Fastnacht Celebration

We're going on a week now. A week of stuffy heads, runny noses, coughing, aching, oh, and let's not forget the whining (mostly on my part). And to add insult to injury, I have been without a computer this whole time....until now, obviously.

What brought this on, you might ask? I'll tell you. The Fastnacht Celebration. Germany's equivalent to Mardi Gras. And man, was it worth it!!

It just happened to fall on President's Day this year so Brad had the day off. We took the trolley into downtown from our place and within a few stops the trolley was PACKED with people in costume. Picture Halloween but where the grown ups get into it waaaaaaay more than the kids. I had a "rubber ducky's" tail in my face for a good 15 minutes. Unfortunately, Brad and I didn't get the memo about costumes until it was too late but next year, IT'S ON!!

Here's the kicker - it was bitter, nasty cold. We're talkin' freezing temps and rain/snow mix throughout the day. But that seemed to stop no one. Thousands of people turned out to watch the parade and, well, drink. We enjoyed a couple mugs of gluhwein to keep warm but had more fun watching the silly intoxicated people dressed in costume stumble around the streets. Like I said, picture Mardi Gras just without the beads.

Even Gutenburg wanted to party!

We met up with some friends and watched the parade for quite a while. As things were nearing an end on the street (and I could no longer feel the lower half of my body) we made our way over to a pub that our friend knew about. It turns out that this place is open only twice a year, once for Fastnacht and once for something I don't know about. It was in the basement of some building and designed like a big cave with a lot of little lights. I can only imagine what this place was used for back in the day.

We rocked out with all of the locals and pretended like we knew the words to all of their Fastnacht songs. They didn't seem to notice and we didn't seem to care. It was a blast! I find it hard to believe even half of those people showed up for work the next day. Unfortunately, Brad did have to work the next day so we called it a "night" around 5 pm and headed home.

We had plans to meet up with our friends again Wednesday night for the final Fastnacht celebration, a sort of official end to the party. But once Wednesday rolled around, it was too late. We were already sick. Both of us. And it was miserable. Even Stella had the sniffles. So we settled into our places on the couch and were lazy for days.

So while the outcome of Fastnacht was less than desirable......I can't wait until next year!!! Now here's where YOU come in. First - does anyone have any ideas for fun costumes for me and Brad? We want something super creative and super funny. And second - who wants to join us?