Singing in the Wind and Rain in Wolfsburg.

Bronze wolves singing  in Wolfsburg, how very appropriate! Sunday was a day of music and singing for local groups, but just as last year, the weather was unpleasant. We sang on a stage which was undercover, but it was not really possible to wander around and see the other activities in the wretched drizzle and wind. We listened to other choirs and small music groups and heard the wandering samba band, which like all samba bands, produced the same monotonous rythmn. I'm sure it is great fun playing the instruments, but after 10 minutes, you just want the noise to stop!  The best samba band I've ever heard was at a Devizes carnival, where the band introduced pauses, which contrasted so well with the endless rythmns.

We sang our six pieces well, and mostly enjoyed the afternoon. There were plenty of food and drink stalls, and we all received vouchers to help with the cost. I had Flammkuchen with onions, sheep's cheese and tomatoes, which I washed down with a beer. Wolfsburg is a modern city, and is the headquarters of VW car production. The factory beside the River Aller dominates the city, although the part of the original old town exists with its Schloss. It reminds me of Crawley New Town in England, and is rather grey and characterless place.  The city is twinned with Luton, the car manufacturing town in the UK.

Wolfsburg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfsburg

Waiting in our red jackets to go on stage and sing.  We sang really well, and later had to make our way home in the wind and rain.

The Flammkuchen stall, with bowls of cheese, spring onions and assorted toppings.

The gentlemen above  were part of the "Till Eulenspiegel" stand. Till was a prankster who liked to play tricks on his friends. While working at a bakery in Braunschweig he baked bread in the shape of monkeys and owls, and his employer was not amused. Till lost his job, but made himself a lot of money selling the unusual shaped loaves. He was born in nearby Kneitlingen, so the story goes. Whether he existed or not is uncertain, and many areas in Germany have similar tales of tricky characters. A fountain in Braunschweig depicts Till sitting cheekily on the edge, surrounded with water spouting monkeys and owls.   True or not, he seems to have been a colourful character.

Till Eulenspiegel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaen.wikipedia.org/wiki/Till_Eulenspiegel