Religious Festivals et al

Once again Malta has come up with a religious festival that is steeped in tradition and history in which the Gasthof Hochalmspitze has to play its long-established part (despite the clear atheist convictions of its current management!) Here they call it Fronleichnam, in Holland it is apparently Sacrementdag and in the UK, I am reliably informed by those who know, it is Corpus Christi. As is always the case in Kärnten, the band, the choir and the local children were all involved and we have lots of photos showing the costumes and the ceremony which you can find at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/johnlgowers/Fronleichnam2009?feat=directlink but here are a view to begin with! I think this is the first time that the local priest has been confronted with a Guinness poster when he approached the altar though! The highlight of the whole thing was definitely the ladies choir who sang both the religious elements of the service plus, as you can see in the photos, a rather wonderful gospel number. They sounded as good as they looked!

On another note, our 15 German bikers have arrived and already started on a mission to drink us dry! We will NOT be defeated! Tonight they are having a barbecue - sun has been out ALL day - followed by a whisky tasting session. Not an early night then! We were sorry to have to say goodbye to our Hungarian couple this morning, but how lovely that they decide to write on our blog directly (assuming it says something nice!). Hope to catch up with the both in Budapest later in the year.