Carnival

Some of you might wonder how the first picture in this post is connected to Carnival so let me start by pointing out that Carnival in Germany isn’t only about dressing up and getting wasted. It’s also about politics.

So while the Brazilians present the Samba schools on the parade, the Americans their boobies the Germans present political statements. Let’s face it... the Brazilians also show their boobies but they dance while doing it so it’s art. Period. Anyways... I just wanted this photo to show on my facebook timeline.

My original plan for this year’s Carnival was to be in New Orleans and experience Mardi Gras. I already had my flight tickets and hotel room arranged before it turned out that I needed to return to Europe. Therefore my phone constantly reminded me at work on the Friday before Carnival that I should be on my way to New Orleans. Flight to Atlanta ready for checking in. Flight to Atlanta ready for boarding. Flight to New Orleans ready for boarding... and so on. Every message felt like a little stab in my heart.

But I learned pretty fast that the Dutch (at least in the south) also party pretty hard when it comes to Carnival. Let's do the Trump thing and compare photos to see who's better. Eindhoven on the top New Orleans on the bottom (I stole your photo Fabian). Clearly Eindhoven had the biggest party crowd ever seen on Carnival. Awesome people. I know them. Trust me. New Orleans... SAD! (I would love to write his speeches.)
But yes, I could have had that view on the parade in New Orleans as well...

I guess one of the biggest differences between Carnival in New Orleans and Europe that you can see on the picture is the temperature. Over here you have to dress so that you can survive 10 °C (50°F) for a while. Being half naked just isn’t an option in those temperatures.

But kidding aside the Dutch go all in on Carnival. While other countries mix the „being wasted part“ of Carnival with Samba, Boobies or politics the Dutch decided to mix it with some more drinking. For some of them around here that means 5 days of straight drinking. The city of Eindhoven has even an extra holiday for the Monday so people can keep on drinking on Sunday. How nice of them. My company stopped doing that 2 years ago. So my colleagues and I just started early by putting on some Carnival music at the office around 3p.m. and having a beer on Friday.
I did one day of Carnival in Eindhoven and felt like that was sufficient. Even back in Germany I'm not a carnival reveler and out here where you can't even sign along it doesn't get better. One of the guys I went out with even tried to get through it sober and believe me he didn't enjoy it. When he tried to order some water he got a shot glass with some clear spirit (Vodka I guess) because the bar keeper just couldn't imagine him to be serious.
When we arrived in the evening a lot of people were already on their way home because they were too drunk to keep going on. And then there were a lot of people who kept going on although they shouldn't have. So the first goal was to get to the same level as the locals. Luckily they had great offers like 10 beer for 15 Euro in one bar (well guess where we went) which helped a lot with that. Seemed to be such a great offer that they even checked the ID at the door which has never happened to me during Carnival. And guess what... while the two guys I went out with did have to show their ID I didn't. I will just claim that this was due to me not shaving which makes me look waaaay older. What I really liked is that the bars played some electronic music from time to time but somehow I still didn't connect to Carnival around here. Still I will always keep it in memory as I had to park my car outside the city center because of the parade. I couldn't get a ticket as the machine didn't accept my card but I thought it won't be too bad... guess what... 61,40 Euro (64 Dollar) for parking without a ticket. That's memorable.