Fasching in Köln, Germany

We traveled to Köln, Germany on 3 February with Melanie and Adam to celebrate Karneval (in Köln), Fasching (in Mainz), or as you might know it: Mardi Gras. We enjoyed the scenery on the short two-hour drive. We even saw some snow laying on the ground...practically a first for us this winter! Since it was Sunday, we knew that there wouldn't be very many things open, but we held out hope that we would get to tour the Kölner Dom. We found out after about an hour of weaving through streets and attempting to dodge a parade, that unfortunately the church was closed. Apparently, they don't want costumed, possibly intoxicated people wandering around inside an ancient Gothic church. But it was fun to see the school groups all dressed up and parading through town!

In our efforts to get to the Dom, we spotted not only 4 or 5 Starbucks, but also people carrying boxes of Dunkin' Donuts! We quickly turned our mission into finding the Dunkin' Donuts. It didn't take too long and before we knew it, we were each enjoying a hot beverage and a favorite donut. While there are plenty of good snacks and sweets here in Germany, it's always nice to taste a little bit of home! "Sprechen sie Dunkin' Donut?"

After a quick rest at the hotel, we went out in search of dinner. Since we can't get Mexican food often, we thought about going to Taco Loco, a restaurant two blocks from our hotel. When we got there though, it looked more like a dance club with loud music and strobe lights. Needless to say, we kept walking. We did find a really delicious Mexican place for dinner...we'd even venture to say the best we've had in Germany yet!

After dinner, we passed time playing cards, then eagerly counted down the minutes until midnight which was when the Superbowl aired here in Germany. I made it to the kickoff before falling asleep. Kurt made it until the score was 7 to 3 - Patriots. We didn't get to see any of the commercials, instead the German sports announcers talked though all the breaks and showed clips from previous games.

After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel on Rosenmontag morning, we bundled up and made our way to the parade route. The parade on Rosenmontag is the climax of the Fifth Season. Everyone gets dressed up in costume to watch the parade and partake in the Fest atmosphere. Unfortunately, it was rather cold and rainy this year in Köln and while we were more dressed for the weather than most Germans, we only made it about an hour in the rain. It was fun to listen to the German marching bands play their folk music and see everyone singing along. Almost every group that marches by also throws candy into the crowd. We were able to catch several pieces that kept us pretty happy on our journey home! We had a bar of dark chocolate, several twix bars, a shortcake snack, and a couple chocolate wafers to share on the way home...slightly better than the cough drops and tissues we got in Mainz last year at their Fasching parade!

We are looking forward to going back to Köln when it's a bit warmer to tour the cathedral and some of the museums.

Just a note, we ran out of room in our 2007 album so here's a link to our 2008 photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/kurtandcarrie2008

Click below to see our photos from Köln. (Unfortunately, it was raining too hard to get good pictures at the parade)

Karneval in Köln