Happy May-censi-en Day

Today was a terrific day!

Normally three days are compressed into two: Ascension Day plus Men’s Day and May Day. Due to the rather early Easter and May 1st falling on a Thursday, these three days were compressed even more tightly into one day.

In Weimar May Day is the day for the Space Kid Head Cup and the annual downtown flea market. Meanwhile Ascension / Men’s Day is a day in which I think something happens at the churches and thousands of men fill up wagons with crates of beer and head out for drunken nature walks. I told my Mother about this and she refused to me—the notion of men carrying crates into the woods seems quite outlandish, so I offer photographic proof: men waiting on the platform.

This wasn’t the only time I encountered men with wagon loads of beers today, but its the only photo.

My plan for the day was simple: head up to the main train station to meet a girl from Erfurt, explore Weimar for a couple hours, then head to the Space Kid Head Cup.

Which is essentially what I did. Unfortunately the girl from Erfurt missed her train by a couple minutes and because Die Bahn is doing major track work between Weimar and Erfurt this weekend, trains are running infrequently, supplemented with buses. She arrived about 45 minutes late, which let us wander through Weimar, look at the outside of most major attractions (Goethe’s House, Goethe’s Garden House, Goetheplatz, Goethe’s statue, the library where Goethe’s books are kept, and the house of Goethe’s best friend), before heading to Schloß Belvedere.

Schloß Belvedere was the home to this year’s Space Kid Head Cup, the annual May Day soapbox derby. Somehow I’d missed the event in my first few years here, plus I’d never actually been to one before, so it was a totally new experience.

We met up with Anke, some of her friends (including one incredibly attractive (hopelessly hetero) man) and watched the “style” section of the race. I was in photographer mode and I snapped quite a few of the racers as they went past at a stately rate, the complete Space Kid Head Cup 2008 Set is on Flickr. There were some really fantastic cars that were beautiful, some that were intentionally or unintentionally funny, and one that looked like the frat boys put it together five minutes before the deadline.

Just about the time this was over, Anke left and some of my office colleagues arrived. After watching a couple of the speed trials, the girl from Erfurt left, and I soldiered on with the colleagues, exploring the grounds of Schloß Belvedere, having a drink in its café, and enjoying a nearly perfect afternoon. There was a brief period of rain that made it imperfect.

By the time I returned home, it was after seven.

I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend my day.