Der Man mit dem Stock

After a great day of seeing the sights here in Berlin....namely the Pergamon Museum, the Berliner Dom (which is as of now my favorite landmark in Berlin), and shopping at Hackescher Hoffe, my Mom and I decided to cap off the day by checking out the Berliner Gauklerfest. Gaukler means juggler in German, so you get an idea of what we were in for. It seemed that the fest only took up a small area, so we wandered in and started to look at the arts and crafts that were for sale. Little did we realize that the fest wound around in several directions and went on for quite some time! There were a few stages set up where randomly people would be playing music (smooth jazz, Brazillian music, red hot chili peppers, you know, the usual. ???) Also, there were street performers, men on stilts, jugglers(of course) and clowns of all sorts. I must say that the performers were pretty mediocre. Most of the festival consisted of places to eat and drink ranging from sausage stands and beer halls to upscale lounges with disco balls and VIP areas. I've gotta say, when German's do anything, they are freaking serious about it! People were coming in in droves, ready to party! I have a feeling that the festival lasted well into the night. The best part was that during one of the juggling acts, a man was pulled from the audience in order to "help" the jugglers. The Jugglers made him put a stick in his mouth for unknown reasons, probably explained in German. This caused my Mom to be able to use the one line that we both remember from our German learners guide........Der Man mit dem Stock! (the man with the stick). So you see my friends, you never know what stupid phrase in a foreign language you might actually need one day!!!