Karneval Time! (Germany, 2023)

A quick weekend getaway to western Germany to enjoy Fastnacht, a Rhineland variation on Carnival, a European variation on Mardi Gras! This is my first international trip after settling into my semester abroad in Zürich.

Armed with a Swiss pretzel for breakfast, we head out from Zürich early Saturday morning and make our way to Mainz. Side note: if you have a non-EU home address and are traveling Europe, get the Eurail pass, not the Interrail pass. The latter forces you to start from a border city (i.e. Basel for Switzerland), meaning I had to buy a separate ticket to Basel and transfer trains. Not the worst, but just an extra hoop to jump through.

Of course, the first thing we (this trip consists of Josh, Harry, and I) had to do in Mainz was to stop by a German McDonald’s and grab some unique items: curly fries! It tasted very similar to Wendy’s fries in the US. There was some time before the festivities, so we grabbed a tram pass, drove over the Rhine, and went to the Mainz Cathedral, Mainzer Dom.

The cathedral was breathtaking, and the square area was bustling with tourists and locals alike, the latter of which were all in costume! We explored the historical area, saw the famous Gutenberg statue (the museum has 2 original Gutenberg bibles, but it was closed, sadly), and hopped on a bus to the parade area. Unfortunately, we couldn’t figure out where to get out and got finessed a little, but we took it in stride. The parade was a blast! The energy was contagious as we were surrounded by Germans drinking beer and blasting music. There were huge floats, dancers, and musicians, all of whom would throw candy (and packs of tissues, for whatever reason?) at the crowd.

After the parade, we were ready for a nice nap. But, of course, our Uber driver (who never showed up) had different plans. We luckily made it back to the Airbnb in one piece, checked in, and headed back out to Frankfurt via high-speed rail. Once there, I grabbed some Chidoba (Chipotle + Qdoba, maybe?) to nibble on, and headed straight for Willy-Brandt-Platz station to see the Bum Kun Cha (ChaBum) mural for my friend Korean, Harry. I had no idea who this guy was, but traveling with a Korean means you have to be a bit nationalistic.

The sun had set, giving us a nice vibe for a quick walking tour around historical Frankfurt, starting with the old opera house, Alte Oper. After unsuccessfully trying to woo the guards to let us in, we headed to Römer and Kaiserdom St. Bartholomäus. They were gorgeous and felt very German (whatever that means?), and the best part, there were no tourists at night! For dinner, we stopped by Römer Pils Brunnen for traditional Hessian food. It was an absolutely fantastic meal (with 10/10 customer service) consisting of Apfelwein (apple wine), Schnitzel mit Grüne Soße (schnitzel with traditional green sauce), and a really traditional dish called vanilla ice cream.

To top off the night, we grabbed some local beers from a kiosk and strolled along the river. The view was stunning, especially from the various bridges. We grabbed a quick train back to Mainz, just in time for the nightly festivities of Fastnacht. It was equivalent to Halloween in the US, with young people decked out in costumes and cramming into pubs and bars. With all the crowds (and lack of costumes), we had little success at getting in outside of Kelly’s Irish Pub, where we had a nightcap and headed back to the Airbnb for the night.

Fastnacht continues on Sunday! We headed back into the city and grabbed a quick breakfast at Kaffeekomune before the parades started in the main square. This parade featured more musicians and various clans of people dressed to the nines in various unique costumes (and also no candy or tissue packs this time). At the end, there were some floats designed as full-on political cartoons making fun of the EU, Trump, Putin, Xi Jinping, and whoever you can think of (luckily for Harry, no Koreans). Wrapping up our Mainz adventure, we grabbed döner kebab from Berliner Gmuse kebap (great and cheap), cheap local beer (when in Rome!), and headed to the Hauptbanhof (AKA the main train station—I just wanted to be pretentious about learning German) to go to Heidelberg.

A short couple of hours later, we found ourselves on the Heidelberg bus system on the way to the historic castle, Heidelberg Palace. The views of the city were absolutely gorgeous, and the scale of the magnificent castle could not be put into words. The 3 of us felt like our 8-year-old selves as we explored the nearly-1000-year-old castle, which also featured a huge barrel where they stored wine. And I mean HUGE. It took up a whole room by itself. For all you nerds out there (including us), there was a pharmaceutical museum that has exhibits on the evolution of medicine in medieval and modern Europe.

Before we headed down, we checked off the last item on our German food checklist was Glühwein, a hot mulled wine. Side note again, but for a couple euros extra, you can go to a higher location up the mountain for a panoramic view. On the way, there’s a transfer station, so we thought we were super smart and tried to go to the transfer station to get some better views. Unfortunately, there was nothing to see except the funicular, which we almost missed in trying to explore the nothingness of the transfer station. All’s well that ends well, though, as we made our way down and snagged some delicious Asian food from Asia Bistro (ordered in German!) before hopping on our train back to Zürich via Mannheim and Basel. Including connections, we stopped at 8 (8!) stations on Sunday, so we were more than happy when we got home to beautiful Zürich.

Takeaways

• Germans love to P-A-R-T-Y. Fastnacht is a great time, especially if you have a costume
• Sausage (if you eat it), Döner, schnitzel, local beer, Apfelwein, and Chipotle-Qdoba fusion are absolute musts if you visit Western Germany
• Frankfurt has some great views and history, but definitely doable within a day trip
  (big shoutout to r/Frankfurt on Reddit for their comprehensive 4-hour walking guide of the city designed for people with layovers)
• Heidelberg is THE place to bring an 8-year-old kid who’s into princes, knights, duels, and giant barrels (or bring yourself and happily regress for a day)

Rose-Bud-Thorn

Rose (what went well): Lots of great food, an electric atmosphere, and picturesque views
Bud (what was good but could be improved on): Should have worn or bought costumes! Would have been fun to step out of our comfort zone and dance around in bright blue, red, yellow, and white (the colors of Mainz Fastnacht)
Thorn (what did not go well): Transportation was a bit iffy in these smaller cities (unresponsive Ubers, irregular buses), so be sure to plan some flex time. Also, plan to visit Mainz on a non-holiday weekend to get a chance to visit the Gutenberg museum and see an original Gutenberg bible!