Today, something was afoot in Klein Basel. Today was the festival of Vögel Gryff, which dates back to the middle ages. It starts with the Wild Maa, Wild Man, sailing down the Rhine on a raft to the sound of cannon, whilst dancing to a drum march with a pine tree sapling. Then he is met by the Leu, Lion and Vögel Gryff, a griffon, and at noon they danced a fertility dance on the Mittlere Brücke to the sound of drumming, before heading into Klein Basel and repeating the thing again and again, until 11pm.
My housemate and I met up with her parents and tried to see it a couple of times, but always missed the start- but it was something strange and peculiar to Basel, so it was good to see what little I did. Besides, Beer is always good for breakfast...
What a hard life that you have........ it looks busy in Basel to-day. Were you not in lessons and did the students know any thing about it ?
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