Karnival in Bad Schönborn...

Today around lunchtime we noticed lots of people dressed in colorful costumes arriving in the main square of this little town. It was fairly obvious that a Karnival party was brewing. While B was screaming toward Franfurt at 100 mph (literally) to pick up Marina at the airport, I took the kids into the heart of the celebration.

Bad Schönborn really is a small town but the Karnival celebration was pretty big. There were thousands of people dressed up and lining the streets awaiting the parade. At about 14:30, a fire truck initiated the festivities. For the next hour or so, groups of revelers with marching bands proceeded down the main drag (our street!).

Robert, Emily and Sophia dressed up as Elliot from E.T., a pirate and a cat, respectively. They fit right in. While they were a bit uneasy at first, they warmed up to the celebration fairly quickly once the candy started flying. Robert was particularly wary of a crew dressed as monkeys. If Sophia doesn't stop bouncing off the walls by midnight, we'll spike her next bottle with a dose of insulin.
While a good proportion of the folks in the street weren't feeling much pain, everyone seemed very well behaved. It's funny how little details like our obviously not speaking German didn't seem to dissuade "the toasted" from engaging in animated (though one-sided) conversation.
BTW, Marina had a great time in Spain. She went to a really cool artificial ski slope where the friend she was visiting captured on video a spectacular wipe-out on a snowboard that involved a number of unseen, innocent bystanders. She also went to Toledo. Marininha em frente do Palácio Real.