Carnival Begins

Carnival season, also known as German's fifth season, started today.
To be precise, Carnival always starts on November 11, at 11:11 A.M. I am not sure the significance of the date and time, but I do know that eleven is the number of Carnival. All of the events start at 11:11 A.M. That's why today is referred to as “der Elften Elften,” which translates from German to "Eleven Eleven."
Despite the dismal forecast this morning, I set out see what festivities Bonn had planned. Last year I remember watching der Elften Elften in Cologne on T.V. Huge crowds dress in costume gathered in the old town to sing, dance, and drink Kolsch.

This year in Bonn the crowd was marketable smaller. This didn't really surprise me: Bonn is not the Carnival Capital that Cologne is. Also, this year celebration fell on a Tuesday, while last year's even was on a Sunday. Even still, a few hundred people, most in costume, gathered in the market square to sing, dance, and drink Kolsch.

I think I would get a lot more out of Carnival activities if I could understand what they were saying. But, I am always impressed at the Germans love for a party. It wasn't but a few minuets past 10:30 when I arrived, but still the beer was flowing, people were decked out in the finest clown gear, and when the band played “Viva Colonia” the crowd joined in and swayed to the music.