carnival!

i came back last night to a food-starved room and had to order delivery for dinner. so this afternoon i thought i would go get some groceries. but as i rode my bike, i saw people dressed in ridiculous outfit and/or with face paint. something was going on somewhere for sure. then i saw a whole side-street lined parade-like with people and floats and loud music. everyone seemed to be partying. i watched for about a minute with some other people from the overpass, then continued on my way.

everywhere i looked the stores were closed. the chances of the grocery shop was diminishing the closer i got. and sure enough, the shop was closed. but i could hear and see all the people gathering on the main street twenty-five meters away. i locked my bike and decided to take a look. they were indeed waiting for a parade! there was a carnival atmosphere and hundreds of people lined both sides of the double tram track. the main street has very wide pavements, and two tram tracks run down its length along the middle, no road for vehicles. it was perfect for the parade in that it provided enough space for the spectators and since the pavements are slightly elevated compared to the tracks, it provided just enough width for the parade without the need for barriers. moreover it's a very long and straight street. moments later it started.

it was amazing to watch almost the entire town come down to watch the parade. people were drinking beer, the children with costumes and jumping around, others dancing. the parade began with two police cars leading the parade, and even they were covered in Silly Strings and confetti and what not. i had come unprepared so i couldn't take photos. then after a few minutes of stupidity, it occurred to me that i had my phone camera. so got that out and took a lot of photos, some of which i have included in this post. there were quite a few floats that belonged to carnival clubs. i didn't even know such clubs existed!

there were trucks, tractors, convertibles, trains, pull-carts, push-carts, you name it! a lot of people wore wooden masks and scary looking clothing. there perhaps was a theme to it i'm unaware of. but there were also people just partying, and few groups of drummers and musicians, a whole group dancing salsa, a group of what looked like red-indians, people dressed as hexes and... you get the idea! there was even one wit middle eastern people in turbans dancing in a stage made to look like a desert complete with palm trees. but the great thing was the way the parade greeted the spectators and vice versa. they'd sweep one of their arms in a wide circular motion, and say "hellooooooo" in an exaggerated voice. and while the parade did this motion, they'd throw candies at us. the kids would also do the same to get their attention and have candies thrown at them! and the street was literally littered with candies of all sorts.

and at the end of the parade, the cleaning trucks followed closely! it was amazing how by the time i had walked to an ATM, retrieved some money and gotten out, the tram tracks had been cleared of all the confetti, pamphlets, sweets, wrappers, bottles, and the trams were beginning to run, although a bit slow. the cleaning of the pavements was going on vigorously... the germans sure don't like to take their time on these things!

anyway, it was much more fun day than i thought it would be. it's impossible not to be dragged into the carnival mood when everyone around you is in one. but that still leaves me with no groceries. there were food stalls along the way, but as much as i love bratwurst, i wanted a meal. so i got a Turkish take-out for dinner, even though i had to wait patiently for a group of kids to get their orders first. i almost left halfway through the waiting after i found out the three kids were ordering 15 Yufkas, but after some point it was like i would have wasted the time i spent waiting if i left early. so i stuck it out and got my warm meal!

that's it for today. i'll be posting about my trip later this week so don't leave! i noticed a 40% decline in the number of my followers! :( but oh well... thanks to the ones believing that i would post again! ciao!