St. Rupert's Festival / Rupertikirtag

Rupertikirtag began today in Salzburg. Saint Rupert is the patron saint of Salzburg, and his 'day' is next Wednesday, when Nikolas will have a day off from school. The six-day celebration fills the five main plazas/squares in the old city which are jam packed with food stalls, handicraft booths (real artisans, not just artsy craftsy junk), stage areas for music and dancing and children's puppet shows, and all sorts of old time carnival rides and games.

Nikolas loved all the rides, which were outrageously expensive, and had a hard time choosing what he wanted to do: mini bumper cars, a carousel, swinging chairs (both mini and adult-sized), haunted houses, real ponies in a carousel-type ring, whirling tea cups, and on and on. My favorite was a beautiful wooden sailboat roundabout/roller coaster ride which none of us tried but was amazing to watch.

We shared a giant 'donut pretzel' and then watched a Kasperl (puppet) show, where the Kasper was searching for a ghost that the screaming audience could see but the puppet kept missing. After the show, Hans Wurst (a well known character ???) handed out Zuckerl (literally 'little sugars') to all the children.

Nikolas' remark on Salzburg: "Downtown has so many fun things to do and so many things to look at!"