It's Karnival time!
About a year ago, long before we even knew we were coming to Geneva, at a Brocade sales meeting, the big boss of the Geneva office, Uli, exuberantly announced that if the sales force had a really, really good year, everyone would be going to.....
No, not Hawaii or Tahiti or even Disneyland, but...
Köln, Germany!!!
The Germans in the room cheered, while the rest of the room fell somewhat silent.
Where?!?
But they did not know then what we all know now... Köln Germany at Karnival time is utterly awesome! And I'm just glad all those hard working sales guys did such a good job this past year and I got the chance to tag along!
Where in the world are we?!?
The festive crowds pouring out of the train station
The crowds in the streets
The Brocade sales gang! (Yes, that's John MacEnroe on the right)
Groovy Baby!
The hottest party in Köln!
Those Brocade guys know how to party!
Making friends everywhere I go!
Gary getting into the German spirit!
Prost!
At the closed Olympic museum
The cathedral at night (way too big to get it in one shot!)
Exploring the town
Trying to get back home!
So, fresh from our Olympic adventures we hit the road again and were off to Germany. We took an evening flight to Dortmund and took the train south to Köln (or Cologne in English). Köln is one of the oldest towns (and 4th largest) in Germany and is home to the largest cathedral in all of Germany (and the largest Gothic structure in the world). The guidebook describes it pretty well: "Exiting the front of the train station, you'll find yourself smack-dab in the shadow of the cathedral. If your jaw drops, pick it up." So we picked up out jaws and made our way to the hotel.
Since we were here for Gary's sales meeting and they actually expected him to work, he spent Wednesday in meetings and I explored the town. I took a bus tour through the city, visited the Köln history museum and the modern art Ludwig Museum (any relation Dave & Peggy?). It was nice, but I was holding off seeing the really cool stuff until Friday & Saturday when Gary had the days off. That night we had dinner with all the Brocade sales guys at a traditional German brew house, complete with all the traditional food (I had the "3 medallions of pork") and great local Kölsch beer.
The next day I was off again to explore on my own. I had a big agenda of museums and a guided tour of the cathedral at 10am, but when I arrived at the massive building, it was closed!! How can the cathedral be closed?!? They have services twice a day, every day!
Well, I didn't realize, but Thursday was the official start of Karnival (or the "foolish time") in Köln, and the tradition seems to be that everyone (and I mean EVERONE - probably 95% of the people I saw on the street) were decked out in full costume and at 11:11am the festivities officially began. Every store, museum and business was closed for the day. All except bars, restaurants & dance clubs, which all had long lines by 10am. I noticed that most people in groups were dressed alike, which at first seemed a little weird, but I realized that in addition to being fun, it may be a strategic thing, so they wouldn't loose each other in the huge crowds! There were also roving bands that would spontaneously start playing all over the city, I loved it!
The streets were literally packed, you could barely walk down ANY of the streets and everyone had a beer in hand (this is all at ten in the morning!) At 11:11 fireworks went off and everyone was dancing and cheering one another. Gary said that even at his sales meeting, at 11:11 the hotel staff barged through the doors and served everyone beer! So what did I do? I bought a silly hat, a fabulous boa, a local beer, a pretzel and walked around to enjoy the mayhem!
That night was the big party that Uli had arranged for everyone to attend. It is "the place to be" in Köln and you have to buy tickets 9 months in advance to get in! When we arrived to get in line, there was Uli (the big boss of the Geneva office) handing out beers to us in line! It was so funny, he wanted to be sure we didn't get bored for the 20 minutes we had to wait.
We were told in advance that costumes were required, but "not to go overboard", that "thrift store" clothes were all we needed. So, in true San Francisco style, Gary and I bought all of our stuff at the Height, so we were authentic 70's all the way baby! I was shocked to see the elaborate costumes people had on, everyone was so into it! The costumes were wonderful, with majorettes, "American football" players, smurfs, vikings (not as good as you & me, Karin!), and animals of all kinds! If you can imagine it, they were there.
The party itself was amazing! Three floors of dancing, food, beer, and the nicest people! I made friends with two German women dressed like cavewomen. They were great! I'm glad to say we closed the place down and even Gary danced right up to the last song. The song "Viva Kölnia" was the theme song of the weekend and we sang it just as heartily as any German in the room!
Needless to say, we got a late start the next day and missed the tour at the cathedral, but we did hike up the 509 steps to the top of the south tower. The views were great. But we were bummed to learn that all the museums were closed and would be for the rest of the weekend. I understand why they would be closed on Thursday (mayhem in the streets), but all weekend? There were thousands of tourists here from all over and it would have been a big money maker for them, but alas, we will just have to see the Roman-Germatic and Chocolate Museums some other day.
The festivities actually go on until midnight on Tuesday night (all stores are closed until then!), which is the start of Ash Wednesday. It culminates with a big bon fire that supposedly burns away all your sins you may have committed in the preceding six days. Then everyone starts the count down to next year.
So, we left Köln happy and hoping that the sales guys have another good year and Uli will bring us back to this little corner of the world where all of life closes down for six days and everyone goes a little crazy. But this time we won't count on seeing any of the museums.
No, not Hawaii or Tahiti or even Disneyland, but...
Köln, Germany!!!
The Germans in the room cheered, while the rest of the room fell somewhat silent.
Where?!?
But they did not know then what we all know now... Köln Germany at Karnival time is utterly awesome! And I'm just glad all those hard working sales guys did such a good job this past year and I got the chance to tag along!
Where in the world are we?!?
The festive crowds pouring out of the train station
The crowds in the streets
The Brocade sales gang! (Yes, that's John MacEnroe on the right)
Groovy Baby!
The hottest party in Köln!
Those Brocade guys know how to party!
Making friends everywhere I go!
Gary getting into the German spirit!
Prost!
At the closed Olympic museum
The cathedral at night (way too big to get it in one shot!)
Exploring the town
Trying to get back home!
So, fresh from our Olympic adventures we hit the road again and were off to Germany. We took an evening flight to Dortmund and took the train south to Köln (or Cologne in English). Köln is one of the oldest towns (and 4th largest) in Germany and is home to the largest cathedral in all of Germany (and the largest Gothic structure in the world). The guidebook describes it pretty well: "Exiting the front of the train station, you'll find yourself smack-dab in the shadow of the cathedral. If your jaw drops, pick it up." So we picked up out jaws and made our way to the hotel.
Since we were here for Gary's sales meeting and they actually expected him to work, he spent Wednesday in meetings and I explored the town. I took a bus tour through the city, visited the Köln history museum and the modern art Ludwig Museum (any relation Dave & Peggy?). It was nice, but I was holding off seeing the really cool stuff until Friday & Saturday when Gary had the days off. That night we had dinner with all the Brocade sales guys at a traditional German brew house, complete with all the traditional food (I had the "3 medallions of pork") and great local Kölsch beer.
The next day I was off again to explore on my own. I had a big agenda of museums and a guided tour of the cathedral at 10am, but when I arrived at the massive building, it was closed!! How can the cathedral be closed?!? They have services twice a day, every day!
Well, I didn't realize, but Thursday was the official start of Karnival (or the "foolish time") in Köln, and the tradition seems to be that everyone (and I mean EVERONE - probably 95% of the people I saw on the street) were decked out in full costume and at 11:11am the festivities officially began. Every store, museum and business was closed for the day. All except bars, restaurants & dance clubs, which all had long lines by 10am. I noticed that most people in groups were dressed alike, which at first seemed a little weird, but I realized that in addition to being fun, it may be a strategic thing, so they wouldn't loose each other in the huge crowds! There were also roving bands that would spontaneously start playing all over the city, I loved it!
The streets were literally packed, you could barely walk down ANY of the streets and everyone had a beer in hand (this is all at ten in the morning!) At 11:11 fireworks went off and everyone was dancing and cheering one another. Gary said that even at his sales meeting, at 11:11 the hotel staff barged through the doors and served everyone beer! So what did I do? I bought a silly hat, a fabulous boa, a local beer, a pretzel and walked around to enjoy the mayhem!
That night was the big party that Uli had arranged for everyone to attend. It is "the place to be" in Köln and you have to buy tickets 9 months in advance to get in! When we arrived to get in line, there was Uli (the big boss of the Geneva office) handing out beers to us in line! It was so funny, he wanted to be sure we didn't get bored for the 20 minutes we had to wait.
We were told in advance that costumes were required, but "not to go overboard", that "thrift store" clothes were all we needed. So, in true San Francisco style, Gary and I bought all of our stuff at the Height, so we were authentic 70's all the way baby! I was shocked to see the elaborate costumes people had on, everyone was so into it! The costumes were wonderful, with majorettes, "American football" players, smurfs, vikings (not as good as you & me, Karin!), and animals of all kinds! If you can imagine it, they were there.
The party itself was amazing! Three floors of dancing, food, beer, and the nicest people! I made friends with two German women dressed like cavewomen. They were great! I'm glad to say we closed the place down and even Gary danced right up to the last song. The song "Viva Kölnia" was the theme song of the weekend and we sang it just as heartily as any German in the room!
Needless to say, we got a late start the next day and missed the tour at the cathedral, but we did hike up the 509 steps to the top of the south tower. The views were great. But we were bummed to learn that all the museums were closed and would be for the rest of the weekend. I understand why they would be closed on Thursday (mayhem in the streets), but all weekend? There were thousands of tourists here from all over and it would have been a big money maker for them, but alas, we will just have to see the Roman-Germatic and Chocolate Museums some other day.
The festivities actually go on until midnight on Tuesday night (all stores are closed until then!), which is the start of Ash Wednesday. It culminates with a big bon fire that supposedly burns away all your sins you may have committed in the preceding six days. Then everyone starts the count down to next year.
So, we left Köln happy and hoping that the sales guys have another good year and Uli will bring us back to this little corner of the world where all of life closes down for six days and everyone goes a little crazy. But this time we won't count on seeing any of the museums.
posted by Swiss Miss | 23:11
4 Comments:
Exxxceelllent! Love that Uli! Blucher Uber Alles!
Who's your Daddy???
Looks like a great time--thanks for posting pics--it's nice to see the places you write about.
Will you PLEASE bring the groovy costumes on the houseboat?? I'm sure Gary's hat would fend off the sun!
Hey Mrs. Mingle... great idea!! I think it may have to make an appearance! ;)
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