The kids and I decided to venture to Modena today to a comic book / fantasy game (i.e. Dungeons and Dragons) / geek paradise because Alex has developed interest in a card game called ‘Magic’.  He found the name of the comic book store in a magazine, and given that our own small town is not a good source for the coveted cards required for the game, he asked if I would take him to Modena.  Getting out of the house and doing something a little different sounded like a good idea, so we decided to make a day of it.

We took the train to save on gas and parking, and just because it seemed like a fun thing to do.

Lo and behold, we found the shop, bought some Magic cards, and then stumbled right into the middle of Modena’s “Festival Internazionale Bande Militari” (International Military Band Festival) also known as a ‘tattoo’. 

There were bands from Italy:

Little known fact:  the headwear of Italian soldiers is made from their own plucked eyebrows.

Great Britain:

Bulgaria:

Ukraine:

Bing Crosby is apparently alive and well and living in Kiev.

And my personal favorites, Turkey!!

We wrapped up our international adventure by having some Chinese food, and then we took the train back home.  Good day!