Karneval! Alaaf!

Karneval was probably the wildest experience in Germany so far. Rosenmontag in Cologne was the tip of the spear as far as parades and citywide parties go. The streets were full of people dressed up in costumes. The lamp  posts had kegs strapped to them so groups of old men could have a continuous flow of the finest kolsch into their system.  We got to Cologne at about 9 in the morning and people were trickling in from the train station. By 11, people were shoulder to shoulder trying to get a glimpse of the parade and fighting to catch the tons of candy that people were throwing from the floats. Chocolate bars, Haribo gummy bears, marshmallows, chips, tissues, wafers, cookies, and bon bons rained down from the heavens. It was like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and Halloween had a baby, and this baby was absolutely crazy. For certain reasons, I remember very little about the end of the parade and how I got back to Bonn, but I do know that I experienced something I would have never experienced back in the US.

I went as 'Puddles the slightly inebriated clown'