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Published: March 8th 2011
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Sheinbar
Drinking Kölsch. Hallo! Meg here! Today is the last day of Karneval! I must say, I am looking forward to retiring my costume to the bottom of my backpack. We haven't gone balls to the wall by any means, and we haven't dressed up every single day. Six full days and nights of partying is just not for us. I remember when I was underage partying for four or five days during St. Patty's Day in Savannah, and it was sooo much fun, I never got tired of it....but you grow up, and you know your limits. Add 100 different songs in German about Cologne that you hear in every single bar and only one thing to drink (Kölsch), and it can get a bit repetitive. We did have a ton of fun on the first day of Karneval on Thursday which you saw and read about in our previous post. On Friday, Aaron went to work for a few hours and then we went across the street from our apartment to eat dinner at a place called Bar Tabac. It was Chris and Mike from the Chicago office's last night in town, and they didn't want to get too crazy. After a
Friday night
We brought Monkey out! delicious dinner we went to a bar we have come to know pretty well, Sheinbar. It's just a cute little dive with a different dj spinning vinyl from behind the bar every night. After a few beers and realizing we were the only ones not dressed in costume, we decided to leave Sheinbar, grab Marc from the apartment, put some sort of costume on and go out for real, without Chris and Mike. Saturday came, and we had plans to meet up with some Germans across town at a bar called Litho. We took the tram which of course was packed to the max with people in costumes drinking out of wine bottles. The tram here is apparently on the honor system, so most people don't even pay, but if you don't pay and get caught it is a 40 euro ticket. There was no way they could possibly check tickets during Karneval with that many people. Score. Aaron and I left Litho after I believe 3 or 4 hours, grabbed a 'gay beer', (beer to go) and headed back to our hood. Once off the tram, we stumbled upon a mini carnival, so we paid 2 euro and hopped
on a ride that was similar to a tilt-a-whirl. My wig almost flew off my head we were spinning so freakin fast! I love fun, random stumble-upons! Of course, this made us very hungry, so we got a falafel and cheese pizza, headed back to our apartment and stuffed our faces. We hadn't had much to eat that day so this was very much needed! Falafel here sucks compared to our usual Sultan's Market in Chicago. Mmmm I am drooling just thinking about it....Sunday was our day to break away from the Karneval scene, so we headed across the Rhein River, which is still Cologne, but a less happenin part. We walked down to the water and sat on some rocks and enjoyed the different view. You could still hear the music and partying going on but it was still pretty peaceful just listening to the tiny waves lapping up on the rocks. We walked across a different bridge to get back and stumbled upon yet another bit of awesomeness, a fence full of love padlocks! They are locks that people write on or get engraved with their name and their lovers name and lock them onto this fence and
Meg
Across the Rhein throw the key into the river. It's pretty amazing, so we googled it when we got home and found out it's pretty common here in Europe and Asia. Of course you know we will be participating...they also have it in Florence and Rome, so perhaps we buy a 3-pack. Once back across, we picked a place to eat and were sat in a U-shaped booth that another couple had just sat down in. Apparently, they didn't mind, but a few minutes in, they got up and left. Perhaps they didn't like what the menu had to offer. The place was pretty busy, but maybe that is a normal thing? About 10 min later, a party of 3 was seated in our booth. A guy in his 20s wearing a foam beer mug hat, and his parents, who were not dressed up. The young guy was the only one who spoke english, and we found out they were visiting from some country town and it was his birthday. After a small carafe each of wine, we wished the guy a happy birthday and headed outside to a kiosk and ordered a Prosecco and Glühwein and took in the Karneval sights by
Aaron and Meg
Down by the water. the river. Some highlights: A guy who didn't feel the need to go inside the toitoi (portopotty) so he peed on the back of it. Three guys in pink bunny costumes that had furry penises on the outside. Five guys who we guessed were Greek or Turkish selling flowers that stopped and had a dance off with each other while blasting horrific music. Having enough of that, we bought 2 more Glühweins and took the long way home. We ate at a vegan place that night, I believe it might be the only 'vegan' place in Cologne. It was asian themed, we had 'miso soup' which was nothing like miso soup, an avocado maki roll for starters. Aaron chose Bami Goreng, which was nothing like my Dad's version but was still great. I had a dish with vegetables in a coconut wasabi creme sauce over rice. Nothing really special, but nice to know there is at least one place that we can eat whatever we want on the menu. Yesterday was Rosenmontag 'Rose Monday' which consists of a huge parade where they throw candy and roses into the crowd. We walked down but couldn't see anything b/c of the crowd,
Love Padlocks
locked in love. so we took it in for a few minutes and then went to get lunch. Last night we went to this bar directly across the street from our apartment that I noticed while gazing out our window a few nights earlier. It had no sign, but what we gathered from a poster on the inside was that it was called Storch Bar. There were drip candles on every table, enough seating for about 20 people and nice pours of wine for cheap. Nice music, but after a drink and a half in, and after having an inspiring talk about crafty things we can make and sell, the owner shut off the music, made an announcement in German of course, and then next thing we new, we were in engulfed in a full on open mike spoken word Monday! A girl with dreads got up on a stool, opened a journal, and began speaking in German. She was pretty animated but we had to get the hell outta there! If only we knew the language!! Aside from Sheinbar, this was our new favorite place. We ran across the street, bought a bottle of wine and finished the conversation back in the
Love Padlocks
that's amore! comfort of our apartment. So that is about it...tonight should be interesting, at midnight there is a burning of the 'Nubbel' which burns the spirit of carnival to atone for the sins. And thus begins Lent. And perhaps some rest before Italy. Perhaps.
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Auntie
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Meg, thanks for the descriptive blog, I laughed about your wig nearly flying off. Reading your words in a letter form makes me remember when we had to imagine a place or experience from someones words, no attachments, no video or photos. I still have all Grandpa Ralph's letters from Fl. to Il. he sent my parents. Reading them creates images like your blog. Thanks for sharing all the fun...xo