Fulbrighting in Germany!: Karneval 2009 (Koelle Alaaf!)

Now that we are in the thick of the Lenten season, I am going to back up a few weeks to share my stories of my Karneval adventures in the Rhineland region - a Mardis Gras, Fat Tuesday (except celebrated on Monday (Rosenmontag)), pre-Lent party that Germans celebrate the entire week leading up to Ash Wednesday. The largest event is the Rosenmontag parade in Cologne, which several of my Fulbright friends and myself attended. All of the cities in the area have different celebrations and traditions lasting the entire week, creating a sort of friendly rivalry between Cologne, Dusseldorf, and Bonn. I visited all three cities so not to offend anyone : )

I dropped off Kenny on Sunday morning, and it was really sad to say goodbye. We had such an amazing time traveling and spending time together, that it was sort of a shock dropping him off at the airport. However I had no time to be sad, as I immediately departed to board my own train to Dusseldorf - Karneval came at the perfect time. Within 5 hours, I was across the country visiting Fulbrighters and already enjoying a beer on the street. Marty, Shane, Erin, Marco, Matt, and I enjoyed the Sunday evening in the streets, dancing to festive Karneval songs and wandering the city. It was sort of like a Christmas market atmosphere, minus the ornaments and gluhwein, and replaced by people dressed in Halloween style costumes drinking beer. But there were cute little food stands and temporary shacks lining the street, and everyone was out in town, young and old alike, celebrating together.

Monday morning came early, and Rosenmontag was the main event I had come for. We trained into Cologne from Dusseldorf, packing in the train cars as full as we could cram them with dressed up locals and tourists filling every seat and aisle. I was dressed as a Berlin Bear and was excited to see the city of Cologne.

When we stepped out of the train station, the first site I saw was the Kolner Dom, the huge Cathedral that I had seen in so many guide books about Germany. The Cathedral was sooo big, and I found myself starring straight up trying to take it all in. From my first moment in Cologne, I knew it was going to be a fun day! The town was beautiful and the city was packed with all kinds of people sporting funny costumes.

My friends and I scoped out a great spot to watch the parade from, and we patiently waited for the excitement to begin. We were probably 3-4 rows of people deep from the edge of the roped off parade area, and before we had a chance to grab a bratwurst, the parade had already begun. Colorful floats with political commentary rolled past, bands in uniform marched by, and men wearing elaborate costumes mounted on white horses trotted along - all throwing flowers and giant chocolate bars into the crowd. My bear claw hand was perfect for snatching flowers and chocolate, and I loved the parade. Erin and I even made it to the front row by the end. The parade lasted 4 hours!!! But I enjoyed every minute, catching a bouquet of flowers, receiving some flowers from Shane, and stuffing my purse and pockets with a pile of chocolate bars.

Once the parade ended, we found a small cafe turned dance party for Karneval. We danced the night away to '80s and '90s pop, and I danced to nearly every song. It was so fun to be with friends from my language course and experience the Karneval traditions. Before it was too late, we rode the train back to Dusseldorf for a slumber party at Marco's apartment.

The next day most people headed home to their respective cities, but I had decided to stay 2 more days to site see. I rode with Matt back to Bonn and stayed with him 2 nights to see the former capital city. Matt was back in the lab during the day, but I had a lot of fun touring around on my own (including the "walk of democracy") and meeting up with Matt for coffee breaks or dinner and drinks. We even went to Ash Wednesday service together in the Kolner Dom, such an incredible opportunity. My whirlwind tour of the Rhineland concluded on Thursday evening, as I rode back to Berlin with Marco. It was an amazing trip, with some many great memories! Koelle Alaaf!!!