Week 6: So you think you know parades.

Coming to Germany on this program, I was especially looking forward to the following things: Vienna, Paris, Karneval, and the Bonn marathon.  I've talked about Vienna and Paris, the Bonn marathon is in April, so that leaves Karneval for me to discuss today.

It's difficult to portray how centrally Karneval culture is held in Bonn, Cologne and many places in the Rhineland.  Planning begins on November 11 at 11:11 - and the planning parties and festivities don't end until Karneval does (this year that day was February 27th).  Just about every weekend we were in Bonn, we'd see some costumed group getting together, practicing their songs for the parades, etc.  Teachers and AIB student workers alike built up Karneval until the suspense was driving us crazy; we couldn't wait for the kick-off parade in Beuel on Thursday.  We all went as a big AIB group, all dressed up in our costumes, and enjoyed, at the time, the best parade I had ever been to (this would change that Monday, or Rosen Montag).  The paraders' (?) costumes were splendid, they threw plenty of candy (and carrots, sausages, tissues, plastic car banks, popcorn, pretzels, flowers, etc.), the Karneval music put everyone in a great mood, and the weather was thankfully cooperating.

As I hinted earlier, Thursday's parade was fun, but the real cake-topper was the Rosen Montag parade in Cologne.  More than one million people come annually to this parade, because it is that incredible.  Originally, we thought it only went for 3-4 hours; it lasted for over 6.  The catch was, though, we didn't even notice how long we had been there because it was that fantastic.  Everyone was dressed up, the paraders had 700,000 chocolate bars to throw to onlookers; 220,000 boxes of chocolate (yes, there is a difference); 140 tons of sweets; 300,000 bunches of flowers (what we focused on after an hour of filling our bags with chocolate); and thousands of soft toys and additional knick-knacks. There were also 74 decorated floats and 67 tractors, no small number when you remember that between these marched groups of 50 or so people, and sometimes multiple groups in between floats.  The other neat logistical thing was when vans would drive by, following behind the floats and paraders, literally stuffed with candy to refill on-the-ground supplies.  The Rosen Montag parade was one of the best days of this trip, and one of the best parades I may ever see in my life.  If you ever get the opportunity to go, take it.