Karnival in the Rheinland is a very popular pastime. Dating back to the celebrations of spring by the Romans, it has a long history and by the looks of it things have only gotten crazier over time. While walking to the main parade in Bonn on Thursday we stopped in to the local store and everyone bought a 6-pack of beer. You may think this is strange (especially since it was 11 in the morning) but everyone who partakes of Karnival brings beer if they can. This is mainly because around the festivites the cost of beer is very high. And everyone drinks beer. The locals who were showing us around went in and bought beer also, except they already had several in their backpacks.
After our stop, it was off to the festival. There was a parade and the streets were packed with people drinking, laughing, and generally having a good time. The people in the parade threw candy but also sponges, plastic wrapped waffles, and tissues to name a few of the strange items. After several hours of hanging out in the street with all the other festival goers I headed back to my house because being out in the cold weather and already having a sore throat was not doing good things for me.
Friday hit me with the cold that the previous day had worsened and it would continue to haunt me the rest of the festival. I stayed in most of Friday and went to a local pub for a drink with some friends that night. We met some other english speakers(on from London and the other from the US) and we decided all meet up the next night in Koln for the ghost parade.
Saturday Michael, Justin, and I headed to Koln to see the parade. The only problem was we were not told what stop to get off on so we headed to the main station. When we arrived we called our friends and they told us we had to go back 2 stops. Once we arrived the parade was over already so we got some beer and stood in the street with everyone else and watched the crazyness. Eventually we found out where our friends were and got in line with them to get into a club. After about 2 hrs of waiting in line we get it and it was packed...very packed...
To move anywhere you had to force your way through and the air was hot, humid, and not too pleasant smelling. The music was random techno and 80s and 90s hits. I had fun for a while just taking it all in. Imagin a room packed with people in elaborate costumes drinking and dancing to techno with bright, colored lights everywhere. Eventually I got kinda bored so I headed home, which was an adventure in itself.
I made it to the train station without a problem. The train wouldnt arrive for 30 minutes so I grabbed some gummybears out of the vending machine and waited. The platform started to get very crowded and when the train arrived there was a rush to get on. This resulted in a mild traffic jam of people. Everyone started to fill every corner of the train. It was packed as tight as possible and people just kept pushing in because the next train was an hr away and going to be more packed than this one. After 30 minutes the police came and basically shoved us until the doors would close. At that point everyone started singing. It was basically a sardine can of people drunkenly singing karnival drinking songs. 30 minutes after that we arrived in Bonn where the train empied to more singing. At the bus station I had another wait(25 min). Side note: When using public transportation to get around, you do a lot of waiting...you have to arrive early and wait...then sit on the bus/train...then arrive at your destination and if you have a meeting time you have to wait again...and repeat on the way back...30 min seems to be my normal waiting time...ok back on topic...while sitting at the bus a group of drunk germans came and were waiting too...one proceeded to ask me the same joke I had heard 2 previous times over karnival that seem to make every german laugh(maybe not every but most enjoy it)...and the joke is..."Do you want a beer?" other person,"ya sure" joker,"me too! you should go get some!"(after that the proceed to laugh at you) I dont really understand why it is so funny or popular. After that I got on the bus and went home.
Sunday and Monday were uneventful for me because my cold just kept getting worse so I stayed in and tried to get better. Monday is the biggest day of Karnival, with a big parade in Koln and everything but I awoke with no voice and a bad cough so I didnt get to go. I saw some of it on the tv, did homework, cleaned my room and bathroom, and generally just layed around.
I guess I will give my overall impression of Karnival even though I didnt get to see it all. It is an interesting thing to partake in. Every age group dresses up, from newborn to 70, and if you are old enough to drink you more than likely do. There are people who don't like it or don't really get into it. Many people leave town for the 4 or 5 days which is understandable. The celebration is really along the same idea as many other festivals during this time of the year. It is a celebration of the coming of spring and (Koln being a catholic region) a last fling before the Lent season. Think of it as a German Mardi Gras...with Kolsch...lots and lots of Kolsch(if you dont know Kolsch is the local beer that they are very proud of...Ill write about it later)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
København
If you are ever in the mood to go to a relaxing, beautiful(if cold), and overall happy city then you should go to København(or in english Copenhagen). The residence are all very friendly and happy(and most speak english very well). But enough about how great the city is, I will now recount my travels...
me and my 5 travel companions left from Dusseldorf on the nightline to København...we had booked a sleeping cabin(couchette i think its called) for the 6 of us on the 487(i think) leaving at 22:02...we arrived at the train station rather early and sat at the track the train was suppose to arrive at...lots of people came with little kids and ski gear and settled down around us...about 21:55 or so we hear an announcement but it was in german so we didnt pay it much mind because we couldnt have understood it if we wanted to...that and most the people around us didnt really flinch..though some walked away from the track...then about 22:00 we see the board change and our train is no longer on the track board and there is a nighttrain several tracks over...so we grabbed everything and started to run in its general direction...halfway there we find a board and it says our train is 45 minutes late and will be on the track we were just at...fun!...so everyone sat around some portable heaters looking like baby quail around a heat lamp(yes I just made a farm reference) and proceeded to board our train an hr or so later.
The compartment was small but we all squeezed into our beds and called it an early night...the sleep was not that great but I was tired and eventually the noise and lights outside couldnt keep me up any longer so I slept...I awoke to someone knocking on the door to the cabin next to us and asking for passports so I woke everyone up enough to find their passports and have them close at hand...the customs people were decked out in bulletproof vest and everything and shined their massive sticks called flashlights in our faces as we all sleepily handed over our information...they even asked blake(who was balled up on the top bed) if he had a small child with him, which if we werent all 3/4ths asleep would have been very funny...because it was the next morning as we were trying to piece it all together...anyways...after the late night raid I fell back asleep and woke again to the view of rolling hills covered with snow...it was right at sunrise and it was a beautiful sight riding through the danish countryside...it would be hard to explain so im not going to try....we then got ready and arrived at københavn about 10:30...
it was nice and sunny in københavn(though really cold) and the group headed toward the hostel...it was by a river or cannal thing...not quite sure what or what it was called but it was big enough to be a river so we called it the river...we got to the river and took some pictures...there was a rowing team practising which was nifty...and then we went the hostel...checkin time was 14:00 but we could drop our bags so we did and went off to get some of the local currency and explore...we exchanged our euros for the kroner(dkk) which is a pretty neat currency...the smaller coins have holes in the middle of them...and then we started walking around the city...there are big pedestrian malls(like most european cities) and with it being sunny and a saturday everyone was out enjoying the weather...we walked and looked and generally took it all in and then we went to the danish national museum(which was free)...it was very interesting and if you are in the area you should probly check it out...I learned quite abit about Danish history...we then went to find food which came in the form of a hotdog in a breadstick and waffles covered in chocolate syrup(both of which are amazing and cheap in comparison to most food items in the area)...the hotdog(whose atual name escapes me) is a local favorite and there are stands in all the major pedestrian traffic areas...after that it was back to check in to the hostel...
checkin was easy and we went up to our decently clean room...it was going to be a quick drop stuff and run but everyone was tired so we all took turns taking showers and while waiting we napped...at 16:30 we headed back out and went this time to Christiania(wiki article)...it was interesting and cool...bought a hackysack with the christiania flag on it and checked out a barlike place that served only nonalcoholic drinks called Café Månefiskeren...everyone there was playing backgammon...it was nifty...
after that we went to a place suggested by the guy working the hostel counter but it was booked so we headed to one next to it...it was a small place but the waitress was really nice and spoke very good english...the menu was in danish but she told us what most of it was and what her favorite items were...I had a mexican coffee and a hamburger type of thing...it was a hamburger but on good triangular bread with hummus and a tasty sauce...it was very good...we sat there for a couple of hours enjoying the company and atmosphere...and then we walked to a nearby bar that was suppose to be good and have a traditional danish style...and it was awesome!...we walked in and everyone is older(like 50s and 60s)...we order our beer and the locals start asking where we are from and we tell them Texas...they then start telling us stories about the times they were in the states which was really cool...one had been in Mobile when Kennedy was shot and was talking about the peoples reaction and everything...then the lady who had been talking to us quite abit while playing a slotmachine near our table won some money so she bought us all a round of a local liquor that was salty liquorish and was very black...it was actually not that bad and once we had it we ordered another round of beers and enjoyed the evening talking and laughing with the locals and eachother before calling it an evening and heading to the hostel and bed...
Sunday morning started at 9 as we had to be out by 10 so we packed up and took everything to the lockers in the trainstation...we then did some more wandering and looking...I walked down the dock to the little mermaid statue which was a really nice walk...we also found a plaza where a donut style icerink was setup around a statue so me and steph rented some skates...blake and tommy didnt want to be left out so they decided that the best idea for the moment was to take off their shoes and socks and run a lap around the rink...the end result being that their feet were very cold but made everyone smile and laugh some as they went around the rink...
lunch was in a small cafe/bar near the water that was decently good but the music was bad(like bad 90's softrock) so we ate quickly and went roaming again...at this point we were rather tired and cold so we stopped in a church to sit and warm up and it was pretty...not in the impressive Koln cathedral kinda way but in the semismall old church way...after that we found a coffee shop and had very expesive but very very very good hot chocolate(7 euro!) and we sat and wasted away time until we had to go to the train station to leave...
the journey back on the train was long and tiring...there was a feeling of slight sadness because I had a great time and I knew I had to go back to schoolwork again...we didnt get checked by customs this time but noone slept very well(it seemed noisier than the first trip)...we arrived back at 7 am to Bonn and I hopped a bus to my house to shower and change and start another week....
so after a long post and in conclusion...go to København...serious...it is probly one of the best places I have been...the locals are very friendly and happy...the food is amazing...the city is beautiful...they say that the Danish are some of the happiest people in the world...and I can see why
me and my 5 travel companions left from Dusseldorf on the nightline to København...we had booked a sleeping cabin(couchette i think its called) for the 6 of us on the 487(i think) leaving at 22:02...we arrived at the train station rather early and sat at the track the train was suppose to arrive at...lots of people came with little kids and ski gear and settled down around us...about 21:55 or so we hear an announcement but it was in german so we didnt pay it much mind because we couldnt have understood it if we wanted to...that and most the people around us didnt really flinch..though some walked away from the track...then about 22:00 we see the board change and our train is no longer on the track board and there is a nighttrain several tracks over...so we grabbed everything and started to run in its general direction...halfway there we find a board and it says our train is 45 minutes late and will be on the track we were just at...fun!...so everyone sat around some portable heaters looking like baby quail around a heat lamp(yes I just made a farm reference) and proceeded to board our train an hr or so later.
The compartment was small but we all squeezed into our beds and called it an early night...the sleep was not that great but I was tired and eventually the noise and lights outside couldnt keep me up any longer so I slept...I awoke to someone knocking on the door to the cabin next to us and asking for passports so I woke everyone up enough to find their passports and have them close at hand...the customs people were decked out in bulletproof vest and everything and shined their massive sticks called flashlights in our faces as we all sleepily handed over our information...they even asked blake(who was balled up on the top bed) if he had a small child with him, which if we werent all 3/4ths asleep would have been very funny...because it was the next morning as we were trying to piece it all together...anyways...after the late night raid I fell back asleep and woke again to the view of rolling hills covered with snow...it was right at sunrise and it was a beautiful sight riding through the danish countryside...it would be hard to explain so im not going to try....we then got ready and arrived at københavn about 10:30...
it was nice and sunny in københavn(though really cold) and the group headed toward the hostel...it was by a river or cannal thing...not quite sure what or what it was called but it was big enough to be a river so we called it the river...we got to the river and took some pictures...there was a rowing team practising which was nifty...and then we went the hostel...checkin time was 14:00 but we could drop our bags so we did and went off to get some of the local currency and explore...we exchanged our euros for the kroner(dkk) which is a pretty neat currency...the smaller coins have holes in the middle of them...and then we started walking around the city...there are big pedestrian malls(like most european cities) and with it being sunny and a saturday everyone was out enjoying the weather...we walked and looked and generally took it all in and then we went to the danish national museum(which was free)...it was very interesting and if you are in the area you should probly check it out...I learned quite abit about Danish history...we then went to find food which came in the form of a hotdog in a breadstick and waffles covered in chocolate syrup(both of which are amazing and cheap in comparison to most food items in the area)...the hotdog(whose atual name escapes me) is a local favorite and there are stands in all the major pedestrian traffic areas...after that it was back to check in to the hostel...
checkin was easy and we went up to our decently clean room...it was going to be a quick drop stuff and run but everyone was tired so we all took turns taking showers and while waiting we napped...at 16:30 we headed back out and went this time to Christiania(wiki article)...it was interesting and cool...bought a hackysack with the christiania flag on it and checked out a barlike place that served only nonalcoholic drinks called Café Månefiskeren...everyone there was playing backgammon...it was nifty...
after that we went to a place suggested by the guy working the hostel counter but it was booked so we headed to one next to it...it was a small place but the waitress was really nice and spoke very good english...the menu was in danish but she told us what most of it was and what her favorite items were...I had a mexican coffee and a hamburger type of thing...it was a hamburger but on good triangular bread with hummus and a tasty sauce...it was very good...we sat there for a couple of hours enjoying the company and atmosphere...and then we walked to a nearby bar that was suppose to be good and have a traditional danish style...and it was awesome!...we walked in and everyone is older(like 50s and 60s)...we order our beer and the locals start asking where we are from and we tell them Texas...they then start telling us stories about the times they were in the states which was really cool...one had been in Mobile when Kennedy was shot and was talking about the peoples reaction and everything...then the lady who had been talking to us quite abit while playing a slotmachine near our table won some money so she bought us all a round of a local liquor that was salty liquorish and was very black...it was actually not that bad and once we had it we ordered another round of beers and enjoyed the evening talking and laughing with the locals and eachother before calling it an evening and heading to the hostel and bed...
Sunday morning started at 9 as we had to be out by 10 so we packed up and took everything to the lockers in the trainstation...we then did some more wandering and looking...I walked down the dock to the little mermaid statue which was a really nice walk...we also found a plaza where a donut style icerink was setup around a statue so me and steph rented some skates...blake and tommy didnt want to be left out so they decided that the best idea for the moment was to take off their shoes and socks and run a lap around the rink...the end result being that their feet were very cold but made everyone smile and laugh some as they went around the rink...
lunch was in a small cafe/bar near the water that was decently good but the music was bad(like bad 90's softrock) so we ate quickly and went roaming again...at this point we were rather tired and cold so we stopped in a church to sit and warm up and it was pretty...not in the impressive Koln cathedral kinda way but in the semismall old church way...after that we found a coffee shop and had very expesive but very very very good hot chocolate(7 euro!) and we sat and wasted away time until we had to go to the train station to leave...
the journey back on the train was long and tiring...there was a feeling of slight sadness because I had a great time and I knew I had to go back to schoolwork again...we didnt get checked by customs this time but noone slept very well(it seemed noisier than the first trip)...we arrived back at 7 am to Bonn and I hopped a bus to my house to shower and change and start another week....
so after a long post and in conclusion...go to København...serious...it is probly one of the best places I have been...the locals are very friendly and happy...the food is amazing...the city is beautiful...they say that the Danish are some of the happiest people in the world...and I can see why
Monday, February 9, 2009
a tower of random
today it couldnt decided if it wanted to snow rain or sleet...so it did all three at various points...
my first class today was a videography course that will only last 3 weeks total...it is a very interesting class because we are learning some of the tricks and techniques that actual directors and camera men use to shoot movies and such...today we broke into groups and wrote a short script with camera shots that we need...tommorow we shoot...
the second half of the day was spend in studio...we came up with a word or two that described our feelings towards the overall project we are working on this semester(i know you dont know what that is but when im not feeling lazy ill tell you all about it)...anyways i got natural comfort...we then had to make a structureish thing based on this word in two hours using supplies we could find laying around...
and this is what i came up with...
we then had to make a tower out of all the classes structures...in an order that the proffessor chose randomly...ya it was interesting...once that was done i headed to the grocery store and picked up some snacking food for the week(coke potatoe chips and cookies) and butter for our group breakfast tomorrow...and the line at the store was really long...its a small store but the line was about 3/4 the length of the store...it took like 20 minutes to checkout...and then i missed my bus by about a minute so i had to wait in the rain/sleet/snow for 20 minutes till the next one...not fun...after an uneventful busride i had sausage(hotdogs without buns really) and fries for dinner...and they had mustard in a tube like toothpaste which was interesting...so as you can see it was a uneventful day...as far as something to think about here is a quote from Soren Kierkegaard that you should ponder on a few minutes...
"What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain knowledge must precede every action. The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do: the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die. ..."
my first class today was a videography course that will only last 3 weeks total...it is a very interesting class because we are learning some of the tricks and techniques that actual directors and camera men use to shoot movies and such...today we broke into groups and wrote a short script with camera shots that we need...tommorow we shoot...
the second half of the day was spend in studio...we came up with a word or two that described our feelings towards the overall project we are working on this semester(i know you dont know what that is but when im not feeling lazy ill tell you all about it)...anyways i got natural comfort...we then had to make a structureish thing based on this word in two hours using supplies we could find laying around...
and this is what i came up with...
we then had to make a tower out of all the classes structures...in an order that the proffessor chose randomly...ya it was interesting...once that was done i headed to the grocery store and picked up some snacking food for the week(coke potatoe chips and cookies) and butter for our group breakfast tomorrow...and the line at the store was really long...its a small store but the line was about 3/4 the length of the store...it took like 20 minutes to checkout...and then i missed my bus by about a minute so i had to wait in the rain/sleet/snow for 20 minutes till the next one...not fun...after an uneventful busride i had sausage(hotdogs without buns really) and fries for dinner...and they had mustard in a tube like toothpaste which was interesting...so as you can see it was a uneventful day...as far as something to think about here is a quote from Soren Kierkegaard that you should ponder on a few minutes...
"What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain knowledge must precede every action. The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do: the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die. ..."
Sunday, February 8, 2009
And we start anew
So a friend of mine started a blog about traveling in Germany and another started one at home...and after I wrote basically the same email to several people to update them I decided that I should dig this thing up again. It will be about things that I see and do in Europe while I'm here for the next few months. I will post some pictures and I will tell some stories. I will not always use correct grammar. When I write what I am thinking I use three periods(...) to separate my thoughts...just a warning...so ya besides that I do not have much to say tonight because I have to be up and moving tomorrow because it is going to be another long day of school fun...I guess the best way to sum up this first post of my second go at blogging is with an xckd comic...
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