Wednesday, February 25, 2009

25 February 2009 - Cool as ICE


[I can't imagine I even need to suggest what the theme song for today's posting is, but.... "Ice, Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice]


Last week I took the ICE (Inter City Express, I believe) train for the first time and quite enjoyed the experience. It is not, admittedly, of the same ilk as the mighty Shinkansen of Japan (as previously reported in my TravelPost posting), but it's very fast (I think it travels at speeds around 300 km/hour and is a quick 70 minute trip from Frankfurt up to Köln (aka Cologne)) and a smooth ride.


I was supposed to meet a colleague and take the train with him and was waiting on the platform as the train was preparing to depart. Now, I'm not used to travel by train and suffice it to say that the Acela and Amtrak are no comparison to Deutsch Bahn. I'm used to airplanes for which tickets become useless if you don't take that particular flight, so I jumped on the train before it left (you know, saving the firm money and all). Turns out that if you have a reservation on the train for a particular day, you can pretty much travel anytime, you just aren't guaranteed that same seat in that same car. Anyway, a great experience.


I was "flying" solo again on the train today to visit our office in Köln, which was within walking distance of the main train station. On the way to the office and located directly next to the train station is the "Dom," a huge cathedral that was one of the few buildings not destroyed during World War II. As I was walking to the office, people were leaving the Dom following completion of an 8 AM mass which apparently occurs every day, but was particularly special this day because, of course, it is Ash Wednesday. Kind of interesting to watch everyone come out.


Speaking of Ash Wednesday, the scene near the Dom today was markedly different from what I saw just a week ago, and it's all because of Karneval. Karneval is the German version of Mardi Gras and is celebrated widely, with different cities claiming bragging rights for who has the best celebrations, Köln and nearby Düsseldorf being two of those cities. The celebration begins the Thursday before Ash Wednesday and takes different forms. I was in Köln last Tuesday, so it was very calm and quiet. Today, it look like a parade hurricane had blown through there. Apparently, in addition to the festivities over the weekend, they have one of the largest parades in the country in Köln on what I would refer to as Fat Tuesday. (Side note: I am not Catholic, but enjoy Fat Tuesday -- who wouldn't, with a name like that? -- because every Fat Tuesday in our Chicago office, one of our paraprofessionals brought in punschkies (sp?), which are delightful Polish pastries full of goodness and, well, lots of fat, undoubtedly. Yum!) When I arrived today, public works employees were hosing down the streets, tearing down reviewing stands for the parades and a whole bunch of other things. Very interesting.


Düsseldorf also kicks off their celebrations on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday. People dress up in costume and women apparently go up to random men and cut their ties (yes, even nice silk ties) and kiss them. Hmmm.... I spoke with an attorney a few weeks ago who lives in Düsseldorf and he shared a somewhat amusing and somewhat horrifying story. A few years ago, he was hosting Finnish clients for a very important and somewhat sensitive meeting. The meeting happened to fall on this particular Thursday, but no one seemed to notice that. The law firm didn't have much conference space at the time, so they rented a conference room in one of those office-for-rent kind of places. Which places also supply "rented" administrative personnel. So when they showed up for this very important meeting, the client (knowing nothing about Düsseldorf's tradition) was greeted by administrative assistants dressed up like Mickey Mouse and Snoopy who promptly cut off the ties of the client and kissed them. Uhhhh.... Awkward?


I'm not sure what the celebrations generally are in Frankfurt, though apparently some sort of parade began on Sunday afternoon at 2:11 PM. Further, employees in Eschborn were entitled to a half day of personal time for Karneval related festivities yesterday (Fat Tuesday). I, um, was working (and recovering from the emotional trauma of the gym). Maybe next year....

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