Bring on the Blue Balls!

On Sunday, Jenny and her mom Monika brought Chris and I into Mannheim both for another castle and to reach our train. The outside of the castle had been used the night before for a hip-hop concert, so it was really weird for us to think about Method Man and Redman in a castle that looked like Versailles. I wonder if they took the same English tour that we did? Somehow, I suspect not.
It was sad to leave the Paffens because they really were incredible hosts, but Luzerne has been awesome. But since most of you have gone on the Uncle Frank tour, we will not bore you with details.
But we will show you small kids feeding swans:


Suffice it to say that we toured the festival both nights (Sunday and Monday) and went through the Old Town (which seemed a lot more like new shops than old buildings) during the day. I have also fallen in love with Swiss bakers. I am a big bread and pastry fan and they have shops every five feet here.
The Blue Balls festival basically takes place all over the lake.
There are small musical acts like this:


And these:




And bigger ones on mainstages. They are surrounded by food tents and shops. The food tents are a little interesting because they basically represent all the countries in the area. Instead of really picking what you want, you more or less decided “I would like to eat at Tibet” and go and get food. I ate at Mexico (I am such a wimp) and at whatever country it was that makes fried apple dough things. I am not sure what country that was, but as soon as I find out I am going to become a dual citizen. Chris ate at Mexico but has determined that our tex-mex is far better and is now eagerly looking forward to taco-bell.
I also discovered that my ignorance and inability to really hear people over the different bands made me an incredible barterer. I was looking at a necklace and the man said Venti. I wasn't expecting Italian, so I asked him to repeat. He thought I was bartering, so followed by offering 18. I thought he said 8, and almost had him convinced to sell it to me for under half-price, but then another customer came along. This could've been the only time our ignorance has been a benefit.

Also, some dates we have missed...
Happy belated anniversary to Peter and Melissa!
Happy Birthday to Sarah H!
And, Sara U, we are sorry to hear you are not feeling well and hope that your surgery goes well.