A Life in Waiting

Carnival. As a New Yorker this word doesn’t hold too much sentiment or reverence. It’s typically an outdoor event held in the summertime at firehouses and churches to raise money for their causes. It’s usually a gathering of families with smaller kids wanting to go on all the cheesy rides and teenagers looking for a place to go other than the mall or wherever they gather typically. An assortment of food and beer booths accompanied by overpriced games to try and win a stuffed animal for whomever you’re with. Not exactly an event worth talking about. Actually I mostly try to avoid them. Oh yeah, it’s also the name of some party in Brazil.

So as I consider myself (somewhat) knowledgeable and (somewhat) worldly I need to ask one question… HOW THE HELL DID I NEVER HEAR OF CARNIVAL IN COLOGNE?!?! I mean, COMEON! This city is considered to host the largest Carnival celebration, possibly even bigger than the Brazilian variation widely known around the globe. I don’t fully understand the whole history behind it, for it truly starts on November 11^th at 11:11 and goes until the beginning of February. But there doesn’t seem to be much that happens from November until the end of January. But at the end of January… that all changes. See this is the week before Lent, when all Catholics are suppose to start their strict regiment leading up to Easter. As I understand it, Carnival is when you are supposed to get it all out of your system before Lent. And boy, do they.

This is where I need to thank the man responsible for my knowing of this festival, Ulf. He sent random messages throughout Couchsurfing’s message boards to let everyone know of the event he organizes every year for Carnival. I read his description and after a few emails back and forth, I was convinced that this is where I wanted to kick off my European trek of 2008.

See every year he rents out a basement of a non-denominational church called the Arche, a few kilometers outside of the city’s center. It’s not an old Catholic stone church, but more of a non descript building with a finished basement that has a main gathering room, kitchen, bathrooms and a second room for the sleeping quarters. For six nights, dozens of people stay in this Arche and use it as a staging area for all the partying in the city. I think one night this weekend we had over 40 people here at once. A bit much for when you are a minimum of 6 yrs older that most of the other occupants.

Just about every day we have an itinerary to follow, that Ulf has put together. The first night when we had just seven of us, we were to gather at the Arche and assemble all of the Ikea beds that were purchased to accommodate the excessive amounts of temporary residents. Once Ulf arrived at the Bierstube where we awaited his arrival, we went over to the Arche and began the building process. That was after the beer run and the music got kicked on. Five hours and a bunch of laughs later, we have all the beds built and pass out on them at around 3 in the morning.

The following day, Thursday, is the kickoff party for Carnival. It’s actually the largest party day of the celebration, as was told to us. However I’m not fully convinced of that since I couldn’t distinguish one night from the next. Unbeknownst to us, a stereo with the anthem of Carnival cranked to the max was set up with an alarm clock to make sure we got off to an early start. We head out of the Arche around 8am and catch a tram to the city where we are meeting a bunch of Ulf’s friends at his flat for breakfast. All in total there were about 15 of us heading together. We arrive at the flat to discover another 10 or so people waiting for us with a huge spread of meats, cheeses and other buffet items. All introductions are done and after a few toasts, we all dig in.

Now one part I forgot to mention is that at Carnival everyone is wearing costumes. Elaborate detailed costumes. And they are worn by all. This breakfast celebration was no exception. Once we finished eating, the music changed over to the Cologne Carnival music and the party began. The Carnival music is basically German folk music on crack. High tempo and very cheerful, everyone knows the music and sings along with every song with pride. So much that by the end of Carnival I know the lyrics of every song and still cannot get them out of my head.

We ended up staying at the flat for a few hours before heading into the center of Cologne, where the Carnival celebration was in full swing. Streets packed with partygoers in every direction, all in full regalia. It was a sight to see. Because it is not a summertime festival, most of the time during the Carnival is spent in various different beer houses that line the streets.

It was a crazy time… and this was only the first day!! Below is a little video I made that shows off a little of what I am trying to explain.

As I am not using a GPS for this trip, I have been using a mixture of Google maps and a European mapping software on my computer for my directions.  So after I find the route I want to travel, I handwrite the directions in large print and place it in my tank bag, which has an enclosed map pocket on top for viewing while riding.  The directions so far have been working quite well, my biggest stumbling block is the lack of street signs in some areas, or the occasion mismarked directional sign.  Following my written instructions, I navigate the bike through the streets of Munich and head out on the Autobahn towards Cologne.

I once thought that the Autobahn was some magical stretch of highway where Germans paid a fee and rode on the only highway in the western world that had no speed limits.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  The Autobahn is all the A roads in Germany, or otherwise known as an Autostrada.  And on each of these roads there are sections where you can go as fast as desired.  Pretty unbelievable. 

So I head out on the A8 towards Cologne, where the speed limit is 120KPH, or 75MPH.  A nice comfortable pace as everyone pretty well follows the set limit on the road.  After a few miles, the speed limit signs that were every 500 meters or so disappear.  At this point, all the cars around just take off.  And I’m not just referring to the sports cars, everything from vans to station wagons to well you get the picture.  But as fast as everyone is driving, there are no cars that are reckless.  All cars keep to the right except to pass and not one car attempts to pass another on the right side.  It’s all very orderly.  But very, very cool!  It’s a crazy feeling getting passed by a car when you’re doing 200KPH.  (Don’t worry mom, it was only for a moment just so I can say I did). 

Once the excitement of the Autobahn wore off, I settled in with the middle paced vehicles who were hanging around 90-95MPH or about 150KPH.  It was a comfortable pace, and one that helped speed up the process of getting to Cologne for the brief times that you could drive that fast.  Whenever the Autobahn neared a town, the limits came back to 120KPH and sometimes ever 80KPH and during all of the construction (there was a lot) it went as low as 60KPH (~40MPH).  So the moments of limitless driving helped keep the overall average speed to where it would’ve been sans construction.

The overall trip from Munich to Cologne is 360miles (580km).  It’s approximately a five hour trek, not including any breaks for food or fuel.  Well about 150kms into the ride, it starts to rain.  Now mind you, it’s about +1C outside (34F).  So I’m already a bit chilled, but the rain just makes it ten times worse.  Now as I originally never planned on riding much in cold weather, I never bought proper winter riding clothes and I figured it was an expense that wasn’t needed.  I still think I’m correct in not buying them, but I wasn’t so convinced during that rain storm.  Fortunately I did at least have my skiing pants which did help in some of the wind protection, but as it turns out, are not completely waterproof. 

The rain does not let up at all during the ride to Cologne.  400+ KMs in the freezing cold rain.  I ended up giving myself 100mile goals to complete before stopping for fuel and a 15minute hot chocolate break.  You would be surprised how many weird looks you get riding a motorcycle through Germany in January, not to mention the rain. 

I was aiming to arrive at the Arche (the gathering place where over 40 different Couchsurfers were to spend the next 6 days partying for Carnival) around 17.00 (5pm) that evening.  But with my late start and the unexpected rain (I did check the weather before leaving, and not one word of rain) I ended up arriving a bit after 19.00.  So as the organizer of the Arche gathering was running late as well, I had no warm place to wait for his arrival.  I wander the streets for a moment, trying to keep moving in the hopes of warming up as I run into another Couchsurfer in waiting.  Carlos from Brazil, the other wandering Couchsurfer, tells me of the pub where we are all to wait for Ulf, the organizer.  We head over and meet up with the other 6 or 7 Couchsurfers awaiting Ulf’s arrival. 

We all introduce ourselves and begin the Carnival celebration right then and there.  It is at this moment I realize that I am heading into one long and crazy week and it couldn’t be with a better group of people.  As it turned out the few of us that arrived early became a quite tight knit group that spent a lot of good times together the next few days.  I was not prepared…