Today we slept in and took advantage of the large, delicious breakfast and late check out. It was a long weekend so we expected to relax.
In Germany, we have observed that on Sundays nothing is open. Nothing. So you need to make sure that you have all the supplies you need just in case. We had expected nothing to be open.
However once we left Leipzig on our way to Dresden, we saw something we didn’t expect. A group of drunken young men who were riding their bicycles and towing a modified trailer full of alcohol. It was a lark. They were friendly and yelled out to us as we drove by. But, hey. It’s Germany.
Then we saw another group, then another. Then a whole lot of them. All heading to the closest city. When we got there we found out why.
It’s called Vatertag. In Germany, this is Fathers Day.
Father’s day in Germany is a huge tradition, it involves drinking lots of beer, riding bikes of some sort and is generally a huge boys day out! The holiday actually has noble beginnings in the Middle Ages as a religious ceremony honouring Gott, den Vater (God, the father). Towards the 1700s, the day transformed into Vatertag, a family day honouring the father of the household. Men would be carted into the village centre and the father with the most children would earn a reward, often a large ham.
Once we got to Dresden we checked into our hotel. Then we decided to enjoy the rest of the afternoon with a few drinks, fine food and some relaxing.
Tomorrow we explore Dresden.
Cool Stuff We Did 