Even Popeye deserves to be honored, that was probably the thought of this artist who sprayed the famous Sailor in his usual gesture.
Archive - January 2010
After the Narrenbaum was erected, the city was ready for the big Night Parade. Led by a couple of marching bands, thousands of different Narren (as I said yesterday, Narren are something like a jester or Joker) ran through the city. Jumping, laughing, whip lashing and tangerine throwing, it was a fascinating moment.
Every city has their own traditional costumes, first you will see the city of Rottweil with their Federhannes, Schantle and Gschell. If you can sing a well known carnival quote, you will be rewarded with a handful of candy.
Last weekend, I took a plane to Stuttgart , to watch an event which only takes place every 3-4 years, the Narrentag (which probably means something like “Day of the Jester”), organized by one of four famous carnival cities; Rottweil, Oberndorf, Elzach and Überlingen, all of them part of the Viererbund, a union between these four cities since 1958.
This year the parade took place in Oberndorf (Black Forest), about 1 hour away from Stuttgart.
As an opening ceremony, a decorated tree, the Narrenbaum, was erected, as a symbol that the Narrentag has officially begun.
I heard something about Climate Change and Global Warming, but when I look outside my window, it’s an Ice Age out there. After 4 weeks, the snow is still there, the temperature has raised up to -5°C (23°F) so it’s not so cold anymore.
On my way through the western part of Germany, I discovered an abandoned British military airbase in Weeze, a village in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Part of it is now used as a civilian airport and you can see the old military buildings if you drive the road from the big “Welcome” sign to the airfield. The old British RAF Laarbruch military base, was well placed along the Netherlands border into which the Soldier could flee if something unexpected happened.
Even some old military weapons were placed as a reminder for the Cold War days, or they were just forgotten, who knows.
With this much snow, it’s pretty common to build a snowman, but some kids in the neighborhood have selected a very strange place for their snowy friend.
I’m a bit late but, I hope you all had a great start into the new year! It’s still cold outside and the snow is about 20 cm high. It’s pretty rare for Berlin and I can’t remember the last time we had so much snow, even with temperatures around -15°C (+5.0 °F).
Anyway! I wish you all the best for 2010!