We Are Not In Woodbury Anymore!: November 11, 2012-- St. Martin's Day

November 11, 2012 -- St. Martin's Day

Apparently, November 11, 2012 is St. Martin's Day in Germany. St. Martin got his sainthood from the Catholic Church for being a kind man who cut his cloak in half and gave a piece of the cloak to a beggar during a snowstorm. Every year, children in Germany celebrate this holiday by making paper lanterns, and then at night they gather together, walk in a procession with their lanterns, and sing songs about St. Martin.

Oberursel celebrated St. Martin's Day with the Martin Markt, essentially a medieval market. Many people dress up in medieval outfits, all of the stores are open and there are tables and trucks set up where people sell their goods (food, swords, beads, mushrooms etc.). In addition to the goods, there are a few games of chance, pony rides and a bow and arrow shooting gallery (you shoot at one of the people in the paper castle). C, S and I went downtown to check it out. As we walked down one of the paths, we discovered mouse roulette. We laughed for minutes after witnessing it. This is how it works. You place your bet on a particular room in the outer part of the circle. When everyone is done placing their bets, the man in charge takes out a mouse. He asks the first person who placed a bet, where he/she wants the mouse to start in the inner part of the circle. He places a hat on the mouse and puts the mouse on a spot in the inner circle. He lets the mouse go. The mouse jumps down and runs to a room. If the mouse runs to the room you picked, you win. After seeing this, S and I went home, got the camera and came back. Really, you could not make this stuff up!