For the most part today we stayed in, but we did take a father’s day foray to the bistro around the corner. We collected our sandwiches & decided to eat at an outside table and soak up the strangeness.
It was truly bizarre… we live about three blocks from the elbe with its beautiful hike & bike trails:
Normally it’s a pretty serene place to go hang out, but today at lunch all you could see was a steady procession of men carrying big crates full of beer down there. Some also had speakers, and most (around noon) were well on their way to being wasted. Lots were singing and/or chanting (no idea what… I’d like to think it was some druidic summoning chant, but my best guess is that it was world cup related) and for the most part we were completely ignored.
It had an almost ’shawn of the dead’ feel to it, only without the murder. As the day progressed the pilgrimage to the river got heavier, louder & angrier. Several fights broke out, lots of beer bottles were smashed & the din of police sirens became an almost constant companion.
We had planned to walk down to the elbe armed with cameras and document the day for posterity, but decided it was probably safer inside. Besides, I got the distinct feeling that women wouldn’t be appreciated crashing the “man’s day” celebration.
All in all, it was a pretty surreal day… but hey, I’ll take this any day over a multi-generation father’s day get together @ the Olive Garden.
On this day..
- Another first. - 2006
- Premiere Overload. - 2006
