Karnaval....

Well, Karnaval has started in Germany. This is that festival that I was telling you about where there is a party everyday, in a different city, for a week. It would be like going to Guelph for Monday`s party, Cambridge for Tuesday`s, Kitchener for Wednesday`s, etc. Everyone goes from party to party. The crazy thing is that the parade that kicks off each party starts at 2:11. You may be thinking, when do the Germans work? As a German resident, I can answer that with I really don`t know! Today was Karnaval in Gladbach so we took some pictures from our window. This is a really tame party compared to others but it was worth showing. The parade starts with a marching band. Of course they do laps around the city for about an hour. All you can hear from the apartment is da dum, da dum, da dum dum dum. (Side Note: There is also Karnaval music blaring from the speakers lining the main street. Karnaval music is really only played during this week. It is a mix of pop, oompahpah and folk music)
These are men dressed in African attire with their faces painted black. I will not comment on this, you can raise your own queries. This is a float with people on board. They throw candy from the top to the people below. It is like Mardi Gras I guess. You need to keep your head up though because some poeple like to Nolan Ryan the candy down.
And of course, Josh taking in his first Karnaval and wondering if he really wants this citizenship!

I will post more from the different parades we attend. They will be much better and the one in Heimbach on Tuesday has 30, 000 people. Of course we won`t go to Cologne for the big one because it would be like going to downtown Toronto during Caribana or the Gay Pride parade. Too many people!