Elke
Medieval market on Castle Schaumburg
Sep 10, 2008
Medieval market on Castle Schaumburg
We always pass Castle Schaumburg when we go to Hess. Oldendorf, Rinteln or Bückeburg – but we never went to it. I guess we’re spoiled with all the castles around us. There were no posters or ads for the medieval market there in our area except a tiny report in our local paper on Saturday. But I had read about it on the web page of Duivelspack and could make plans to meet with a friend there.
I had to work for 10 hours without break on Friday with 5 more on Saturday, but I trusted that there were seats on the castle to give my feet a rest.
When I arrived I had to walk a little distance from my car to the castle and inside it went up very steep on cobblestones. Halfway in stood my friend, listening to Duivelspack. The three musicians didn’t need a stage (luckily as there was none anywhere) as they love to use the audience for their acting. I forgot my feet and joined the clapping and sang along the songs I know. When they had finished, the group promised more music and medieval dancing later on in the upper castle yard.
We went further up and explored a little tower and enjoyed a breathtaking view from the restaurant’s terrace. All over the place were some tables and benches, but also many stalls with medieval crafts, food and drinks.
But before we could have some coffee, the musicians came and asked everybody to dance. We left our bags with a man making leather purses and joined the fun. After many years doing the man’s part in folk dancing and Square Dance I feel far more comfortable on the left side, so we made up a pair. As folk dancing is rather old, I wasn’t surprised that I knew the first dance. At the second dance my partner left me to explain the dance, so I took my chance and went up the stairs to the terrace to make a video.J But with the 3rd dance I was back and could have danced much longer. Feet? Whose feet?
During the break we finally had our coffee and watched some artists. When one of them collected some money, a medieval looking lady next to me gave him a coin, saying: “ I give you a piece of silver, but only if you promise to buy a piece of soap!” The young man promised to do so – although he didn’t look that dirty to me. Next we wanted to visit the camp, but as it had rained heavily the night before, the path into it was ankle-deep mud. This time I was wearing sandals and my friend didn’t fancy to risk her medieval dress either, so we climbed the highest tower instead. The wooden steps were well worn and we had to be very careful with our long skirts, so we forgot to count them. On every landing were small windows and the view got better and better. On the top the windows were wide and the view spectacular. Even the sky looked golden. The climb had been worth it!
To the next piece of music of Duivelspack a young bellydancer entertained not only the men – and the video is becoming very popular on Youtube. This was followed by more popular songs, like the one of the Whale which is in the Radio Aena charts right now. After the last song we had some picknick as dinner until it was time for the fire performance. The crush barrier was a brand new rope, made in the medieval way. We even had to hold it ourselves! But I let it go from time to time for some pics. Moving fire photos are always a challenge but I’m rather pleased with the result.
At 9 pm Duivelspack played the song of the night-watchman and declared the market for closed for the night. By this time it was really dark night. The medieval people had their lanterns, but we had not thought of bringing one. We walked very carefully (steep cobblestones in pitch darkness) as far as the car park with electric lights. But our cars were in the forests. My friend decided to come with me as I had the shorter way and I was glad for the company. It was so dark that we could hardly see the road and the way it was
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A new start!
Aug 24, 2008
For 2 years I've blogged at Yahoo. After enjoying it for many months, yahoo started to act up and I've been looking for a substitute. Maybe this is the right place? It's great that I can add music and my favorite bands here, but I still have to learn my way around it.
2 Jahre lang habe ich bei Yahoo geblogt. Am Anfang hat es viel Spass gemacht, aber dann gab es andauernd Ausfälle und ich habe nach Ersatz gesucht. Vielleicht habe ich ihn jetzt und hier gefunden. Toll, dass man hier Musik einbinden kann und seine Lieblingsbands zeigen kann - wenn sie denn auch hier sind. Nun ja, es gibt noch viel zu lernen...
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