Nuts to Disneyland and all that nonsense - thanks to this post on BuzzFeed I'm now determined to take young Beowulf Nagl (thought I should settle on an online pseudonym for him in advance of his arrival, much as I'd love that to be his actual name) to the Carnival in Lucerne, Switzerland one year. LOOK!
Every year, towards the end of winter, Carnival (Fasnacht) breaks out in the streets, alleyways and squares of the old town. This is a glittering outdoor party, where chaos and merriness reign and nothing is as it normally is. Strange characters in fantastic masks and costumes make their way through the alleyways, while carnival bands (Guggenmusigen) blow their instruments in joyful cacophony and thousands of bizarrely clad people sing and dance away the winter. Lucerne Carnival starts every year on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday with a big bang. There are big parades on Dirty Thursday and the following Monday, called Fat Monday, which attract tens of thousands of people. Lucerne's Carnival ends with a crowning finish on Fat Tuesday evening with a tremendous parade of big bands, lights and lanterns. After the parade, all the bands wander through the city playing joyful music.
SOLD! Right, that's his first birthday sorted...
