So what do I think about Karneval in
Germany? After 5 days of debauchery, I'm bothered that I was no
longer bothered by the grown men dressed as frogs walking down my
street drinking beers at 11 in the morning, on Mondays.
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Mike has been ready for Karneval for months, me not so much. He had his costume planned out and ready, I hesitated and delayed. I'll admit, I should have been more ready, but alls well that ends well.
First a brief history on Karneval.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival) Karneval is the same as what people people call Mardi Gras in the US. Oddly enough people from New Orleans call it Karneval. In Europe the two big places for Karneval are Venice and Cologne(Köln). Düsseldorf, being the neighboring city to Köln, also gets into the fun and thousands of visitors come into the cities every year to celebrate.
Thursday is Altweiberstag. (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weiberfastnacht) It is
Women's Day. The women take over the Rathaus and are pretty much
allowed to do whatever they want. Including cutting off pieces of
ties of any men they see, all the way up to the mayor. So Thursday
morning, my friends and I dressed in our costumes and took the kids
to school. I have never had the kids runs away from me faster. We
boarded the train and cracked open our beers. (The night before,
Mike and I made an emergency run to Aldi for beer in plastic bottles,
clutch move. BTW, Aldi's 6 packs are 1.69) A quick stop at
Starbucks are we were ready for the day (did you ever think you would
see me drinking Starbucks, let alone drinking Starbucks after having
a beer, all before 10 AM, in costume)
All Karneval related activities start
at the hour plus 11 minutes, I don't know why, I'm sure there is
legitimate reason. It kind of feels like how TBS used to start shows
at 5 minutes after the hour. While we were waiting there were beers
passed around, and bands playing on the stage. At 11:11 the mayor
came out on the balcony and a woman came out and “stole” the key
to the city, I think, it was all in German. Then the women 'stormed'
(it's a very controlled storming) the Rathaus, not us, we hit the
bar. We settled into a nice Irish bar (the scene of a few past and
future late-night karaoke incidents). Obviously, the men of the city
also know that it is women's day and are out in droves. You would be
amazed how fast a 20 something can run when he asks why we are here
from America and we respond that our husbands work here! LOLOL.
They appear to be blind to wedding rings.
Check my video of Karneval in Düsseldorf
Mike had an interesting run-in. He dressed as a Steeler for his costume, helmet, pants, eye black, the whole thing. While waiting for his friends, a 10 minute walk from our house, he was stopped by a woman who wanted to take his picture, because her husband was from Latrobe and a huge Steeler fan. (Turns out her kids go to ISD and she was at the party mentioned later). But Steeler fans truly are all over the world! She was also not the last person Mike took a picture with, including a fake Flacco, who didn't even know who Flacco was, just found the costume and wore it.
After a few hours of drinking and dancing it was time to head home, but we went and met up with Mike and his colleagues for a drink before heading back to school to pick up the kids. Dinner was ordered out and eventually Mike showed up and home, and the Jameson family had survived Day 1 of Karneval 2014.
Friday is a more relaxed day. Not as much drinking as no costumes. Mary Jameson's friends Megan and Kris came up from Stuttgart for the Karneval weekend, so we just hung out with them.
Saturday night we went to a Karneval party, back in costume, with some friends from school then headed downtown until 2AM. Thank You Megan and Kris who relieved the babysitter! Side note, we found a great bar with 80s cover bands every night, if anyone might be interesting in visiting there.
Sunday we went to the kid's parade in Cologne. The route is over 4 hours long and winds throughout the entire city. All the schools in the city walk in the parade in amazingly creative and colorful costumes. And they throw candy. And everyone who isn't in the parade wears costumes as well. We found a nice sunny spot in an alley right in front of a hotel, so we had free access to a bathroom which was nice. In the states we would call it an alley, here it is normally a two-lane road with parking on both sides. Also there was a guy there playing Karneval music, so that really added to the festive atmosphere.
When Mike was I the Kiosk buying us our morning beers, he saw a group of girls (in their 20s), who were all flustered and trying to buy some little souvenir. He went in bought his beers, and the conversation went something like this:
Girls: Can you help us pay for this?
Mike does, in German, then asks the girls where they are from.
Girls: U...S....A (very slowly)
MJ: Oh where?
Girls: Penn-syl-vania?
MJ: Really? Where in Pennsylvania?
Girls: Pottsville, where Yuengling beer is made?!
MJ: (dropping the Germany accent), “Oh, I grew up in Harrisburg.”
Blew their minds! Turns out they all go to Marywood and were on a “Chemistry of Beer, Wine and Cheese Tour” I should have gone to Marywood.
About 2 hours into the parade, we were
getting hungry, so I will admit we cheated. We went to the Hard Rock
Cafe in Cologne. It was amazing, a good hamburger is VERY hard to
come by in Germany. Ok, I'll say it, that was the first one I have
found. With a price tag of €14.95, it better be good. And they
had free refills on the Diet Pepsi (Ok, I would have preferred Diet
Coke) AND they had ICE!!!!! Ice is even more rare than a good
burger. After lunch we found our way back to the parade and more
candy, just what we need.
Normally Monday is major big parade and drinking day, but we just couldn't do it. Over 1.5 million people are in Cologne alone for their parade. Hopefully next year we will budget out drinking time a little better. Or schedule more practice time!
Mike has been ready for Karneval for months, me not so much. He had his costume planned out and ready, I hesitated and delayed. I'll admit, I should have been more ready, but alls well that ends well.
Check my video of Karneval in Düsseldorf
Mike had an interesting run-in. He dressed as a Steeler for his costume, helmet, pants, eye black, the whole thing. While waiting for his friends, a 10 minute walk from our house, he was stopped by a woman who wanted to take his picture, because her husband was from Latrobe and a huge Steeler fan. (Turns out her kids go to ISD and she was at the party mentioned later). But Steeler fans truly are all over the world! She was also not the last person Mike took a picture with, including a fake Flacco, who didn't even know who Flacco was, just found the costume and wore it.
After a few hours of drinking and dancing it was time to head home, but we went and met up with Mike and his colleagues for a drink before heading back to school to pick up the kids. Dinner was ordered out and eventually Mike showed up and home, and the Jameson family had survived Day 1 of Karneval 2014.
Friday is a more relaxed day. Not as much drinking as no costumes. Mary Jameson's friends Megan and Kris came up from Stuttgart for the Karneval weekend, so we just hung out with them.
Saturday night we went to a Karneval party, back in costume, with some friends from school then headed downtown until 2AM. Thank You Megan and Kris who relieved the babysitter! Side note, we found a great bar with 80s cover bands every night, if anyone might be interesting in visiting there.
 |
| Ice Cream for breakfast? It must be Karneval! |
Sunday we went to the kid's parade in Cologne. The route is over 4 hours long and winds throughout the entire city. All the schools in the city walk in the parade in amazingly creative and colorful costumes. And they throw candy. And everyone who isn't in the parade wears costumes as well. We found a nice sunny spot in an alley right in front of a hotel, so we had free access to a bathroom which was nice. In the states we would call it an alley, here it is normally a two-lane road with parking on both sides. Also there was a guy there playing Karneval music, so that really added to the festive atmosphere.
 |
| A bar made out of beer cases. Brilliant! |
When Mike was I the Kiosk buying us our morning beers, he saw a group of girls (in their 20s), who were all flustered and trying to buy some little souvenir. He went in bought his beers, and the conversation went something like this:
Girls: Can you help us pay for this?
Mike does, in German, then asks the girls where they are from.
Girls: U...S....A (very slowly)
MJ: Oh where?
Girls: Penn-syl-vania?
MJ: Really? Where in Pennsylvania?
Girls: Pottsville, where Yuengling beer is made?!
MJ: (dropping the Germany accent), “Oh, I grew up in Harrisburg.”
Blew their minds! Turns out they all go to Marywood and were on a “Chemistry of Beer, Wine and Cheese Tour” I should have gone to Marywood.
Normally Monday is major big parade and drinking day, but we just couldn't do it. Over 1.5 million people are in Cologne alone for their parade. Hopefully next year we will budget out drinking time a little better. Or schedule more practice time!
 |
| Heading to school on Monday for "Crazy Hat Day" |
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