Haribo, Fußball, Karneval Fotos

Here are the photos I missed from the post about the Fortuna Game in Düsseldorf and Haribo.




Karneval officially ends today. Sadly, I was under the weather both Sunday and Monday and didn't get a chance to go to many Karnevalsparty or Parades.

Here's the downlow on Karneval:

*Karneval season (at least in the Rhineland) is known as the '5th season'. The season actually begins November 11, at 11:11 am and ends on the day we Americans know as Fat Tuesday. It is the 5th season because they have Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall and Karneval season.

*it is pronounced 'carnival'. German does't generally use 'C' as a strong 'K' sound, they just use the 'K', duh.

*Karneval week starts Febuary 11, and 11:11. This day is the 'Women's Day' where all the ladies get to go around cutting men's ties and getting free drinks. There is actually more history to this, but meh. The week continues with lots of parties and parades. Monday is one of the important days, called Rosenmontag (literally, Rose Monday).

*Costumes are required. Correction: the most flamboyant costume you can find is required. This is like Ren Faire but in the city and even more drunk. The more colorful, the better. Often, you will see people dressed in garb similar to 18th century Frenchmen. This is a tradition dating back to Napoleonic times when the Rhineland was under French occupation. The costumes are worn in a way to mock the French. Feel free to correct me if you wish to look into this more closely.

*Cologne is where the main partying takes place. I did not go to Cologne as I had planned and I'm glad I didn't.

*Every town has their own Karneval call. In the Cologne area (this includes Bonn) the little phrase people say is 'Alaaf!' It is similar to 'Viva!' and I know this is the Cologne dialect, Kölsch) If you travel north to Düsseldorf however they say 'Helau!'. It is a big no no to mix these up. It is the equivalent to saying 'Hookem' horns!' at an Aggie game. You just don't do it.

This year, Karneval suffered the worst weather in decades. Lucky us. We went to Beuel Thurdsday morning to see their Karneval parade. It was 20 degrees Fahrenheit. While the parade was great, my feet felt as though they were going to freeze off.

Costumes were pretty great! We have here (in order): Lars and Hali decked out; pretty princess ladies; Micheal Jackson, Lady Gaga and some other person I couldn't identify; David, Jason, Jake, Lisa and Tyler; Link conversing with Rabbids; yes, you heard me right.




Some floats/bands and a random John Deere.


And Sunday's roses. Yes, I bought myself roses. What? That's pathetic you say? Pffbt. I deserve them and they were only .90 Euro. Unfortunately, I caught a cold and can't smell them very well.




Stay tuned for the Munich trip, where I will be seeing Corvus Corax, the Neuschwanstein castle and the Glyptothek (an art museum featuring this piece I had to write a analysis on in art history)