Carnival was a lot of fun this weekend. We trained into Dusseldorf and had a few drinks at our friends' apartment before going out. Instead of taking a taxi - we decided to borrow a few bikes and peddle the 15 minutes into the old town. Oh boy was that fun! Although we were on a slip road, not the actual autobahn, I raced like a mad man down the two lane road. I was beyond nervous to be on the same street as speeding cars so late at night.... but an exhilarating rush for certain! We arrived at a bar a few blocks north of the alt stadt with hearts pumping and mouths frozen in smile.
We bar hopped through the alt stadt and 'old punk area' just north of it. I expected it to be more outside - crowding into the streets - but perhaps because it was Sunday night before Rosenmontag it was all contained inside. We drank alt beers and danced to awesome old (Beastie Boys, Michael Jackson, etc.) music until 3am! When things began to shut down, we biked home and took the train back to Essen.
The next day we watched people gather for the parade in Essen, but were less than thrilled with the showing: A few off key singers and slow moving bands. From what I understand, Dusseldorf's parade was much better.
Interesting tid-bit: Carnival is really only popular in the western region of Germany (in cities as north as Dusseldorf and as south as Mainz with Cologne being an epi-center of revelry). Our friend explained the celebration is most popular in the cities in which Napoleon's troops occupied, because locals would dress up in French military garb to mock the ruling authorities. Today, there is an undercurrent of political jesting associated with many of the parades that seems reminiscent of this tradition... plus a lot of flamboyant costumes.
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