Spring Dippemess

Last night we went to the Spring Dippemess.  It's a fun fair/carnival with rides, games, market stalls, and food.  From the Frankfurt tourism website:

Dippemess is a tradition which dates back to the 14th century. At that time, the Maamess, as it was then called, was a medieval market for domestic articles. Potters from the Westerwald, Kannebäckerland and Urberach came here to sell their wares, especially their ceramic bowls and pots. These were known in the Frankfurt dialect as "Dippe", from which the event soon took its name.

It was crazy fun.   Ready for photographic evidence?  Of course you are.

First up was the Ferris Wheel.  It was massive.  Each of those cars could hold (probably) eight people comfortably.  And lucky for us, the cars were enclosed.  I'm here to tell you, spring or not, it was COLD.  I think the high for the day was in the upper 30's.  It wasn't that bad until the breeze rolled in.  

Frankfurt skyline from the top.

What should we do next?

It's a little chilly.

From the Ferris Wheel we noticed this insane thing.  James got that crazy adrenaline twinkle in his eye and decided since there was no line....

Personally, I think there is a REASON there was no line!

Fisher assumed the "worry face" as soon as the ride started.

James survived (thank goodness) and then we stuck with the mellow rides for a while.  

Fisher perfecting his "Mario" bounce.

Fisher and James with Piper on his lap.

Then I got a turn with Piper.

Then we got a little crazy.  Fisher had declared earlier in the day that he wanted to ride a roller coaster.  Well they had one and there was no line (a benefit of the cold I think).  James went up to pay and asked if Piper was allowed to ride it.  As long as someone was riding with her.  Damn.  That meant I would have to go too.  They both had to have a parent with them.  (I'll add here that I used to love roller coasters but after having children even a fast elevator can make me a little queasy.  Seriously.  Childbirth must have knocked the thrill seeker right out of me.)  All four of us rode it....

It's probably a good thing none of us really looked at it too closely before getting on.  After we had paid and were walking up the ramp I looked at James and said something about this being a "really bad idea".  They. Loved. It.  Heck, we all loved it.  I was really proud of them.

The "BIG hill" on the right.

We went back to mellow after that.

Now for the food.  Fair food is WAY different here.  I think the last big fair I went to was in NC and it's been quite a few years now but, they mostly had fried everything.  Fried pickles, oreos, fries, elephant ears, snickers bars.  Everything was fried.  Here everything is dipped in chocolate.  And it's almost all fruit.  

Bananas, grapes, strawberries, cherries, kiwi, pineapple,
apple, and even a mix of all those.

Heck, that on the far left is a chili pepper!
Dipped in chocolate!

Candied strawberries.

And sometimes just plain fruit.

Even American Ice Cream.  They didn't have very much
business with it being so cold.

With all that food we hardly ate anything.  Once the wind picked up we were done.  We ended up just getting takeout on the way home.  I know!

There were also lots of games.  Most of them were set up to win at least something so the kids really loved it.  The apartment is now covered with tiny stuffed animals and plastic guns.  

Fisher was particularly good at the shooting games.

He must get that from his dad.

Okay, it's time to go now.  Our noses were red and our hand were numb but boy did we have fun!

Our last look before heading down to the train.

Yeah....we're going to have to do that again. 

JKFP