Carnival: Mainz Germany

After returning from Austria I thought there would be no trip that could top it. However, I soon realized that every trip in Europe is special. In Europe you can't compare place, events, or traditions. Yes some times will be better than others, but all will leave different, lasting impressions on you.

To start this story I feel everyone should have some knowledge of the event that I am going to. So to make your life easy I have included the link to the Carnival Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnival. This is a pretty good summary of what I saw on my way to Austria and what I would experience on Monday the 15th.

Upon arriving at the Limburgerhof train station I met up with Stephen Bux. He is an intern with BASF as well. We met and soon knew we were in for a long day of partying. Before we even got to Mainz we saw people wearing ridiculous costumes, singing, dancing, drinking, and carrying on.

The train ride to Mainz was standing room only and took about an hour or so. There we got to hear more singing and people just plain having a great time! After we arrived at the train station in Mainz we were engulfed in the festivities! The train station was packed and there were people and police everywhere! To best describe this event was a mix between Halloween and St. Patrick's Day.

Now Stephen and I did not just go to Mainz without a plan, in fact we had planned on meeting some locals. There is a program called "couch surfing" that millions of people take part in. The group consists of people in many different locations that will host travelers when they are visiting cities. So we met up with Nora and hung out with her and her friends for the day. We went down to the parade and go even more immersed in this new cultural experience. The parade is know as "The Parade of Roses," see the wiki page for more detail. This parade consisted of thing like floats, rotary clubs, bands, and many others things. The outfits were both traditional and some were entertaining. Overall this parade was both festive and long, about 5 hours.

After having been at Mainz for near 7 hours, Stephen and I were ready to go home! As we boarded the train, it was again standing room only! The train ride home took about 45 mins longer than it did to get there. Again we met some new people from Germany ages ranging from 16 to about 27. Finally we arrived back safely in Limburgerhof and made our way home before passing out at 8pm and getting some much needed rest before work the next day. Overall our first Carnival experience was one to be remembered!!