walki-talki.com Travel Blog

That time of the year is drawing near. Yes, Carnival season. There are many choice places to enjoy it in Europe: Cologne, Duesseldorf, Aachen, Maastricht, Basel, and Venice, to name but a few. Wherever you go, you are assured to have a great time.  

By far the best and biggest celebrations are to be found in Cologne (Koeln), Germany, and in Venice, Italy. The Karneval in Koeln is quite an experience. I had the pleasure of attending this event in 2006. It consists of of an entire week of celebrations that culminates in a gargantuan parade on Rose Monday (Rosenmontag). During this parade, you will see over a million costumed Germans drinking, eating sausages and scrambling to catch carmele (candy) being thrown from the various trains in the endless parade. Upon catching a carmele, a man may present it to a women and demand a bütze (kiss in the Cologne dialect) in return.

The entire affair is totally friendly, the trains in the parade are invariably hilarious and edgy (and not for the prurient, see image), the beer (Kölsch, a pilsner) is good, the sausages aretasty, and the entire affair is difficult to forget. Of course, the giant parade on Rosenmontag is almost an afterthought for the informed traveler. It is best to arrive on the Thursday before (see link above) and enjoy the weekend. The entire city (Germany’s gayest city, by the way) is dressed in costumes and drunk for the entire four days. Every bar one enters will be full of costumed people singing traditional German music and dancing to disco. There will be Brazilian drum sections traveling the streets, and classical troupes spreading mirth everywhere in the city. So, arrive early, party early, and leave in one piece. 

The Carnevale in Venice is a decidedly more elegant affair, though equally hectic. The Venice Carnevale is a festival of masks. Elegantly dressed people will parade the city in the most beautiful and elaborate masks that one can imagine. The masks themselves have evolved into remarkable works of art and one of the many crafts for which the city is renowned. You can learn more about the Carnevale from the walki-talki.com mp3 walking tour of Venice. This tour will also get you acquainted with the major attractions should you find time before or after the party. As with Cologne, you are advised to arrive early to enjoy the festivities before the final parade. 

This year (2008) Karneval, Fasching, Mardis Gras, Carnevale (whatever you want to call it) happens on Monday, February 4.  

Payam

Top 10 Edinburgh festival hangouts | Travel | Guardian Unlimited

And, if you need a concise repository of the hippest things to do in Edinburgh, read the above article, or visit the Edinburgh pages of The Guardian’s brand new travel pages. The tips can be especially helpful.

“What’s your favorite city in Europe?”

We get that question a lot.

For some the debate might take hours: Do you go with an obvious jewel like London or Paris? Or perhaps a more discrete gem in the European crown like Heidelberg in Germany or Sintra in Portugal? What about a modern phoenix like Berlin or Barcelona? Not to mention Prague. And don’t even get me started on Italy.

Fortunately for me, however, the answer is simple: The best city in Europe is Edinburgh…in August.

August is Edinburgh is the time when the artistic universe aligns in the form of the Edinburgh Arts Festival. The festival is the largest in the world and is actually comprised of seven different festivals related to music, books, theater and the arts. For four weeks, the entire city is transformed into one giant arts venue where even the back of a taxi cab is liable to be the set of a roving one man show. The creative energy is contagious and you are guaranteed to see something amazing as Edinburgh attracts literally thousands of debuts acts from around the world. It is here the first stones are cast that will cause ripples throughout the art world for the rest of the year.

And the parties aren’t bad either.

Of course what makes the Arts Festival truly special is the setting itself. Edinburgh is a living museum that oozes with medieval architecture where the ghosts of Robert the Bruce, Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson and countless others (not all named Robert) seem to roam at every wynd and cranny. The city is built along what’s called a crag and tail volcanic formation with a castle crowning the top of the rock. The main road leading up to the castle, known as the Royal Mile, is home to some of the earliest “high rise” residential buildings, built in the early 1500’s. After the castle and the Royal Mile, many first time visitors head to the area known as the grassmarket. This was once a large outdoor cattle market as well as the place where hangings, beheadings and all other manner of executions were carried out to the public’s satisfaction. Today the area is filled with pubs and restaurants.

Once you’ve had enough of the festival or are just looking for a break near the city, head to The Meadows, a large park near Edinburgh University and home to the worlds first golf course. Also near the city is the hill known as Arthur’s seat. This mini-mountain provides breathtaking views of the city and the Scottish coast.

For information about the main festival visit http://www.eif.co.uk/. For more alternative fare go to http://www.edfringe.com/ for info about the Fringe Festival, now the largest component of the seven-headed beast known as the Edinburgh Arts Festival.

Of course while you’re there, there’s no better way to get to know the city than by walking the walk with Walki-Talki’s Essential Edinburgh Walking Tour: http://walki-talki.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=33

Och-aye! See you there.