The Side Effects of Endorphins

Mainz, in general, is a fairly laid-back city on most occasions. I happened to be here for

A threefold thundering Helau

The Mainz Carnival is one of the largest and most traditional events in the city. It is also described as the fifth season. The first Rose Monday parade took place in 1838 and today, 180 years later, it still has great significance for the Mainzers. In addition to Cologne and Dusseldorf, Mainz is one of the strongholds of the Rhineland Carnival. The importance of the carnival is also reflected in the cityscape, for example, by sculptures but also the Fastnachstbrunnen, which is located on the Schillerplatz. For carnival enthusiasts, there is also the year-round open Carnival Museum, which can be found since 2004 in Mainz.

We only went to the kinder version on Saturday and that was festive enough. There still were wall to wall costumes, drunken shenanigans and occasion pile of vomit in the street. Clean up after your drunk. My family in Germany did not imbibe so we were able to take it all in. Our grand daughter (Yafa) even dressed like a tiger. She was adorable but I repect my daughters request not to post pictures. It may break the internet.

BAO

We decided to order Vietnamese take out as Yafa might have been a challenge. When we ordered the owner’s German was decent and her husbands was not. When we arrived, there was disarray, but they seemed to get the order right. We walked back to my daughter’s place and to the back entrance when suddenly a person came running up behind us. He wasn’t aggressive or anything and said that we had his family’s order.

I have no idea how he found us. We had walked two blocks, a hidden alley way and a stone path. We laughed and figured this was definitely possible.

When we got back to the restaurant, we had the right order in the first place. He may have been at Carnival too long. Who knows? The food was still hot when we got home. I thought the spring rolls unique and delicious. Yafa thought otherwise.

Helau

I originally thought people were yelling hello. Helau pronounced (he lau) is a German prominent carnival shout and greeting, used during the fifth season ending on Fat Tuesday.