Fasching

Things really come to a head the week before Lent begins. Germans tend to let their hair down and enjoy themselves at the many Fasching events. Both Mainz and Cologne are well known for their Rosenmontag parades. Among shouts of "Helau," candy and small trinkets are thrown into the crowds.

We traveled to the Kinder parade with several friends. The kids excitedly watched the costumed parade participants go by and loudly shouted "Helau" in order to have candy thrown their way. At the route's end, there was a kind of carnival where the kiddos played games and won prizes. Littlest was only interested in the carousel, and Log and Bop preferred to play a shoot 'em up game where real pellets were loaded inside of a short barreled shotgun!

Most carnival revelers dress up, and our kiddos were no exception. Bop was a witch (who didn't want to have her picture taken), Littlest was Aurora (no surprise there), and Log reused one of his Halloween costumes and went as a clone trooper. I referred to him as a storm trooper, and he immediately corrected me and explained the differences between the two which I didn't really understand. Popular costumes among the crowd included bumblebees, Pippi Langstrumpf, pirates and witches.

We were lucky enough to find a street-side spot, so the kiddos received a great many treats: packets of flavored popcorn, gummies, marshmallows, packets of tissues, soup mixes, stuffed animals and mini-games. They quickly learned to duck when jolly type rancher candy was thrown into the crowds!