La Tal from Spain with 'Carillo'

Ok, kept my promise and the weather held, thank whomever. Peter was so happy to be out of the house, as you can see, and since we got to the main square early, I let him have his piece of apple Strudel at café Sacher before the show started.





As above, he was happy to be out---except for the woman next to him with a young baby, when she popped out her breast to feed him. 'Take a picture of THAT, ' he said. I asked, 'Why, it's the most natural thing on earth...' 'Because they would arrest her in America,' he replied. Well, I guess in some places they might, but saw no reason to take umbrage... He can be so weird, hey.... or Europe ruined me...


And all the kids got the front seats, as it should be...








So it starts with a gnome-like figure who comes out with a key, puts the hands into the clock and then winds it up.





And then a Glockenspiel, carillon, begins to play....






Now a good Glockenspiel has lots of figures who come out of doors and go round and round for a while. Graz has a boring one, but those of you have been with me in Munich will know what I mean. It was sort of like that... at first...





There were only three artists, but you could have sworn there was a whole troupe, they changed so fast.






Whereupon came little 'stories'. I had seen the first one last night. A guy with his gal, he goes to get a newspaper, a 'filou' tries to horn in on him and steal his girl, and they go confrontational.




Wherupon it comes to a duel. Of course. They miss, both try to kiss the damsel, miss, kiss each other instead, and go off together, with the damsel beating them with her umbrella.
And by the way, all movements are as if they were mechanical figures....


Every fifteen minutes they set the hands of the clock ahead.






Then there was slapstick of the finest sort, with sledge hammers that kept bigger and bigger.
































Followed by one of the funniest Carmen parodies I have seen in years.












And then a boxing match between a big guy. The little guy wins and the macho goes Rambo on the judge.




















By that time, the crowd was huge.... they loved it. And then the gnome took off the hands on the clock and went off stage right. It was a nice show, and typical of 'commedia dell'arte' of the 1500's onward from whence comes slapstick and Punch and Judy, for instance. I know, lots of pictures this time, but was making up for the rained out days. And yes, Dad, I took extra batteries this time, but didn't need them. Last night my extras were being re-charged. Hope you get a sense of the good side of what this festival can bring. Free of charge, but... oh yeah... that must be Socialist or something, so must mind my mouf.