Carnival

Helau! That is the special Carnival greeting. Carnival is annual holiday to welcome in the Lenten season. It is easiest to compare it with Mardi Gras, but without the beads. Instead, they throw out candy!

 Here are a couple pictures of the crowds.

Emma, Tatjana and I walked a block from my apartment to catch part of the 3 hour plus parade. Then we walked to the city center to catch a bit more from the start of the parade.

The floats are worked on for months 

ahead of time, many made by special clubs formed solely for the purpose of Carnival. 

Emma wisely brought along a purse to stash candy in, and she sweetly shared some of it with me! 

The street-cleaners were the last 'floats' of the parade- 

no sense in waiting to clean up!