Let the Fasching begin

I am having a hard time uploading pictures from paris onto the page, when i have enough patience, I will make another attempt. But for now....

Mom is here! She got in Thursday morning. Thursday night we headed to downtown Wiesbaden to enjoy some Fasching Celebrations. Fasching is also called Karneval;

Fastnacht/Karneval

Mardi Gras in Germany

A introduction to the "fifth season"

Germans call the pre-Lenten Carnival season die närrische Saison ("the foolish season") ordie fünfte Jahreszeit ("the fifth season"). Except for Munich's Oktoberfest, it is the one time of year when many normally staid Germans (and Austrians and Swiss) loosen up and go a little crazy. Fastnacht or Karneval is a "movable feast" (ein beweglicher Festtag) that depends on the date of Easter (Ostern). In 2008 Fastnacht falls on February 5 (Faschingsdienstag). The official start of the Fasching season is either January 7 (the day after Ephiphany, Dreikönige) or the 11th day of the 11th month (Elfter im Elften, Nov. 11), depending on the region. That gives the Carnival guilds (Zünfte) three to four months to organize each year's events (Carnival balls, parades, royalty, etc.) leading up to the big bash in the week before Ash Wednesday (Aschermittwoch), when the Lenten season (die Fastenzeit) begins.

Thursday was "frau tag" which means "women's day," On the Thursday before Fasching, women go out and roam the streets and are able to cut the ties off men. Of course, we didn't see any of this, but we did see children and adults in costume. 

Today we plan on heading Mainz or downtown for the parade!