On Friday evening Si, Loz and myself met up at Liverpool Street and hopped on what turned out to be the wrong train to Stansted. At least the direction was correct, so after changing to the correct service at the first possible stop, we headed up to Stansted and then onto Cologne, and finally a train across to the Hauptbahnhof (main station) where we met Keith and Brett, waiting for us with a welcoming Becks each. From there we made our way to Keith and Tiffs place which is nice and centrally located - perfect for the next few days of Karneval.

There we met up with Tiff as well as Alecia and Karoliina who had already started on the old Bison shots, bringing back familiar memories from last year. A quick couple of catch up beers, a change into our mix of fancy dress (FTG rocked the Mexican theme), and off we headed to the Cologne Gürzenich, a congress venue built in the 15th century, where emperors and rulers used to meet over the past centuries, and this weekend was the first of our Karneval parties. The venue has a range of massive open halls, which were fully decorated with Karneval themed decor, brass bands and performers on stages mixed with Mardi Gras style music pumping through the speakers. And not forgetting the thousands of people, everyone one of them in some or other fancy dress. Amazing.

Saturday morning Charlie arrived (after missing his flight on Friday) and after a bit of breakfast we all got ready in our outfits, which we had decided to go with Where's Wally. Or Where's Waldo if you're American. Or as we later found out, Where's Walter (in German pronounced with a double V). With all eight of us dressed up as Wally, we hit the town for a bit of walk around, attracting much attention and cheers as we went. We headed past the Cathedral, and got to spend a bit of time in the area and the main square, more than last year when we only made it there at night, with everywhere covered in snow. At least this time the sun was out and the weather was good, even though it made it easier to spot Wally in the crowd. After a Bratwurst for lunch, we grabbed a few things from the shops, and headed back to Keith and Tiffs for a while, before the pre-evening Jagers and beers started.

Then it was out to the Früh beerhouse, the same one we went to last year. And yet another good night there, much like last year again, however we did think it was slightly less busy, but just as good. After closing time, it was back to the pub under Keith and Tiffs house, which was still open, and didn't seem to have any plans to close soon. The night as a whole was not without constant party trains of people snaking around, random Where's Wally poses among groups of strangers, random Russian style dancing (haven't quite working that one out yet) and meeting all sorts of superheroes, animals, angels and devils. All in a good night out at Karneval I suppose. The range of outfits were brilliant once again, and like earlier, we all got a good bit of attention as 'Walter'. We continued on at the pub below their house for a while, mixed in with an amazing performance in the street from one of the masked brass band groups, most impressive was their rendition of 'Let Me Entertain You'. And as the title of the carnival theme song goes... Viva Colonia!! Good times...

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On Sunday morning, we started off taking a walk towards the river and over the Hohenzollern Bridge, which since 2008, people have placed love padlocks on the fence between the sidewalk and the tracks. Rather different but fascinating reading over the names. We took a slow walk over the bridge and back again, then headed to the Bierhaus am Rhein for an amazing Haxen (pork knuckle) and a couple of glasses of Kölsch beer, a local beer speciality brewed in Cologne. The afternoon was just a slow easy day around town, and went to go watch a bit of the karneval parade, which was a smaller spectacular than the main one planned for Monday, but still rather impressive. After a big Friday and Saturday night, and an enormous Haxen for lunch, no one felt like doing too much on Sunday night, other than a random stroll around town and back again for some sleep before the main parade.

Then yesterday was the Rose Monday Parade, the main event of the carnival. Apparently, over 1 million people lined the streets to join in the celebration, all there to experience the incredible floats, marching bands, dancing and artistic performances throughout the full length of the parade route. Traditionally sweets and flowers are thrown from the floats into the crowd, and apparently last year over 150 tons of sweets were given out. I assume this year was much the same again. We definitely got our fair share of sweets and chocolates, a lot of them from standing in the window of their flat and catching them through the window.

By late afternoon we all starting hitting a wall, and grabbed a brief nap before packing up our stuff and heading to the airport to make our way back home. So that ticks off Karneval for the second time, which was just as good as last years, and already starting to look forward to next year. But that could also be because it's a tired, depressing Tuesday morning back at work and I'd rather be walking around the streets of Karneval in search of a Haxen and Kölsch for lunch...