Not the Everton Picnic

A few weeks ago, the ITS group at work left the office a little early on a Thursday to go on a field trip to Schueberfouer, the annual Luxembourg city fair. It is no State Fair of Texas (not that I've been there in years), but it was actually pretty darn big in its own right, especially considering the relatively modest size of Luxembourg. There was a full-on roller coaster, a ferris wheel, a large water ride, bumper cars, a bunch of those ridiculous spinning rides that seem to serve no purpose other than to make people sick and, of course, the cash cow prize games where you can win a Wii, an iPod, an iPad, or one of any number of other high dollar goods (not to mention the ever-popular giant stuffed animal) if you can just land a ping pong ball in a certain bowl or shoot a string with a cap gun or knock a pyramid of cans off a table, etc, etc.

Though I did ride the roller coaster, I didn't feel comfortable getting on any other rides with my back issues. But the thing that really caught my eye (and kept my attention) was the "Velo Contradictoire" (contradictory bicycle). All you had to do to win a prize was ride a bicycle in a straight line for 3 meters without putting a foot on the ground. However, and as you can imagine, there's a catch. When you turn the handlebars to the right, the front wheel turns to the left and vice versa. After watching a number of people try (and fail miserably) to ride the bike, one would think that it is impossible. But unlike all the other nearly impossible games, the person working this booth would prove it was possible over and over again, just tempting the dumb masses to fork over 5 Euro for 3 tries. Though I was quite intrigued, I decided not to spend my money. In fact, that night with my group, I didn't spend money on a single one of the foolish games (which for me, was a feat in itself).

However, I just couldn't stay away and decided to make a return trip to the Schueberfouer the following Sunday. My real intent was to take a few more pictures in the daylight, but I was quickly sucked into playing a few of the games. Knowing my chances of winning anything were extremely slim, I was truly playing for fun and at peace with the fact that I leave a certain amount of cash there and take nothing home with me in return. In fact, I did lose every game I played. But before I left, I decided I also had to try the bicycle. I really thought I could talk my brain into reversing my reflexes. Unfortunately, my years of riding of normal bicycle worked against me and I was never able to make it more than a couple of feet without almost falling over. Foiled again.

But as many games and rides as it did have, the Schueberfouer was outdone by the Everton Picnic in at least one respect...turtle racing. That's right, there is no turtle racing in Luxembourg. And for that reason, I just don't know how much longer I can stay here.

A few pics from the fair: