In Germany Father's Day is celebrated differently from other parts of the world. There are two terms and/or events of an older origin that while similar in name, have entirely different meanings. Vatertag, is always celebrated on Ascension Day (the Thursday forty days after Easter), which is a federal holiday. Regionally, it is also called men's day, Männertag, or gentlemen's day, Herrentag. It is tradition to do a males-only hiking tour with one or more smaller wagons, Bollerwagen, pulled by manpower. In the wagons are wine or beer (according to region) and traditional regional food, Hausmannskost, which could be Saumagen, Liverwurst, Blutwurst (Blood Sausage), vegetables, eggs, etc. Many men will use this holiday to get very drunk, to the point of having gangs of drunk people roaming the streets, causing much embarrassment to the German people who don't participate, and giving the holiday a very bad name in Germany. Police and emergency services are in high alert during the day, and some left-wing and feminist groups have asked for the banning of the holiday.
So, how did we celebrate? Well, we went for a bike ride hat was about 60km. We rode from Freiburg to Breisach, which is on the border of Germany and France. For those of you unfamiliar with the conversion of kilometers to miles, that is approximately 37 miles. The weather was great, not too hot and a mild wind. A little over halfway through our route we stopped for a triple ice cream cone (I got one scoop Mango and two scoops lemon) and a sprite. After eating and drinking we walked a bit along the river Rhine. The wind began to pick up, so we decided to begin the trip back home. After about three minutes of riding the rain came down and was constant the entire way home, except for the last two kilometers when the rain suddenly stopped! Even with the rain, the ride was relaxing. I actually found the rain to be a bit cleansing in a sense.
Upon arriving home I did some laundry and then made dinner. That evening we sat out on our balcony, played some Uno and then had a beer as the rain came back. Since our balcony is covered we can sit out there without getting wet. Then I finished the book I was reading, Kennedy's Brain, by Henning Mankell. Not his best book but also not a total piece of crap either.
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