Week Five (ii) - Viva Colonia! Karneval in Köln!

Fri 8.2.13: 

After German today, I bolted home, picked up some Getrank and Schokolade (I found several seasonal specialties at Lidl, from praline to coconut macaroon to coffee milkshake!), said bye to my host family, and met up at the big train station, Hauptbahnhof at 4. The 5-hour train ride passed fairly uneventfully (however, we passed a red-lit building and I jokingly said, "Look, the red light district!" but then we saw the naked figures in the windows and realized it actually was a red light district), as many of us caught a quick nap in preparation of the festivities to come. Upon arrival, and after a confusing ordeal sorting out Köln subway tickets for 12 people, each group (groups of 7 and 5) went to their hotel and quickly returned to the main square. Our group - Esther, Keziah, Molly, Sarah, Nish, Peter, and me - had to sneak three of us in because the apartment we'd rented was only supposed to be for four; luckily we faced no problems, and the place was amply big even for seven.

Kayo, Susan, Nishant, Shane, and Hector all dressed up

Me, Esther, Molly, Peter, Keziah, Sarah, and Nish

Gangnam Style plus a Grumpy Uncle and a Mortified Molly

We changed into our Karneval costumes, rocked out to Macklemore over some glasses of wine, and then caught the train back to the city center at Heumarkt. Initially we just wandered up the central street, delighting in the festive atmosphere and observing the other costumed revelers, young and old, single and in group themes.  After trying some kölsch, a light and tasty local specialty beer that we all enjoyed, a bizarre incident ensued:

As Molly, Susan, and I were walking to catch the rest of the group, a random drunk stranger came up and asked for the bottle of wine I was carrying. I said no, and handed it to Molly - next thing I know, he puts me in a headlock and drops me to the ground! Luckily I received no serious injury, but I was quite surprised.

For the remainder of the evening we wandered the streets, checking out a few bars, interacting with the tons of other Karneval-goers, and generally just enjoying the festive atmosphere. Eventually we left the celebrations and relied on a particular church for assistance and orientation to navigate home.

Sat 9.2.13: 

Our crew rolled out around 11 today (due to the apartment's blackout blinds, we were surprised to see it so sunny outside) and arrived at the main plaza around noon. The lively, festive atmosphere remained from last night - we saw a group of lumberjack-attired guys demonstrating magic tricks, numerous troupes in soldier uniforms marching to uptempo drumbeats, and even a plethora of Macklemore mullets adorning the partygoers. 

We tried to avoid the priciest cafes, and settled on an Italian place with warm spiced gluhwein, delicious pizzas, and artistic desserts. We returned to the streets to enjoy the costumes and general gaiety. We found the other group in the main plaza in front of the basilica, but realized that everyone besides us was already in costume. After a quick trip back to change into our Karneval attire, and fortified with various drinks (I mixed some BVI-style Painkillers!), we returned to the central plaza and joined in the large-scale dancing!

Peter and I with one of the 'soldiers'

For nearly two hours, our group danced and mingled in the main square, rocking out to a mix of American hits and Karneval songs such as 'Viva Colonia' (skip to 1:00). This was simple, pure fun in its most ancient form - thousands of garbed individuals from across the country and the world congregating to drink and dance together, united in spirit and happiness.
Shortly after dusk fell, several of us opted for an Italian restaurant. Tired after the late night and the afternoon of dancing, I dozed intermittently in the restaurant, trying (unsuccessfully) to appear respectful when the cranky waiter (probably due to dealing with a weekend's worth of drunken revelers; our group, however, wasn't loud or obnoxious, and was providing them business) stalked by. We escaped his condescending demeanor shortly afterward and continued to meander the streets, trying to determine a plan. Eventually, Kayo, Molly, Susan, Nishant, Peter, and I asked directions for for a club, and proceeded to freeze as we waited in line. When we got to the front, Kayo and Peter were admitted but us four were not :/ Perhaps we seemed too American, perhaps our halting German sounded drunk, perhaps they didn't like our costumes - whatever the reason, we were stuck outside with no means of contacting Kayo and Peter (a problem b/c we needed to make sure everyone could make it home and get inside). 

Eventually, after failed attempts to reason our way inside (and not acceding to a bribe attempt), Molly, Susan, and I ascertained directions to our respective stations and headed home. Susan and Nishant were in the other house, so we separated; Molly and I (when we realized we had inadvertently taken the wrong train, we leaped off, saw the correct train pulling in, and hopped across the tracks to catch it - both trains were stopped, otherwise I wouldn't have suggested it) eventually made it back to our apartment.

A few final points of entertainment/quotes (full context omitted for privacy): 

 - At 7pm, Shane became convinced it was actually 7am, and kept announcing, "Guys, it's 7am! The sun's going to come up in two hours!"

 - I was wearing my Karneval mask around my neck, and was taken aback when a girl walked up and began passionately kissing it

 - In their hotel room, someone's efforts to bribe Hector for additional alcohol, snuggle into his bed, and the quote, "Daddy's home"

 - Greatest mystery of the trip: how Keziah lost her belt, when she was with us the whole time

Sun 10.2.13: 

Following a morning breakfast of eggs, we cleaned the apartment and I evacuated with Esther, Sarah, and Nish (we left three to return the keys). We arrived at the main station around 11:30 and followed the sounds of drumbeats to a small troupe adorned in woodland garb, as if from A Midsummer Night's Dream! Karneval Sunday consists of many small parades and one massive afternoon-long parade (no kidding, it passed us at 1 and it was still going when we left at 5!), so we followed this small one in anticipation of the large one. The other three found us around 12:30, and I went with Molly and Keziah to snag some bratwurst and fries for lunch - excellent! - and then the parade began!

The parade was indeed tons of fun, to see so many people (of all ages, too, from kids just starting to walk to grandparents!) dressed in matching attire and tossing candies to the crowd's calls for "Kamella!" In a sense, it was much like Halloween, though the candy recipients weren't just limited to little children - we observed a number of people older than us scrambling for the thrown sweets :)

Group after group and float after float passed by (many of which featured live music!) until we finally regrouped with the others (huge hassle to find each other amidst the crowds) and headed to the basilica square looking for lunch. I was glad for the opportunity to see more of Köln; even if it was limited to closed (but modern) shopfronts and street artists, it was still fun to wander through the streets. We eventually settled on more bratwurst and then dessert from yesterday's venue (the wildberry yogurt was fantastic) prior to departing.

Dessert from the Italian cafe

On the way back, we discussed the weekend's activities - costumes, dancing, drinking, drama, parades, etc. - and napped, arriving around 11pm. Exhausted but entirely elated with the trip, we headed home and slept.