Matria - The capital of the principality (March 20, 2023)
The foreign long-distance trains rattled into the overcrowded main station in the city of Matria. March 20th marks a turning point for the Principality of Saalenia every year; From here the spring and summer season begins, which means more tourists. The small country is filled with people especially for the spring festival week that starts today. It has about 430,000 inhabitants and about the same number of tourists flock to the station.
Most of the crowds move by tram from the main train station in the station district of Matria to the market square in the old town. The inexperienced tourist will be surprised when he sees the rather empty streets. The tram dominates the traffic, followed by bicycles, every now and then you see an e-scooter or an e-car and...sometimes classic horse-drawn carriages. The knowledgeable will remember that Saalenia has a ban on internal combustion engines, the ignorant will surely be surprised.On the market square here are various sales stands, rides and performances just waiting to get started. A stage was set up in front of the town hall of Matria, on which a rather small and petite-looking woman stepped up to a microphone and spoke to the assembled audience.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," she spoke in German, but a second person next to her translated her speech into English for the foreign viewers. "My name is Clara Marie von Jacob, I am Minister of Education and Culture and I welcome you all to our humble Principality and beautiful capital. This is the day when we begin the Spring festivities and celebrate how the almighty goddess Gaya wakes up nature from its hibernation. I hereby declare the Spring Festival open!"
Applause went through the crowd and suddenly all the stands opened, the carousels started turning and the first performances began. The crowd in front of the stage dispersed and spread out across the marketplace. The festival was on.