We scurried out of Saarlouis to avoid the mess that would surely accompany the downtown festivities, only to arrive in Mertzig just a few minutes before an armada of small ships arrived. This turned out to comprise the entire fleet of Dillingen-Saar Boat Club. It having been inspired to come down river in the rain to Merzig for the weekend for …. Oktoberfest!
They were a happy bunch as boat-folk have a tendency to be, and they quietly went about their preparations for the weekend ahead, buffing leather pants, borrowing our ironing board for those last minute touch-ups. Clearly not every national costume had been bought new for the occasion. We were transfixed as neighbours shared their struggles to fit busty bits into places they may well have once gone a long, long time ago. Not all of said bits actually fitted in the designated spaces any more, some needing considerably more uplift than the outfit seemed designed to provide, but eventually after a team of prodders and pokers and puller-uppers had done its bit, all were deemed ready enough to glide off into the near freezing mist dressed barely adequately for a tropical afternoon. One can only imagine how less well fitting they may have appeared after returning from a night of rollicking good fun.
On the subject of rollicking, we watched with morbid fascination the juxtaposition of beer hall and carnival rides. Surely the matching of litre steins of beer and orbiting machines is not a natural one. At what point does a quick spin on the Vomitron become an option after leaving a beer tent? At least it's easy to explain the bits of carrot on the roof of the marquee.
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