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Kieler Woche ran from 17 to 25 June 2023. Literally, ‘Kiel Week’. Probably the city’s biggest event, perhaps all of northern Germany’s. Something like Munich’s Oktoberfest, with a maritime theme. Visitors come from across the country and beyond. This year, 2.8 million people attended; before Covid, figures of seven million were mentioned.
An extraordinary number of stalls lined the waterfront, rivalling Russia’s busiest Black Sea resorts for quantity and colour. Don’t expect much variety, though. Three or four local beers. To eat: Fischbrötchen — rolls with herring, battered cod, fishcakes or falafel — currywurst, a sausage dusted with turmeric in a spicy tomato sauce, or Pommes, chips. You can easily spend half an hour queuing for the loo. Or do what everyone else does: go to the park and relieve yourself against the nearest tree in full view. About ten stages with live music were spaced along the stalls. Each evening brought a parade of hot-air balloons.
Colleagues told me there were activities at the other end, such as visits to the naval base. But crowds of people out enjoying themselves stress me terribly. There were so many that Masha and I literally shuffled along the waterfront like penguins, rocking from foot to foot.
Take a bus to the north of the city, and you could see what the festival was originally for: sailing teams from all over the world racing in different classes. Fewer people, a nicer atmosphere.
#notes
An extraordinary number of stalls lined the waterfront, rivalling Russia’s busiest Black Sea resorts for quantity and colour. Don’t expect much variety, though. Three or four local beers. To eat: Fischbrötchen — rolls with herring, battered cod, fishcakes or falafel — currywurst, a sausage dusted with turmeric in a spicy tomato sauce, or Pommes, chips. You can easily spend half an hour queuing for the loo. Or do what everyone else does: go to the park and relieve yourself against the nearest tree in full view. About ten stages with live music were spaced along the stalls. Each evening brought a parade of hot-air balloons.
Colleagues told me there were activities at the other end, such as visits to the naval base. But crowds of people out enjoying themselves stress me terribly. There were so many that Masha and I literally shuffled along the waterfront like penguins, rocking from foot to foot.
Take a bus to the north of the city, and you could see what the festival was originally for: sailing teams from all over the world racing in different classes. Fewer people, a nicer atmosphere.
#notes
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