Every year the Germans celebrate whats known as Fasching. Originally it was a Pagan festival which came out of ancient Rome or Greece. In recent centuries, however, it has become more associated with the Christian Church. Officially the season starts on 11th November at 11:11am but things really start happening in February & March - 7 weeks before Easter. The first week in February is the week when people are allowed to "flip out" and behave recklessly before the beginning of Lent. This time is also referred to as "Carnival".
Every town has its own timing and traditions for the big Fasching celebration, but one of the biggest happens in the town of Mainz which is about 45 minutes north of Frankfurt. It's a full 4 days of partying culminating in a huge parade the Monday before Fat Tuesday.
We boarded the train on Monday to Mainz with our friend Irina (Russian) on route to our new friends, Rhiannon (Canadian) and Francesco's (Italian) house, where we met another new friend named Luke (Chinese). Add 3 Americans and you've got The United Nations on parade!
The pinnacle of the day was the Parade which was an awesome spectacle. There were over 150 different floats, marching bands galore, and people firing candy from all directions. The people on the floats would yell, "HEEEELLLLLOOOO" and the people in the crowd would yell "HEEEELLLLOOOOO!" back. Not sure why, but it cracked me up.
After a fun filled day we boarded the train and made our way back to Bad Soden in time for dinner. We got to experience another fun German tradition, enjoy a Monday out of the office, and meet a few new friends.
We are officially Fans of Fasching!
Every town has its own timing and traditions for the big Fasching celebration, but one of the biggest happens in the town of Mainz which is about 45 minutes north of Frankfurt. It's a full 4 days of partying culminating in a huge parade the Monday before Fat Tuesday.
We boarded the train on Monday to Mainz with our friend Irina (Russian) on route to our new friends, Rhiannon (Canadian) and Francesco's (Italian) house, where we met another new friend named Luke (Chinese). Add 3 Americans and you've got The United Nations on parade!
The pinnacle of the day was the Parade which was an awesome spectacle. There were over 150 different floats, marching bands galore, and people firing candy from all directions. The people on the floats would yell, "HEEEELLLLLOOOO" and the people in the crowd would yell "HEEEELLLLOOOOO!" back. Not sure why, but it cracked me up.
After a fun filled day we boarded the train and made our way back to Bad Soden in time for dinner. We got to experience another fun German tradition, enjoy a Monday out of the office, and meet a few new friends.
We are officially Fans of Fasching!
check out some pics of the action......
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