All dressed up

We are celebrating the second long weekend in a row here in Hannover. Last weekend was Christi Himmelfahrt, which still sounds to me like the name of some gossipy girl you knew in high school. Himmelfahrt literally means trip to heaven, and it's Ascension Thursday, 40 days after Easter. Much more popular than the religious side of the day is its other purpose as Vatertag. German fathers' day has nothing to do with family picnics and grill tool gift sets. It's an excuse for German men, fathers or not, to go out drinking all day long. They start at 9 or 10am and head out with a wagon full of beer ('Dad's gonna need that Radio Flyer today, kiddo'). Then the parks and streets are full of idiots with their wagons. I respect the ones who are actually dads and use the day as a way to escape back to bachelor-hood. The rest are just idiots.

Then, after a 'bridge' (aka hangover) day off on Friday and a whole five day work week comes Pfingsten, or Pentecost. Pentecost Monday is a holiday when we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit, apostles speaking in tongues, and the Pentecost ox. The Pfingstochse is a German tradition celebrated in the countryside of Bavaria, where they always seem to have more fun. Cattle herds are paraded through small villages, with the biggest and strongest ox coming last. Not only is he last, he is all dressed up. The Pfingstochse is decorated with flowers as a sort of bovine parade float:

And then, traditionally, he was slaughtered for the Pentecost feast. Boys who oversleep on Pentecost are also called the Pfingstochse, because they come last. Do they come covered in flowers? I am not sure. Are they slaughtered? No, definitely not. They are probably just laughed at because they are covered in flowers.

It's getting light here at about 4am now, so it's hard to be the one to a Pfingstochse even if you want to. But it's a nice time of year not to work too hard, and the weather is good for parades, and for dragging wagons full of beer.