Karneval nearly sorted and an update!

Yesterday I went shopping with friends from Toytown Germany (TT in future) we had great fun shopping for costumes and getting bits and pieces.

Costume Shopping
So Saturday started off really early (and me majorly hungover) and we set out for a Karneval store on the outskirts of Köln (Near Ikea). It was huge!!!!! Never had I seen so many costumes. We were there for ages, it would take a good 1/2 an hour to walk around the store! I got loads of ideas for costumes! The boys got their costumes. One will be Robin Hood the other a Medieval Knight

That afternoon I went shopping with my TT friends and I got my costume. Im going as..... A Sailor! Woo! That costume was resonable prive being 30€ (I've taken to writing prices the German way!) In another store I tried on a Pirate costume, it was fantatsic but cost 121,95€!!!!! So I got a good deal!

English Shop
After that we went for a walk around for bits and pieces for costumes and just a general shop and had lunch (Burger King, I have loads of vouchers!!) Then we went to the English shop, which really should be called the American, English and Irish Shop! You name it from those country's they have it! :D So I picked up a few bits and pieces and am happy now! They also have a cool video library there which i will join next week I'd say!

Homesick no more
Despite a MSN converstion that nearly had me homesick again, I am over it and have devised the Stephen Spillane Cure For Homesickness. It consists of the following, 1 sweet cake of your choosing, 1 tube of pringles, 1 funny DVD (Ice Age 2 in my case) and relax while the kids are at school! Of course there is a surprise ingredient which is lovely phonecall from home! (Thanks Mum!!)

Karneval
So Karneval is getting nearer yay! It starts on the 31. Jan and Im all excited! I see more and more people dressed up! (I know i promised a Pic but i never have my cam with me!) I have figured out where I am watching the parade with TT friends on Rosenmontag and may be going out on the Saturday to Wolkenburg (TT LINK) for the Paprika Ball! It should be great fun!

Thats it for now I think!
Tscheuss!
Steve
xxx

Karneval and Karneval Songs

Here is some songs that are being played in the lead up to Karneval! They are played alot so if you are coming to Köln (where is biggest and best Kareneval happens) then know these songs!

Viva Colonia



KölschPass



Köln ist schön



Nur nicht aus Liebe weinen (My favourite one!)



I found the best quote i think that sums up Köln at this time of the year!

"because the people of Cologne regularly go mad once a year for five days, they are much saner the rest of time"

Love it!

So today I also got some stuff for Karneval, tattoo's and badges! I have great ideas for Rosenmontag!

The Second German Hangover :P

Its Saturday and its the day after the toytown meetup I mentioned yesterday! Whata fantatsic night it was! It was great to meet fellow auslanders! I am not going to mention names of who I met and what I thought of them, suffice to say everyone was lovely and welcoming and god can we talk shite (I know I can I am Irish!). I think a great night was had and definately friendships formed as we are going to the cinema tomorrow!

It was great not to have to talk in a German accent for a change though I kept slipping into it! So I have a German accent! yay! :D noone will understand em when I go home and everyone will think Im German!

Every time I go out now, I see more and more people dressed up for Karneval. I am going out again tonight and will try and get pictures so people will see what the costumes are like!

I am free at the moment arsing around as the boys have to gone to Essen, so its a nice break for me. So I am in the basement with my MP3 player and online! How bad!

So here is a list of bars I ahve been in and a quick rating out of ten

Corkonian 7/10
Jamesons 9/10
ExCorner 10/10
Ix Bar 5/10
Iron 8/10

So have loads more to try! :D

Thats all for now! Tscheuss!

Day 5: Sick no longer, getting into the Routine and Karneval!

Guten Tag!!

I have gotten over a headcold that nearly had me in bed for the day on Wednesday but all is well again! (Thank you panadol cold and flu!) Things are flying over here and I have the boys moving like a well oiled military maching in the mornings to be out the door at 7:15am!

The boys have a sleepover tomorrow night in a cousin's house in Essen, so I am free for saturday evening and I believe I will be having fondou for the first time!

Tonight I am going to a toytowngermany meetup in Köln. If you are an english speaker in Köln come join us!

Karneval
Karneval is coming up now, well the climax of it, which kicks off on the 31st of January! We are discussing costumes and the boys want to be elephants, we are not sure! When I arrived in Köln on my walk around on saturday I found a large shop that sold costumes I am told there is a bigger one out near Ikea! (I'm getting my halloween costume early this year!! :P)

Some links on Karneval:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karneval#Germany_and_Austria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cologne_carnival
http://www.koeln.de/en/whatson/carnival/carnival-index.html

The "fifth season of the year" as Carnival is called, begins on November 11th at 11:11 AM. But the "crazy days" start on so-called Weiberfastnacht, the Thursday before Rosenmontag (Carnival Monday). In the public squares and streets, the "crazy days" of Carnival are greeted with great indoor and street celebrations. The closing times for pubs and bars are suspended for the duration of the festival.

A typical day
I have definatley gotten´into the routine. Up at 6:30, breakfast then leave the house at 7:15, get the 7:30 tram to Röttgensweg and walk the boys to the school. Back to the tram. Stop in the kiosk for a drink, choclate (sometimes I go to the bakery for a cake!) then back in the house for 8:30! Then I do a mix of following, clean, play the Wii, watch TV(in german i don't have a clue what be going on!), go online, sleep, or read. Then at 12:30 I set out for the school to collect the boys at 13:15. Back home for dinner, then they do their homework, practise their music and feed their rabbits! Then it is playtime until 18:30/19:00 then it is Tea time and bed at 20:00 at the latest and I am free again!

Okay thats enough for now I think!

Danke for reading and Tschuess
Steve
xxx

Some Facts about my Future Home - Koln

Well here we go! (mostly taken from Wikipedia and other such sites!)

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than 10 million inhabitants. It is one of the oldest cities in Germany, having been founded by the Romans in the year 30 BC. Cologne was granted the status of a Roman "city" in the year 50 AD.

Cologne lies on the Rhine. The city's famous Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cologne. The University of Cologne (Universität zu Köln) is one of Europe's oldest universities.

Cork is one of the Koln sister city's!!!

Ill also be there for Carneval which is Jan 31st to Feb 05! wooo! The carneval in Cologne is one of the biggest street festivals in Europe. It is held annually from 11th Nov to Ash Wednesday. The main event is the street carnival that takes place in the period between the Thursday before Ash Wednesday and Ash Wednesday. Thousands of visitors flock to Cologne during this time.