Carnival

So we have the carnival! Here in Holland it's a little bit different, than what I got used to in Poland... First of all, it started last Saturday and it's gonna last till Tuesday midnight. It's a time of great fun, hectoliters of beer, very bad music and people dressed up into weird costumes. The carnival lasts only these four days and is celebrated in the south part of the Netherlands as a catholic festival (the north part of the country is mostly protestant).

A flag of Knotsenburg on a wind

On Friday I saw the first signs of the coming festival. There were special flags hanging on the St. Stevenskerk's tower. I asked Maurice what do they mean. It appeared that during the carnival the cities in south Holland gets the special names. Nijmegen is now known as Knotsenburg! On the Grote Markt they put a huge white tent, where the beer was served during the weekend in enormous amounts. It's the time of increased drunkenness and a lot of work for the health sector. Apparently many young guys got to the hospital during the carnival because of comazuipen, which means "shit-faced drinking".

Edwin and Els trying their costumes

Me and Maurice didn't party this year. He doesn't really like dressing up, so I used Edwin and Elselien to be my models for this post. Since few days there were all kind of funny cloths taking over the floor. A Drag Queen wouldn't despise some of these ;) I've noticed that even our neighbor has a sparkling suit all in sequins. Basicly during this weekend you could see many people in costumes walking on the street in brilliant mood :)

Els's carnival make-up