Karneval Parades: Rosenmontagzug

At last, I'm finishing up a recap of Karneval! Since J and I didn't go to any parties or bars (they were packed, wall-to-wall humans in costume every night), the highlight of Karneval for us was the parades. We went to 4 parades in 5 days, 2 smaller local parades and 2 huge parades. Rosenmontagszug (literally, the Rose Monday's Train) is (surprise!) on the Monday before Ash Wednesday. This is the biggest, craziest parade of Karneval--it's estimated that over 1 million people show up for it each year!

We secured our spot an hour early; we found this great concrete planter that I could stand on to see over people's heads.  People of all ages in costume were stacked 5 deep in front of us, and there were people hanging out of windows all down the street.

The parade started out with homemade floats, then the floats got progressively more elaborate. Each group was numbered (ah, Germany) and often included several subgroups. The floats ranged from silly to symbolic to overtly political. Here are some of my favorites (click the pics for larger versions):

the guy in front is pedaling the wagon.
the things Germans will do for a sausage...!

ingenious plan to catch as much candy as possible!
and, worry not, the Brazilian lady was wearing a top

 

 

As the floats go by, you yell "Kamelle!" and "Strüssche!" to try to get them to throw candy and flowers to you. A rather aggressive (and very tall) clown stood next to me and snatched candy out of the air while his wife scuttled around underfoot picking up as much as she could. (If you look carefully at the pictures, you will see a hand or thumb in several thanks to Herr Clown.) I guess parades bring out the kid in everyone.

the guys in orange are from Nippes!

Despite standing back from the front, Jeremy and I didn't fare too badly, though:

i love that the groups personalize the wrappers!
some of them are really beautifully designed

Look for one last Karneval post all about costumes!

50 Cents

This little beauty was 50 cents at the market around the corner from our house. 50 cents! And it turned into 4 big, beautiful blossoms. Cut and potted flowers are so wonderfully cheap here, another luxury that suddenly seems affordable (like beer, wine, and chocolate). I have my eye on a dozen tulips for 3 Euros, but for now I'm enjoying this beauty, pretty pink Valentine's Day roses, and flowers from the parade!

More on Karneval and the parades coming soon!

Parades and Parties, Costumes and Candy

Those four words summarize Cologne's carnival for us! We attended 4 parades, saw an incredible array of costumes, and snagged a lot of candy and goodies! We didn't go to any parties since most cost about 20-80 Euros per ticket, but we watched plenty of coverage on the TV.

Karneval (the German spelling) officially started on Nov 11 at 11:11am, but things really start getting crazy on the Thursday before Lent ("the crazy days"). Karneval is celebrated throughout the region, but some of the biggest and most famous parties and traditions are in Cologne.

The theme this year was "Fastelovend em blot, he un Zuckerhot on," a Kölsch saying that translates to "Carnival (Fastelovend) in the blood, here and on Sugarloaf (a mountain in Brazil)." No idea why they decided to bring Brazil into the picture, but it resulted in some interesting costumes and floats (more on this later).

Our Karneval experience began on Thursday, Feb 7, when I left the house around 10am to head to a party at my language school. Traditionally, on Weiberfastnacht or Women's Carnival day, people go to work dressed in costume and then leave work early to party. Everyday scenes such as the supermarket or subway are transformed into spectacles!

On this day, women are also permitted to snip men's ties off with scissors in exchange for a kiss. I saw several guys wearing ties, but none had been cut....so I'm not sure how common this is nowadays ;) The city puts up a couple stages with live music and there are several small community parades, everybody has had at least one beer by 11am, and everyone is generally in a really good mood. 

My first stop was the Wilhelmsplatz in Nippes, which is just around the corner from our apartment and the site of a daily farmer's market. On Wieberfastnacht, the Karneval kicks off here with live music, vendors, and dancing starting officially at 9:11am (though the music really started at 8:30am--I could hear it as I got ready to go!). I only stayed for a bit, but later we saw a lot of TV coverage of the live music. In the picture above, you can see a guy on stage dressed in the traditional orange costume of the "Nippeser Bürgerwehr," the local society that sponsored the concert as well as a later parade in Nippes. More on them and other societies later!

After my school party, Jeremy and I met up at the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) to spend the day people-watching. One of us was dressed festively and the other one was one of the few people in the city who was not! I will let you guess who was who...

Getting Ready for Karneval in Koeln

One of the biggest events in Cologne (and most of northwestern Germany) in the winter is Karneval. It officially begins on 11th November and slowly builds to an entire week of partying that ends on Ash Wednesday.
Since we have arrived in the city, we have seen more and more signs of impending Karneval.

On the local TV channel, we regularly see coverage of Karneval costume parties with dinner and live entertainment. The parties are often sponsored by local groups and societies, such as the Akademie för uns Kölsche Sproch. The music is usually traditional German (i.e., lots of polka), with appearances by local celebrities. Tickets can range from 20 to 100 Euros, and they usually sell out quickly so we haven't gotten to go to one.

One thing I really love about Karneval is the city-wide sense of community. It's not uncommon to see people of all ages walking around in costume, coming or going from parties, and more than once entire restaurants have spontaneously burst into song to sing along to Karneval song on the radio! The music is not my favorite, but I really enjoy the sense of community, tradition, and fun that go along with it.

We attended the first day of Karneval on Thursday, which is called Weiberfastnacht or Women's Carnival. Today and Monday we're checking out a couple famous parades, and today there is not a cloud in the sky (for what feels like the first time since we arrived) so it should be fun!

German Cooking: Reibekuchen

Reibekuchen, or potato pancakes, are especially popular in Bavaria, which is where Jeremy and I first ate them. They are close a cousin of Jewish latkes, consisting of grated potatoes, minced onion, simple spices, and egg and flour to hold it together. You pan fry them and serve with various sauces (we love applesauce, but sour cream is good, too). Sometimes they're also called Kartoffelpuffer, but I feel less silly saying "reibekuchen".

Since they're a bit harder to find in Cologne (as in, they're only served in particular restaurants one day of the week and only during the winter), I decided to try making them using this German rezepte (recipe). Here it is in English:

Reibekuchenmakes 7-10 pancakes 

• 500 grams waxy potatoes (about 8 smallish potatoes or 4 large)
• 1 small onion
• 1 egg
• 1 or 2 tablespoons flour 
• pinch of salt, pepper, and sugar

1. Wash the potatoes and coarsely grate them over a clean kitchen towel or a colander to help drain the moisture. Mix the flour and egg in a medium bowl. Squeeze as much moisture as you can out of the potatoes, then add the potatoes to the flour-egg mixture and toss to coat. Finely dice the onion and add it to the mixture. Season with salt, pepper, and sugar (I added some garlic, too). 

2. Heat oil in a nonstick or cast iron pan, then form palm-sized cakes (a bit less than 1/2" thick) and fry them until golden brown on each side. Set the finished pancakes on a cookie sheet covered in paper towels and put it in the oven on low to keep them warm and crispy until you're ready to eat.

My Reibekuchen were not as pretty as the ones you get in restaurants, but they were tasty! I think next time I might add a bit more flour or work on squeezing out a bit more moisture. We ate them with salad, chicken breast, and some purple artichokes from the farmer's market around the corner from our apartment.

Doing the Wash

Even mundane things like doing laundry are more exciting when you're living outside of your own country! It turns out that in Germany, as in many other European countries, it's pretty common to have a washing machine in your house but no dryer. Laundromats and apartment complexes tend to have dryers, but smaller apartment complexes and older houses often don't.

As a result, I have been learning the art of hanging wet clothing so that it dries quickly and doesn't end up with any strange wrinkle patterns from the clothes pins. I have also been trying out fabric softener so that we end up with soft t-shirts rather than stiff boards.

I also had some fun decoding the Waschmachine when we first moved in. Everywhere I turn, there is new vocabulary! So far, I have been focusing on household things, such as cooking, cleaning, and shopping - more on all that later!

All these buttons and settings were quite intimidating when I went to run my first load!

Fat Cat Goes to Germany

Now that we're living in Germany with Sam for the next year, this seemed like a good place to tell about some of our adventures. Sammy is still right around 12 lbs and she made the weight limit for our flight over, so I'll probably be sharing less about her weight loss journey and more about what us humans are up to.

The new apartment has lots of windows and great views!

"helpful" cat helps me work