Our First Schueberfouer

3 Ts below the sign

Having now seen at least a half a dozen blog posts and Facebook albums documenting expat experiences at the annual Luxembourg "Schueberfouer," I can't help but feel as if I'm just copying someone else's photos and stories on this one.  On top of that, a carnival is a carnival and we've all been "there." Still, I suppose I must remember two things: 1) Most people reading this blog are our close friends and family, most of whom have actually never heard of Schueberfouer and will happily read on (thanks!). And, 2) The Ts do have their unique way of doing things.

So, I bring you Scheuberfouer 2012, Ts-style.

Ok, to begin with, we are not huge fans of being ripped off carnivals, a fact that this post from way back in 2008 and this one from 2009 both illustrate.

Yet, I felt determined that we were going to enjoy this carnival as a family and in our own way.  After all, it's right in our town, right on our bus route, and is solidly part of the Luxembourg experience. The Schueberfouer has been held here for 672 years straight (yeah, since 1340).

We didn't make a plan, per se, but this is what happened.  The fair lasts for 3 weeks, and we went 3 times on 3 different days during its run.  Each time, the kids got to choose one ride to go on, one time (you could buy "bulk" rides for less, but we didn't).  We also tried a different food each time.  Each visit lasted about an hour or so. We purposely avoided the half-price rides days, opting for less busy times instead.

In other words, we kept it very simple, low-key, and relatively inexpensive.  Shocking, I know.

When we first arrived at the fair we thought we'd all go on the ferris wheel together, but James decided he didn't want to at the last minute.  So, Daphne and Pete went together.

Meanwhile, James hopped on Route 66 solo

The next time Daph tried the swings, again with Pete.

I tried to talk James into going on the big ferris wheel with me, but he decided this one was much more his speed...

wee

The last day Daphne took a flying saucer...

And finally, James agreed to try the big ferris wheel with me!

of course, he loved it after all

view of the fair

and a bit of the city

 For food, we tried French...

crepes, naturally

German...

I finally figured out why the meat is always bulging out of the bun in Europe: the bread is really just a meat handle that happens to be edible.  It's only the meat that really "matters."  I get it now.

meat with handles

And last but not least, Luxembourgish...

think deep-fried garlic and herb mashed potato patties.  yum.

Although we're obviously not carnival connoisseurs, the main difference we observed in this carnival from any we'd been to in the U.S. was that there were a lot of young professional-types standing in groups blocking the pathways and drinking beer.  Clearly people had moved their typical after-work-meet-at-the-bar to stand-around-at-the-fair instead.  In addition to the typical food stands, there were maybe a dozen full-on restaurants set up in large tents where you'd need to make reservations to eat.  There were also lots of raffle stands with large electronics.  And a condom stand.  Hmm....what else...the carnies were yelling at us in German and French instead of English.  

We were never there after dark so I have no idea what happens then.  But we could hear faint screaming and smell cotton candy from our balcony at night.  That was actually kind of cool.