Weekend of Fun and Learning!
This year's Carnival's main celebration was from February 19th-23rd! I posted some information about the history of Carnival from Wikipedia (a credible source right). We had a wonderful weekend and were able to experience some very fun parts of this celebratory time in Koln! We can't compare it to anything we have experienced in the US. It was so great and everyone was full of pride for the city of Koln and you would see young and old celebrating together.
Here are some other interesting facts about 2009 Carnival:
* 2009 Motto: "Our carnival is...heavenly crack" (REALLY???)
* Weiberfastnacht (Women's Carnival Day) Thursday, Feb. 19th
* Rosenmontag (Rose Monday) Monday, Feb. 23rd
* Aschermittwoch (Ash Wednesday) Wednesday, Feb. 25th
* The Number 11 symobizes tomfoolery: 1 fool next to another 1, forming a foolish fellowship.
* The German word for 11 - elf - also stands for equality, liberty, and fraternity.
* Carnival is the "Fifth Season" in Cologne!
We also learned that Carnival is great way to forget about the gloom of winter. :)
Thursday's Trip to the Grocery Store
Carnival began on Thursday and Will and I went for a walk and to the grocery store, like any other day, BUT when we arrived at the store I realized it was closing early at 2:00pm. I also saw several people walking around dressed in costumes. It was amazing! We also heard a large band playing dressed in Native American garb playing and people gathering singing songs in German. Clearly the festivities were underway!
This is Will wearing part of Chad's Costume!
The hat was a bit too big!
Our Costumes!
We all went to the large costume store on the Saturday before Carnival started. It was like going to Target on the Friday after Thanksgiving at 6am! It was packed with people and tons of costume choices. There was a line of cars waiting to get into the parking lot. We apparently weren't the only ones waiting till the last minute to select our costumes. There were options of every animal and bug, clowns, pirates, cowboys, old colonial outfits, and anything else you can imagine. You could spend over 300 Euro easily on your costume and the rows of accessories (noses, purses, hats, wigs, stickers, etc).
We decided to go as Germans from the Bavarian region. They weren't too expensive, we found some that fit, and we were ready to get out of the crowds. The lines just to get into the fitting rooms were crazy.
Will was a little lion! Thanks to my mom for finding the costume and to my sister for making sure the costume got to us in time for Will to wear for the Parades!
We did get our money's worth out of our costumes because we wore them on Saturday, Sunday and Monday to our Carnival event and the parades. We would have felt more out of place not being in costume.
Rote Funken
Thanks to a Senior Manager at PWC, we were invited to attend Rote Funken, a carnival party on Saturday night at a very nice hotel. It was an amazing experience with lots of wonderful costumes and music. We were so glad to go and the people that were with us helped explain the songs and the traditions, so we learned a lot too.
There was one large stage with live entertainment and we heard some of the best Koln bands! They were quite good and lively. We downloaded a few songs because we heard them over and over at the parades as well. We don't know all the words, but Will loves the music! You can find anything on iTunes.
The crowds mixed between jumping, dancing, and swaying and interlocking arms. The main room had the large stage with new bands every hour and the smaller ballrooms had DJs and a disco. There were people everywhere and the crowds were like those at Summerfest (except with amazing constumes). In between bands we also heard some English songs. We heard some Tina Turner, ABBA, and of course several times the YMCA.
This Group (in Red & White) were the hosts for this party!
Chad and some wonderful Germans (Dagmar & Tim). Dagmar and Harold got us the tickets for the event and have been coming for 8 years to this party. They also said they have over 30 costumes in storage!
Do we look German?
These women were in our Group and the costumes were CREATIVE!
You can see the stage way in the front and the sea of costumes!
Kolsch Kolsch Kolsch
Another interesting part of the evening was the pride people had for the city of Koln! People from 20-80 were celebrating together in costume and drinking the beer of choice in Koln, Kolsch! Some would be interested in knowing that there were not many moments that I didn't have a glass of Kolsch in my hand. Which means Chad drank more than he had planned. :)
Parades and STUFF!
On Sunday we were invited to a small parade in one on the communities in Koln with Anna, Martin and Rosi. Most communities (subdivisions or suburbs) have their own parades on Sunday or Monday. There is a larger Parade downtown which draws almost a million people. This smaller one was great for us and Will. Anna's aunt and uncle hosted a brunch and then we went outside for the parade. There was so much candy that it was incredible! The bags weighed as much as the little kids collecting the stuff. They also threw candy bars, sponges, kleenex, safety pins, work out DVDs, gave away flowers, and stuffed animals. The amount of STUFF was just impressive. It is also a tradition that the kids donate some of the loot to charities. We also need to say that the kids and parents (and really everyone) was in costume! It was just a very festive and happy morning!
Will & Rosi were getting ready for the Parade!
Will & Chad waiting for the Parade!
The street on the parade route!
Chad was impressed because immediately after the parade the cleaners went through! 30 minutes afterward you couldn't even tell this was a parade route.
Funny Story: We found a good parking spot (so we thought) well when we got to our car we realized we were on the parade route. So we saw some of the parade twice and hung out in the car! Will was happy as you can tell.
Rosenmontag
On Monday we went to the home of Harold and Dagmar's home and met their 2 adorable daughters. They live in a village about 45 minutes outside of Koln. It was a beautiful drive and it was nice to get out of the city. We joined them for the parade in their village and then went with them for a dinner at friends. We were greeted so warmly and the food was very tasty! Will did well, but by this time is getting a bit tired. :)
Harold and Dagmar lived in the UK for 2 years and spoke very good English and really helped us have an enjoyable and full Karneval experience. We're now thinking of next year and ready to find our costumes!
Karneval was February 19th to the 24th and what a time it was! I'll write more but here are a few pictures.
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