Wanderlust!: Kölle Alaaf!

Imagine the biggest frat party you've ever been to. Perhaps it was on Halloween? Now imagine it 1,000x bigger and filled with old people, children and countless 20somethings, and add a whole lotta candy. That's Karneval in Köln!

It's a circus, and everyone's got an act. You've got monks and nuns, leagues of pirates, plenty of cross-dressing, animals and many politically incorrect costumes (turbans? come on). What's really amazing is how quickly the mess is cleaned up. Directly after the parade, people were collecting old beer bottles for money before the street cleaners could get to them ten minutes later. Likewise, Kölners went back to work the next day.

Puts my paper mache to shame.

During the parade, mass was sparsely attended.

Katie with Lars and Siggy, our gracious hosts

The parade drew Bavarian pirates with pink poodles...

...and world leaders.

In October, I was told that Halloween wasn't the big deal in Germany that it is in the U.S.--mostly it's just an excuse to buy candy. Everyone told me, "just wait until March. Karneval will blow Halloween out of the water."

Personally though, comparing Karneval to Halloween is like comparing apples to oranges. Karneval (or Fasching, as it's called in southern Germany) is a huge celebration leading to Lent. Halloween, on the other hand, is All-Hallows-Eve--the celebration of the dead. It's full of creepy, supernatural stuff. Karneval is mostly filled with creepy old guys. It's Mardi Gras, without the beads but with lots of shenanigans and candy. The candy is decidedly better than at Halloween--whole bars of quality chocolate were thrown at me after simply shouting, "Karmelle!" I will always remember it as the time of year in which otherwise serious German adults morph into children, pushing for candy and partying in the street.