Clarktoberfest: Clowns and Candy = Rosenmontag

Our gang as we headed to the parade
(L to R): Melanie, Claudia, Petra, Me, Constantine, Achim

The Rosenmontag parade was awesome! Every single spectator was in costume, as well as every person involved in the parade. In addition to smiling at the funny floats and dancing along with the marching bands, we spent most of the parade yelling out "Karamelle!!" at the top of our lungs to entice the paraders to throw candy and flowers our way. It worked, too, because we ended up with Halloween-worthy quantities by the end!

What really surprised me about Rosenmontag was how family-friendly the whole thing was. In spite of the craziness and the drunken masses, it still felt orderly, in that only-the-Germans-could-do-it way. We saw lots of kids lined up along the parade route, gleefully catching candy as it was tossed their way.

After four hours of parade watching, singing, and shouting, we grabbed a quick bite to eat at a tiny fast food Chinese joint. With our bellies happily full of fried Chinese goodness, we started to head towards the Hauptbahnhof to catch our train home. Boy did we get lucky on that one. We totally underestimated the amount of time it would take to get back due to the crowds. We ended up making it there with 2 minutes to spare....and that was only because the train was 5 minutes late! Good to know for next time, I guess. :)

Anyway, the whole experience was fantastically fun, and definitely makes me want to go to Karnival again next year. Although our pics are online here, I've posted some highlight pics from Rosenmontag below.

One of the adorable kids at the parade