Well folks, we did not go to Frankfurt on Friday. Whomp Whomp! Paul came home Thursday sick as a dog. He slept almost the entire day Friday and Saturday, only waking to take more Dayquil. He is totally okay now, but it seems that his illness is spreading through the apartment. Elizabeth is now feeling a little under the weather. Must love living in small quarters. :) Needless to say our four day weekend was a little underwhelming, but restful. Friday Elizabeth and I ventured downtown to check out the Fasching festivities. I am not really quite sure I totally understand Fasching, but I do know that it is a mix of Mardi Gras/Carnival/Halloween-ness. Thursday they setup some random booths and games in front of the water tower downtown that stayed up until yesterday. We just explored, but not for too long because we were cold! Not so much our bodies as much as our noses. It is the type of cold where your nose looses all sensation and you have no idea that your nose is running until it is dripping. I know. Grody! We were able to catch a few movies. We saw Everybody's Fine with Robert Deniro, Drew Barrymore.... good, but sad. The movie ended and I was still crying. Surprisingly enough, that was the first time that I have cried since I have been in Germany. I think all of my bottled emotion came out in that movie, but man it was a good cry.
Walking district...must love the lights!
Tuesday Lenea and I rode the train to Heidelberg. It is an adorable city! It has a small town feel to it, but it is a pretty good-sized city. We took scenic route on the train, so it took us about 1 1/2 hours to get there. If you take the direct route on the train it cuts the time down to 45 minutes.
This is Heidelberg. I don't know what those trees are, but I seem to find them in every city in Germany.
A random little cove off of the walking district in Heidelberg.
While we were waiting for the parade to start at 2:11 (I kid you not. This was the time the paper said that it was going to start. 2:11. Random. Why not 2:10?), Lenea and I explored the city. This is what we found...
People were starting to get ready for the parade. Apparently Fasching is a regional thing. Not all parts of Germany celebrate it. The cities that partake in the festivities essentially close down. All businesses closed in the city and people were everywhere!
Not only do parade members dress up for this, but several audience members as well. I don't really know what some people were dressed up as. It seems to me like anything goes. If it was bazaar, then people were wearing it. Men in dresses? Of course.
What was crazy about the parade was that it had such a small town feel to it. Local Bands played like this one below, and local organizations were displayed on the floats. The floats were not handing out beads, but they were handing out candy. Little kids carried bags as if it were Halloween, and people who live in the apartments above hung umbrellas from their windows to catch candy that was thrown from the floats.
Yes this bike is awesome, but not nearly as awesome as the guy in the upper righthand corner of the picture. Do you see him in his creepy white mask? Yeah. Creepy.
This gentleman was shooting confetti at people in the crowd. His little shooting contraption could be lowered just above someones head and explode massive amounts of confetti. It was fantastic.
More local bands.
Random people walking.
This kids costume was AWESOME! I had to creepily sneak his picture, but I really wanted to find a headdress of my own that looked exactly like his.
After the parade, people filled the streets and just followed the floats along the cobblestone street.
While following the crowd we ran into this guy. Is that not fantastic? Too bad the closer we got the smellier it got. He was not so clean.
The parade begins... Yes. These are men.
Not only do parade members dress up for this, but several audience members as well. I don't really know what some people were dressed up as. It seems to me like anything goes. If it was bazaar, then people were wearing it. Men in dresses? Of course.
Who doesn't love Elvis?
What was crazy about the parade was that it had such a small town feel to it. Local Bands played like this one below, and local organizations were displayed on the floats. The floats were not handing out beads, but they were handing out candy. Little kids carried bags as if it were Halloween, and people who live in the apartments above hung umbrellas from their windows to catch candy that was thrown from the floats.
Yes this bike is awesome, but not nearly as awesome as the guy in the upper righthand corner of the picture. Do you see him in his creepy white mask? Yeah. Creepy.
This gentleman was shooting confetti at people in the crowd. His little shooting contraption could be lowered just above someones head and explode massive amounts of confetti. It was fantastic.
More local bands.
Random people walking.
This kids costume was AWESOME! I had to creepily sneak his picture, but I really wanted to find a headdress of my own that looked exactly like his.
After the parade, people filled the streets and just followed the floats along the cobblestone street.
While following the crowd we ran into this guy. Is that not fantastic? Too bad the closer we got the smellier it got. He was not so clean.
From here we found a local pub to warm up. We were freezing cold! Nothing like a little heat and alcohol to warm you up. I had my first German beer yesterday! I chose one that was local to the Heidelberg region. It was pretty yummy, but very strong. I would say that German beer makes Bud Light look like water. It didn't take much for me to warm up quickly. The reason for the delay in beer exposure is due to the fact that we are in the wine region of Germany. Go figure. At the pub we talked to some locals. They had no idea why they celebrate Fasching, but they love it. They said it was a time for all Germans to celebrate together. All walks of life come together for one night of....well, drinking really. It was fun to be able to mingle with Germans and be able to communicate. It wasn't that my German is so great, but almost all Germans know English. It was fun. A good time indeed.
Last but not least... I have internet! No. Vodafone has not fixed our internet/phone, but our downstairs neighbor is letting us use their internet until ours works. I can skype! Yipppeeeeee!!!!!
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