyway, at the Mittelalterfest I experienced a great many sights and sounds, including a shirtless, with a metal-esque vibe, Mittelalter bag-piping group (I always wonder what sort of life circumstances would lead one to become a member of such a group.  I’m a bit disappointed in myself that I did not find them and hear their story).  For the record, the band is called Furunkulus.  I would tell you to Google them but I have not done so, so I can’t guarantee what your results will be.  One of their fans told us she had been there all weekend and had gotten married at the castle’s chapel a few years ago.  She told us it was a really small venue, but it was amazing to get married where so many other brides had been walking down the same aisle for 500 years.  Then she showed us her autographed CD  and told us to drink the Schwarzbier because it is super strong, and would therefore lead us to enjoy the fest more.  Her information was interesting but we declined following her advice.

One more castle picture. Seriously, how nice is that?!

One of my favorite parts was a little Ritterturnier (tournament of knights), which was a little performance about jousting and fire (I think there was a love story and avenging death in there somewhere, but it was all auf Deutsch so not super sure on that one).  While the action was certainly intriguing, the reason I liked it so much is because I was watching these little kids watch it (wayyyy less creepy than it sounds, you guys).  There were these boys across from me in the front row who delighted in every sword fight, fist fight, and explosion, but as soon as someone “died” their sweet little faces turned from pure happiness to pure horror.  It. Was. Hilarious.  At one point, a little boy that had been cackling suddenly started sobbing as one of the actors collapsed right in front of where he was standing.  Ah, to be young again.

Ritter tournament!

My second favorite part was the castle museum.  It housed many cool artifacts from centuries past, but nothing beat the skeleton of a Riesenhirsch (an awesome giant reindeer).  It was quite majestic.  Check it out:

According to Wikipedia it’s also called “Megaloceros”. Try to get on its level. You can’t.

After visiting the Megaloceros and some of his friends, it was time to go back to the modern world (as much as we could say that we had left it).  I promise to update more soon on my weekend trip to Berlin, Fall Break trips to Southern Germany (including Oktoberfest!) and Northern France, and life in general in good ole Bochum.