From 30th August to 3rd September 2013 the annual Bleiburger Wiesenmarkt (The Market of the Meadow) will be held for the 620th time.
Yes, you read correctly: for the 620th time.
that means that the good Citizens of this small town of Austria, located snugly on the border to Slovenia, gathered in this large, community owned meadow for the first (recorded) time in 1393. ..
and that, in turn, means that it took another 99 years until Columbus set sail for the first time until he ran aground in "America" !
Almost 100 years before Columbus told Queen Isabella of Castile that he could find a short cut to India, the farmers around Bleiburg gathered to determine who had the cow with the biggest udder, who had the fattest pig or grew the largest squash...Then they danced and sang and probably hefted a jug of "Met" or two...
So the farmers of Bleiburg got good and drunk 58 years before Columbus was even borne and the earlier mentioned 99 years before he landed in the Bahamas.
I understand that trees were growing during that time too. It's no surprise that where there are people, there are parties.
ReplyDelete