Fasching

Pronounced FAW-shing, this is the German Carnivale or Mardi Gras. For those of us without Catholic backgrounds, Fasching is the time before Lent when everybody indulges in fun, general zaniness and worldly pleasures of all kinds. In Catholic Bavaria, it is no different, because beginning on Ash Wednesday is Lent - 40 days of restricted foods and religious discipline.



Downtown Munich is getting into the spirit. And I do not mean the Holy Spirit. There are bandstands with musicians dressed in wacky costumes (cows, hot pink wigs, just any odd clothing) singing everything from the 60's "Hey baby, I wanna know, will you be my girl?" to The Rocky Horror Picture Show's "Time Warp". It's hilarious with everybody dancing in the street. No wonder I enjoyed it, it was just like Santa Cruz! With the drum circles and costumes, I felt right at home. It was great. And even more fun when you join them! As the photos below demonstrate.

On a side note, everyone here in Europe seems to smoke. It is banned indoors, so it's really not that bad (unless you are walking directly behind someone and the wind is blowing in your face). Normally this does not bother me one bit, as it is an easy problem to solve. However, with Lent almost upon us, Nate and I have a theory that giving up smoking for Lent is popular, and therefore people are puffing away like chimneys until the last second when they have to quit. It's quite difficult to escape the smell of smoke.

Anyway, there are carnival booths and rides for kids and of course food of all kinds. I think my favorite thing is the confetti though. You can buy these bags of it and everyone throws it at one another. Nothing like confetti to make it feel like a real party.

See what I mean? These ladies reminded me of my mom. (Only the ladies on the left!) Love you mommy, you would look great in a hot pink wig. :)

These were the traffic fairies. They were stepping out in traffic, stopping cars and even tour buses with their magic wands. Some they did not let pass. They must have drank too much fairy juice. It was very entertaining.

I loved the octopus men. I think they were my favorite. Other than the confetti that is.

Now you know what it looked like, smelled like and even though this is a rather crappy video (I haven't used it in so long, that I forgot how to turn it off!), you can even hear what it was like to be there.