Erentrudistfest

Late morning we headed over to the ugly church for what we thought was going to be a church service and kindergarten sing-a-long like we've been to before. We were surprised to find that church was over, though we were not late for the event that had been posted on the door of Nikolas's kindergarten. Just beginning was the church-sponsored Erentrudisfest for which the kindergarten children were providing the main entertainment. Nikolas joined those of his classmates who had shown up, and they belted out a number of religious songs before delving into some of their Sommerfest repertoire which they performed with even more gusto and precision than during the Sommerfest show. It was delightful as usual.

After the concert, it was time for lunch with bratwurst, right off the grill, accompanied by potato salad or homemade warm sauerkraut and bread for a mere 4 Euros. Nikolas LOVES sauerkraut, which was a good thing since the serving man gave him a portion that almost filled his entire plate. All the tables were packed and most people dressed in their dirndls and lederhosen (we also didn't know that we were supposed to be so festively dressed!). Such a 'slice out of Austrian life', we had not expected at all.


An incredible downpour in the middle of it all hardly put a damper on things, people being so used to being wet by this point. The priest belted out inspirational thoughts on his microphone as people cowered under the sun umbrellas or made a dash through the rain for the church. Maybe a few people left, but most just stuck it out, wiping off the benches and settling back down with their wet clothes and cold food when the skies dried up.

The kids thought it was great fun, filling up their drink cups with the drips still falling from the umbrellas, using their wet shoes as an excuse to go barefoot through the puddles, and just being silly in all that wetness. It was really good fun.