i didn't attend the carnival parade in wiesbaden this year, as i still traveled with l. through parts of germany, but on the next day after our arrival ( and after the reunion with my parents in the evening of our return ), my parents and me had decided to visit cologne's rose monday parade.
i've never been there before ( my parents either ) and i think we won't visit again, even though it was still something to see. the parade itself was purely composed of the presentation of the carnival clubs, but mostly without any outstanding masquerade. there were huge wagons with carnival presidents on them, marching & dancing funkenmariechen & the carnival corps riding on horses. inbetween there was the occasional mockery carriage, which is what i love about such parades, because the motives are always about picking apart political issues in a humorous way. what i also liked about the parade were the people who were not part of the 'zoch' ( parade ) - the people who cheered and watched the procession. they wore every kind of costume you can imagine and and the creativity was really great at times.
unfortunately i am too shy to ask unknown people for a photo, that's why i secretly photographed the v.i.p. people from the hotel right across the street whose masquerades were more professional than the ones of the people on the streets. maybe - in another life - i will try to overcome my fear of talking to strangers - because let's be honest, the creativity of the 'ordinary' people can be so much better sometimes.
i said earlier, that it won't be likely that i'm going to visit this parade again, because first: a LOT of people! second: thievish foreigners that snatched the sweets & flowers thrown from the wagons right out of your hands. third: it was all very commercial and it kind of lacked the personality that other carnival parades sustain. ( even the parade in mainz breathes more creativity ) goal for the future: visit the parades of the german south - they seem to be more traditional.
cologne cathedral in scaffolds.
we were standing near the cologne cathedral and the main train station and thus we had to wait for quite an amount of time until the procession finally reached us.
meanwhile i was happily photographing people in the windows of the hotel across the street.
and my parents. well, excuse the horrible masquerade, i am not good in doing make-up, haha. it was really cold as well, so that meant you couldn't wear a proper costume without freezing your ass off ( unless you are really brave ). i also think my father is a scary clown. i love both of them anyways ;)
funkenmariechen.
carnival committee members.
prince charming? he stared directly at me and then smiled a bit.
the vitreous jeck.
extraterrestrial figures. the parade's theme was the future.
juggling work/family/anything.
i loved this wagon. fratzbook, youpups, myscheiß, zwitter - i guess you already noticed that these names are all german slurs of certain platforms ;)
darth vader representing the death star washington d.c.
glittery!
angela merkel as buzz lightyear.
beautiful chinese woman in traditional clothing! ( yes i even looked up the ethnicity :) - and it's a wedding dress to be exact! ) i didn't catch the chocolate though ;)
golden emblems.
and then it was over - it was already getting dark. the parade took ages - approximately 8 hours. our feet hurt and we were really frozen by the end. i made some last pictures of the cathedral.
and a view over the rhine. good-bye cologne, until next time ( but propably not in carnival season :) )!
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