Bread & Puppet

After our super intense series of activities the day before, I was shocked to wake up feeling pretty refreshed. With this fresh energy, Megan and I headed out the door pretty soon in order to head over to her parents’ place for one last morning with Scott before he left for Croatia.

Maureen made some German pancakes according to an old family recipe, which were accompanied with a delicious combination of cinnamon, apple, and maple syrup. I had a lesson from Megan in how to properly fill and fold them in order to enjoy these fresh German and Vermontese fusion breakfast.

We then said our farewell to Scott before heading out to go and see “Bread & Puppet”, something which I had no idea what it could be. Maureen had said it was political and Megan had said it was weird, so I was very intrigued to see what lay in store for us on another sunny Vermont day.

After a long drive, we began to draw close to our destination and I saw a sign saying “circus”, so I wondered what the heck we were going to see. As we drew into the car park I saw a group of people gathered on a semicircular hill in the distance, but before we headed over to join them I had to go to the toilet. The toilets took the form of a hole in a wooden bench into which you’d to do your business and then cover it with some sawdust which you’d throw on top – it was all quite the experience!

Megan looked radiant in her colourful outfit in the sun.

We then headed to the “circus”, where we climbed up the hill and found a spot to sit and watch the series of different acts, which covered everything from COVID ignorance to the rights of immigrant dairy workers in Vermont. It was good fun and I took plenty of pics, even if the sun was relentless in its beating. It ended with a part on women’s reproductive rights, with a huge puppet of a woman being raised after defeating the Supreme Court.

I thought it was all over then, but Megan said we’d to follow the parade that had began to play music to the next part. This was a green area which thankfully had some shade provided by a forest, so we sat down there and watched as the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen unfolded. People in white were dancing and walking and moving all around in complete silence in a form of interpretative theatre/dance.

We followed the people in white with their various flags to another field.

Megan afterwards explained how she’d interpreted it as forbidden love between two households and the storm which froze someone, but I was completely confused. The climax of the performance was the arrival of a huge dragon made from recycled materials, which crested over the hill to the sound of a trumpet from a guy stood near us spectators.

With the performance over, the heat and the confusion and the dehydration were all getting a bit much. Megan had a quick nap and I rested my eyes for a bit whilst everyone headed over to watch “Hallelujah”, which I thought was going to be part of the song but wasn’t in the end from what I could hear.

Megan awoke just as the final performance on a hill was taking place in the distance, and we resolved to head over to finish with the traditional offering made by this theatre company called Bread & Puppet: bread and aioli. I was quite hungry and so excited to get some food, but the alioli was way too garlicky for my taste and so I abandoned it as we recached the car.

We headed back in the glorious air conditioning of the car, needing to get some drinks and cool off a bit as Megan was still very tired. We first stopped by a beautiful lake that we’d seen on the way, where Megan waded in and I splashed water on my arms and face, and then we carried on with our journey back towards Burlington.

To grab a drink, we then stopped at the first sign of a shop, which took us into a town in the middle of nowhere and a “general store” that made me feel somewhat uneasy. There, we grabbed some drinks and sweets and headed onwards for home.

The sugar from the sweets and the drinks revived us a bit, so before heading home we stopped off at Megan’s parents’ house to pick up a couple of air conditioning units for the condo. We then went back home to install them and finally settle for the evening after another very long day.

For our evening meal, Megan was keen on grabbing a Chipotle, so we hopped in the car and headed there only to find the place had closed early for the evening. Somewhat disappointed but still driven by hunger, we quickly made some alternative plans and headed to another local spot.

El Cortijo was a cuttle little spot in a renovated old diner in the centre of Burlington, where we sat at the bar and ordered a burrito and some enchiladas to go, grabbing some chips and guacamole whilst we waited. We ate our food back at home in Megan’s half-unpacked living room, after which we headed up to bed for an early night.

Heading off to see the interpretative creations of Bread & Puppet was definitely a unique experience. I’ve never seen anything quite like it in my life and I doubt I ever will again, so once again I’ve to say thanks to Megan for dragging me halfway across Vermont in order to experience this quirky experience. After a rather intense day, this experience in the Vermont countryside was definitely another unforgettable one!