Bells announce my arrival in Belgium (and a side trip to Holland)

After an very long bit of travel (including 15 hours in the lovely but not exactly exciting Halifax airport) I finally arrived in Brussels, and was met at the airport by storyteller Veva Gerard, who said she had something special arranged for me.

We drove to the town of Lier, parked the car, and went for a little walk. We got to a courtyard by the fabulous 14th century St. Gummarus Church, and Veva said that she had arranged for a musician to play for me to welcome me to Belgium. She made a quick call on her cellphone, and high above us, the carillon in the bell tower above us began to ring out.

Her son (12 years old, below) is learning to play the carillon, and after he had played a few tunes, his teacher met us at the base of the tower, and up we went the 300 or so steps up to the top, past the giant human-powered winch the workers would have used to raise the heavy materials used in the construction of the tower, one of the few remaining such mediaeval instruments in Europe.

Along the way, and continuing at the top of the tower, I got a history lesson in the carillon and got to try my hand at ringing the bells myself.

It was a fabulous welcome, and completely unexpected.

Today, it was on to Veva's plan B, and after a breakfast with her family, we drove to Efteling in the Netherlands, one of the largest and oldest theme parks in Europe, based mainly on folktales and legends!

We spent the day wandering through the park, visiting Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Rumpelstiltskin, the Goat Grandmother and the 7 Kids, the Little Match Girl. We even visited the grave of Cinderella's mother:

Then, as if that wasn't enough, we ate sausage, visited two haunted houses, and saw a live equestrian show which featured damsels in distress, falconry, and (steampunks eat your heart out) a giant multi-headed, fire-breathing clockwork dragon.

Then, to finish off the visit to the park, an incredible water ballet with lights, music and underwater fire cannons.

Then, cold and with tired feet, a drive back to Lier, dinner of guinea fowl at a fabulous restaurant, much discussion of storytelling, and a walk through the cobblestone streets of Lier.

Now, back with Veva's family in Lint, and a well-deserved rest! Goodnight!

Exploring storytelling: From The Crow's Nest to The Turnip Princess

It seems like I've been gone for ages, so I'm delighted to be back hosting the St. John's Storytelling Circle this Thursday, March 8th, at 7:30 pm at the Crow's Nest Officers Club. If you haven't been in the Crow's Nest before, it is a great space, one of my favourite hidden gems in St. John's. The open mic storytelling circle has been running there every month (except Decembers) for the past six years, and you never know what you'll hear.

Over the years, a group of regular storytellers has evolved, who tell tall tales, ghost stories, personal narratives, and recitations, but it is a rare night when there isn't someone new who gets up and shares some kind of story. All kinds of stories are welcome; the only rule is that stories must be told from memory rather than read from the page. Come out, and chances are you'll hear a story you've never heard before. Tickets $3 at the door.

I've been working for the past few months on Brothers Grimm material with my friend Delf Hohmann, who hosted the Storytelling Circle in January. Therefore, it was with delight that I read something that had been posted on Facebook by local performer and author Sara Tilley, about five hundred new fairytales which have been discovered in Germany.

A collection of fairytales gathered by historian Franz Xaver von Schönwerth has been locked away in an archive in Regensburg for over 150 years, a collection which is now re-emerging.  According to the article in The Guardian, in 1885, Jacob Grimm said this about von Schönwerth: "Nowhere in the whole of Germany is anyone collecting [folklore] so accurately, thoroughly and with such a sensitive ear." Coming from Jacob Grimm, that is a huge compliment, and I look forward to seeing the entirety of von Schönwerth's work.

Many of von Schönwerth's tales are not yet available in English, but you can read one quirky little story already, The Turnip Princess.