Carnival for real!

So this is the real deal.  We left Amsterdam in the afternoon, and headed back to Maastricht.  We were all excited to show Evan where we are studying.  We took a bus from the train station back to the guest house, which was nice because we could show Evan a little bit of the city.  Sat. night was the official kick off of Carnival.  So it was going to be a big day.

When we got off the bus, we decided it might be wise for us to go out and get some costumes, so we walked back basically the same way the bus had taken us.  After stopping at a couple shops, we realized that all of the stores are already closed, so we will have to go back tomorrow.  We headed back to the guest house to start getting ready to head out for the night.

It is truly a site to see

When we got here Evan did not have any hotel arrangements and our floor is not the most comfortable.  We don't even have any blankets!  So we went up to the front desk to see if we could rent a cot, because somebody had said they did that.  Well when we asked them about it they said they have never heard of anything like that, so we left.  We told Nick this and he went back up and they told him they would talk to a colleague and we should come back in 30 min.  So we did and sure enough they had a cot ready to go with pillows and blankets...the whole thing!  It was only 16 euro a night, not bad if you ask me.  I think they were just lazy and didn't want to get it out for us.  But we got it in the end and brought it back to the room.  I made Evan and I some taco's and we sat around for a while and played cards and such until it was time to go out and see what carnival was all about.

I can't even begin to describe what it was like.  People were dressed up in a mixture of Halloween and Mardi Gras.  This was not just young people either.  It was entire families, parents taking care of their kids with beers in hand.  Even older people were dressed up too.  And the costumes...WOW!  Its basically just a mixture of colors and face paint.  Nobody really dresses up like "something."  Then they have a parade and 40 or more people will dress alike to try and win the best costume for the carnival.  It is truly a site to see.  I will try and get the pictures up as soon as possible.

The other aspect of carnival is that all the bars set up other bars outside.  They serve beer through a window, and its really cheap.  Then when you are done with the glass, most people just break them.  That might have been one of the best parts...just breaking glasses.  They also have public urinals out for the guys, which takes a little getting used to.  Down every street their is a party and music and tons of people out.  Most people here do this for 5 days.  After 2, we were exhausted.  At the end, when the officially end carnival, about 60 to 80 grown men just stand around and cry because they can't believe its over.  This town is supposedly the best in The Netherlands and maybe even the world.  Something remarkable to note, is that the next day, everything from the night before is cleaned up.  I mean all the broken glass, trash, and whatever else was left behind.  They have amazing cleaning programs in place.

Anyway, just talking about it won't do it justice, and neither will the photos.  It was a once in a lifetime experience and I was glad I partook in it.  The second night we did get costumes.  I was a bell-bottom wearing guy from the 70's with a peace sign around my neck.  Evan bought an afro, Stu was a Robin Hood type character, and Pat was jester.  The funny thing about Pat's costume was he wore his HUGE North Face coat underneath it all and it made him look like he was about 350 lbs.  Funniest thing I have seen.

This all went on for two days and needless to say, I don't think I could have survived another night.  So on Monday we packed all our stuff up (Evan for home and Stu, Pat, and I for Italy) and we headed to Brussels for the night.