The gingerbread princess castle that didn’t live long
It was a little before christmas 2008. We had rounded up some of the younger members of our family and (children of) friends to make the yearly gingerbread project. It turned out that all the children were girls this year, so the project was: A gingerbread princess castle! This is the story of what happened after the castle was finished…
5:32 PM - The castle is done and the decorations committee has expressed their satisfaction with the result.
6:12 PM - Random passers by observe a weakness in the north wall, as well as early signs of structural problems with this wall. The head of technical structure for the build is called to the scene - right in the middle of the the Euro 2008 semi final.
6:21 PM - The north west tower suddenly collapes - swiftly followed by the north east tower. The head of technical structure confirms that the north wall has not been in the oven long enough, and hasn’t been able to hold the weight after all the decoration has been mounted. He takes full responsibility of the incident, but is most of all happy that no lives were lost in this tragedy.
6:27 PM - With no support from the north side of the building, the south west tower must also give up the struggle to stay upright. Seeing as it fell in a westerly direction, it fell over the nearby cliff - plunging several tens of centimeters to the ground below. All hope of saving the build is now gone.
7:08 PM - The once so magnificent castle has not completely collapsed - as the final tower has laid itself down among the ruins. Random passers by who have witnessed the drama taking place on the table in the living room, show now signs of shock - but rather clear signs of joy. Where has the compassion and feeling of community gone, this reporter asks himself, before grabbing a taste of the south west tower…
