Herr Mike in Deutschland

Firstly, I will apologise for the late weekend posts, had some trouble with the internet network at the Wohnheim, due to the renovation work I believe.
Anyhow, this Saturday I went to a festival in Bamberg, which I believe is known as eine 'Kirchweih'. Christian's hairdresser (Friseur auf deutsch) had recommended it so we decided to go along.
It is village fete sort of thing which attracts hundreds of people. The community spirit in Germany really is amazing, every weekend throughout the Summer there is an event in which a town tries to out-do its neighbours with a festival. From what I have observed this contest is judged on litres of beer sold as huge jugs of the stuff are a common theme in every town, regrdless of what is being celebrated. There is always a friendly and jovial atmosphere.
Bamberg is a very beautiful old town which was very peaceful when I visited it with my parents a few weeks back. Not so on Saturday, it was heaving! People crammed into all of the little winding streets, straining to reach the multitude of stalls on the river which were selling copious amounts of Bratwurst and wheat beer.
We met up with a few of the guys from the Wohnheim and met some new faces, a girl named Mila from Slovakia and her friend Alp, a dude from turkey. As they are Bamberg residents, working as interns like Christian and I, they showed us around the festivities. We ended up in a huge beer tent looking over the river where a gang of men with suspicious moustaches played traditional German songs. With Christian's assistance I was soon slurring along to tunes that should only really be performed in lederhosen.
The place came even more to life as night fell, with fireworks and a fairground lighting up river bank. At one point a great number of people swam down the river carrying flaming torches. It was a bewitching site and one that I won't forget in while. Check out the pics!