Ah, a Saturday afternoon at the Venetian Festival…I know I don’t usually post on the weekends, but this festival was just so fabulous that I couldn’t wait to share it with you! As you know from Friday’s ‘Week in Review,’ we decided to stay in Stuttgart this weekend, and while we ended up rainchecking last night’s Date Night, I just couldn’t pass up a day in the sunshine (HALLELUJAH!), under-the-weather or not!
So back to this whole sunshine thing…We opened our eyes this morning and…voila! There it was, peaking around the blinds! Best part? We walked out onto the porch and…it was warm outside, too! We spent the morning lounging (icky, sick me) and playing (John) in the gardens with the pups. Mornings like that make everything seem just a little bit better. 🙂
Their perfect morning...
And mine...John got a kick out of me 'soaking up the SUN!'
Now, onto Venzianische Messe, the Venetian Festival of Ludwigsburg! OK, let me set the stage…Ludwigsburg, about 15km north of Stuttgart, has about 85,000 inhabitants and is the county seat of local government. It’s one of the most prosperous economic centers in Germany, with 50 factories, 1200 craft-oriented and commercial companies and over 2000 wholesale and retail outlets. With a teachers’ training college, the University of Applied Sciences and the only film academy of the country, it’s also a center of education.
The Venetian Festival, that comes every two years in September, was introduced by Duke Carl Eugen in 1768 with the idea of bringing a touch of Venice to the middle of Germany: a market full of fantastic and impossible things; dream worlds and mystic figures; music, theatre and dance; comedians, acrobats and illusionists; make-up and mask work for everyone and a large parade of the masks and costumes through the town. There’s even a market full of stalls selling Mediterranean food and Venetian goods like masks, Murano glass, jewelry and artwork. Sounds splendid, right? Well, that’s because it is! I think I’ll just let our pictures speak for themselves for this one…Enjoy!
Walking into Marktplatz...
We were in AWE of all the 'masqueraders...'
Procession...
Va-Va-Voom!
Every color of the rainbow...
Can you tell it's me?? 🙂 FYI, the masks are GORGEOUS and I would've loved to buy one. This is one of the 'plainest...' for 149 euros...
Stopping for a Festival snack...Schinken und Kase (ham and German cheese) crepe, wine and Diet Coke 🙂
Our vote for 'Best Homemade Gown'
And the Runner-Up 🙂
- Just wandering around the Festival…
John made a friend 🙂
Still wandering around...Just a beautiful city...
Well what'd'ya know...we found Andy's Festival Cashews! Don't think they'd ship too well...Ha!
I made a friend, too 🙂
- Live theatre going on stages all around the perimeter…
OBVIOUSLY, I just loved her! Gosh I miss work! (Don't judge 🙂 )
Go Tigers! 🙂
We had SUCH a fun time at the Venetian Festival- now if we could just bring it to the Lowcountry! It was just so ALIVE, you know? Colorful and loud and animated and…happy. 🙂 It really was just as it’s described, like making it possible for everyone to get a glimpse of his inner child. You can tell it definitely worked its magic on us…look what we found on our way out of Marktplatz…
This sounds like one of the best things you have done since you got there – right up my alley. Wish I could have been there. Mom
Oh, you would have LOVED it! Definitely the best festival we’ve been to! But hey, you don’t need a German Venetian Festival…you’ll be in the REAL DEAL with us in just a few weeks! Love you!