Karneval!

This past "weekend" (starting last Thursday and continuing into Monday) was Karneval here in North-Rhine-Westphalia. Although there were big parties and parades in Köln, we stayed close to home. There was a parade (umzug) in our little borough of Rungsdorff.

The overall theme is clown-military and this spoofing of army uniforms apparently goes back to the 19th century. There are floats pulled by tractors. People on the floats (dressed as clowns or princesses or whatever) toss candy to the spectators. This float is in the shape of the Bad Godesberg castle and is manned by the folks who work in the bakery around the corner.

One of the good costumes we saw was a "Canadian". Note the black eye, which makes it complete:

And finally, the piece de resistance and the cutest lil' monster...



 That's all for now folks!