Middle Ages Festival / Mittelalterfest

Salzburg is famous for its rain, and when it rains here, it really rains. It's called Schnürlregen (string rain) because when it falls it looks like string and not individual drops of rain. After a day and a half of Schnürlregen, we were all getting a little stir crazy and so when the rain stopped just after noon (although the skies hadn't cleared at all), we jumped on a bus and headed downtown.

Today at the castle was a Mittelalterfest (Middle Ages Festival). We've been to a couple similar festivals in Werfen, but this one was on a much larger and grander scale (just as Salzburg's castle is larger and grander than the one in Werfen). You'd think we'd tire of all this Middle Ages stuff, but there's something about being in a real castle with authentic craftsman and musicians and sword fighters that is so very intriguing. And for only 4 Euros for adults to get in, it was a real bargain.

We enjoyed more sword fighting, and this time around Nikolas was much less intimidated and more into watching (and learning) the art of sword fighting. Shouting and grunting loudly with dramatic spins on the floor seems to be key, and Nikolas practiced these techniques back at home, he using his wooden sword and Peter and I taking turns with various umbrellas. He "won" most of the time, lifting his sword high and shouting, "Hey!" just like the pros.

There was a terrific children's program with a series of stations scattered around the castle complex where kids could accomplish knightly tasks. It began with a knight dressing station where Nikolas was able to pick out the color of his tunic and the accompanying rope belt, both of which he got to keep and wear home! Once he had been 'knighted', Nikolas was given a passport-like booklet in which to collect stamps at the other stations.

Working through horse shoe throwing, pottery making, bee hive watching, unicorn catching, and mystery object identification stations, with lively music from the Middle Ages performed by different ensembles playing in the background, we ended up in an area of the castle not usually open to visitors. On the walls were framed illuminated manuscripts, and it was a series of writing rooms that had been used by monks back in the day for their illuminating and writing. There Nikolas was able to color with regular pencils and crayons and also experiment with a real feather quill and ink which he discovered was a lot harder to use that it looks!

It was only when we were just about ready to go that the Schnürlregen started in again, this time coming down in ropes and not just strings. It's pretty wet even when you are equipped, and so we headed back down the castle hill and then onwards to home, glad for the outing and the break in the rain, even if it was only for a few hours.