So how can I explain what happened next in Cologne Germany?
We just arrived from Amsterdam and went to visit the Koln Cathedral.
The cathedral was locked!
All of these strange,
phantasmagorical-creatures were around.
They were acting wild.
Crazy.
I mean this is Germany on a weekday in November!
Do you think I got a lollipop by mistake?
Or maybe it’s just CHEERS to you from CARNIVAL in amazing Koln Deutschland!
(On a big bummer note, my laptop broke. A nice Bulgarian person let me use his laptop to download some photos and send this post to you with no editing. I am traveling in small German towns with no idea when I can buy a new laptop, hopefully before I hit Slovakia. So until then, I am abroad and adrift, laptopless, and missing you and your posts terrifically~
Sorry about your laptop, but thanks for taking the time to post these great photos!
Thank you more for the kind appreciation!
So sorry about your laptop, yet how cool that someone helped you send this post.
Maybe the laptop ate the lollipop 😉
peace and safe enjoyable travels,
Linda
Of course, my laptop is a stoner. I should have suspected…..all this time enabling it…….
So glad the nice person allowed you to borrow his laptop … as per the lollipops, just because YOU didn’t buy one, doesn’t mean some of your photographic subjects didn’t 😉
A fine, if phantasmagorical post, and hats off to you for achieving itunder such trying difficulties. Good luck with the laptop search.
Cracking up……
Love,love love it!
Yep, wish you had been there!
It is beautiful Cindy
great street photos !!!
Have a nice trip 🙂
Thank & cheers my friend!
What fun captures. Aren’t the Bulgarians just so generous but to this day, I still have no idea why the two Bulgarian women in my train compartment had wire wrapped around their waists…
If my Bulgarian grandfather was still alive, I would ask him for you!
Phew, I hadn’t realized THAT little piece of history when I made my comment, lol! 🙂
It was the beginning of carnival on 11th November 11:11 .
Yep! First time I have ever seen it! Amazing!
How fun. And I thought I had it tough trying to type this with my cat laying across my arms. Thanks for your tenacity and free spirit.
Visa versa 2 U X 2!
PS Do you think it has anything to do with today is Friday the 13th and odd day — 11-13-15?
Is today Friday the 13th????? I had no idea…..someone musta snuck me a lollipop! 😉
Here’s hoping you get sorted out before too long Cindy.The festival in Koln looked like the doctor’s ‘rag week’ in the UK when they raise money for charity.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
What a wonderful way to raise money!
What great fun Cindy! The laptop is a bummer but we know you will triumph.
Thanks my friend, although I am in massive blog withdrawal and can’t even upload my photos!
Ah, I haven’t been able to upload photos for weeks! Even the technician couldn’t help and so one of the blogs is still down. 🙁
I just got the poetry blog back up yesterday…
You have my deepest empathies!
So sorry for your technical troubles, Cindy! Hope you are rescued soon and get a new computer.
I miss my blogging buddies fiercely!
I am sure! Don’t you feel like your laptop is/was a good friend too? I can understand why you miss it!
It was beset by the dreaded ‘blue screen of death’ so alas there is no cure!
Nice shots ,Cindy. 🙂
Cheers & gratitude to you Ranu~
Have a great time. Be safe. 🙂
Thank you and I will try!
“Fasching/Karneval” is the 5th season, the crazy season in Europe and it starts on November 11th :-). Great pics.
It is a hoot and a half!
Oh noooooo! I can’t believe your laptop failed. Well, you are in the right place to get a new one. German technology is supposed to be the best! Meanwhile, have fun! I love all your crazy Koln characters.
Koln is cool and my laptop sitll worked there!
I’ve not heard of the Carnival before, but what fun! They look like fairly sober revelers, unlike at Mardi Gras. 😀 So sorry about your laptop though, Cindy.
I appreciate that Teresa. I don’t think many of them were too sober and it was mid-morning!!!!
Sorry about your laptop! Love the title of this post and the pictures!
Here I didn’t even have a lollipop and this happens. You know what they say, no good deed goes unpunished…… 😉
Haha love it
How fun, Love it! So sorry to hear about your laptop… It must be very frustrating. Strangely, I was wondering about your laptop while reading your blog a few days ago, and I thought, I should get a laptop just for traveling. 🙂
We are connected psychically, or at least our computers are. I had a laptop just for traveling……I guess I should have gotten 2!
Bonjour Cindy, je vous souhaite un séjour agréable malgré les petits problèmes techniques. … quelque chose est traduit par “Marie-Jeanne Lollipop” (“sucette à la marijuana” ?) par le programme “Google-traductor” et je ne pense pas que ce soit la bonne traduction Il est vrai qu’Amsterdam, c’est le lieu …… peut importe, passez une excellente fin de semaine.
Oui est etait en effet sucettes de marijuana a vendre a Amsterdam et non une erreur de traduction google !! 😉
Hope you are well now and a new laptop is with you 🙂
Your German-Carnival photos are very funny 😀 😀
How long will you stay in Germany?
We are staying almost two weeks in Germany and Austria, but I still haven’t gotten to a laptop store, there hasn’t been time, and won’t be until maybe Vienna towards the end. It takes time to buy a laptop and it has to be compatible……ergh!
Remember, when you have that new laptop set up we expect a new photo of you in that black and which checked get-up… 😉
Laughing, I kinda liked the naughty nurse costume! 😉
Mais oui mon amie! 😉
<3 <3
Now that’s what call a party!!! Sorry about your laptop, hope things work out for you. Safe travels!!
Yes, Germans know how to par-tee! 😉
Bring some home with you!! lol
That was very nice of that Bulgarian citizen to let you use their laptop. And the photos suggest a great deal of fun being had over there in Germany! 😀
Bulgarians are very nice in my opinion, especially since I am 1/4 Bulgarian!
I won’t worry about the bias if you don’t, Cindy. Have fun over there. :O)
Are you on your river cruise? How is the weather? Cold? My niece lives in Cologne and visited the town a few times. Why was the cathedral closed? To avoid these crazy people? 😀 )))
Yes to both questions. 🙂 We got an incredible deal we couldn’t pass up, free round trip air, 1/3 normal price etc., but it is not really our thing as we prefer to travel on our own. It is not cold so far, but should be as we get closer to Budapest.
Let the laptop and enjoy yourself there. You will read blogs again when you return. Have fun for us! 🙂 yeeeey!
Thanks much~
Sounds like an amazing trip. Great pictures. Can’t believe you’re managing to blog at all while you’re away!
I seem to be away more than I am home, so it is comfortable for me. Hope all is well with you Carrie.
Thanks. It is. 🙂
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord – Variety is the spice of life and commented:
Cindy Knoke continues her tour of Europe minus her laptop but lucky enough to meet a charming local who let her upload these for our enjoyment.. looks like a great party.. sign me up.
What would the world be without kind people, like you Sally!
♥
Nice to be surprised by an unexpected delight. Thanks for the share.
Did you say you were a broad, a drift and topless. Naughty, too much lager I expect. 🙂
You can’t say I didn’t warn you to close one eye ! 😉
Yous right, I cansh shay thatsh not nooohow. 😀
😉 😉
Carnival fun! I haven’t ever had a Mary Jane lollipop so thought you must have stumbled onto a party, Cindy. Hope you’ll be up and running on your laptop soon. Would hate to miss any of your photos!
Awww, so appreciated!
Enjoyed each for their sparkle of colors and characters. Maybe it’s a sign to simple savor your trip, and go cyberless.
Cyber less. Is there life in such a situation?? 😉
I hope so.
Some people know how to grasp life in all four armloads! Wondrous!
Don’t forget the tail!!! 😉 😉
😀
Amazing costumes!
So creative and joyous! Wonderful!
Yes!
They really know how to have fun don’t they!?! Sorry to hear about the laptop. May you find a replacement soon 💛
I admire this trait greatly in anyone and thank you my friend~
fabulous photos, happy travels!
Danke schoen!
Oh no ..what a bummer no laptop but a kind man and what an adventure you are on …enjoy!
The bitter and then the sweet with the kindness of a stranger!
There is a joke. Pessimist is saying that cognac smells like a bed bug. Optimist in contradiction saying that bed bag smells like cognac. Everything is depends of point of view. You lost your old laptop Cindy, but you’ll buy a new nice and more powerful one. Forget about it and enjoy your trip.
It looks the Angel-statue is staying in Koln (Cologne) for years. I’ve seen him about 8-10 years ago in front of Cathedral.
He is particularly wonderful and I love your philosophy of life my friend, it is so very true!
Your camera is hallucinating or perhaps has a personality disorder that you could discuss with it. It sees people differently than most of us do. There must be a medical term for that.
I think you are so correct and very diserning to identify the camera as the culprit, rather than the photographer! 😉
“KOMIKON?” Or possibly remnants of the Oktoberfest.
You know better then I Wally, that it is just one fest after another in Germany which is why I love it so!
Was it German Halloween? My sympathies regarding the laptop. As always your pictures are fabulous!
It is carnival which actually has religious origins, but in Cologne these are errrrrrrr…..minimized! 😉
🙂 hope you’re sporting a new laptop by now 🙂
How’d ya guess????? 😉
That look very fun. I would love to be there seeing the people dressing up as such. I am sorry to hear your laptop broke down..
Well, now I have a German one which will hopefully improve my German!
A Cheesehead in Amsterdam! They fine cheese there and now the classic Cheesehead headware to go with it. https://cindyknoke.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/033.jpg
I was especially partial to the cheesehead myself!! 😉 😉
Yeah, what a trip that must be! One can get the experience without the side effects of MJ. I’d love that! Sorry to hear about your poor laptop but hope that you get hold of another one soon. Until then, enjoy all the fantastical sights and events Cindy! <3 ~Lynn
You are the bestest travel companion Lynn. You make the trip more fun!
Love the enthusiasm in these, Cindy 😀
I do too and cheers to you~
So cool! I love the photos.
Yay! Thank you~
Oh, ouch on the laptop! Looks like you are having an awesome time!
I don’t know that I was having as much fun as the carnivalers in Cologne!! 😉
molto divertente!
Exactamente! 🙂
People there seem to be whimsical and just have fun. I hope you’re able to buy a new laptop before long. Have fun. 🙂 — Suzanne J.
They do know how to have fun and thank you, I have a new German laptop with umlaas!!
Amsterdam se ve una ciudad festiva y divertida. 😉
Si, mi amiga muy linda y mucha divertida!
Obviously you have been in Cologne on Novemer 11th, start official start of the carnival period 😉
Have fun Cindy! 😄
By the way: Where ever you are now – ask for a “Mediamarkt” or “Saturn” – one store of these big chains will be nearby 😃 Greetings from Stefan
Yep, just came from mediamarket here in Wurzburg with my new German laptop! Danke~
This cheered me up on an otherwise depressing day (Paris carnage). Thanks.
I have heard nothing about Paris here in Wurzburg Germany and this is the second mention, so now I know something awful happened and am dreading looking at the news.
good photos…enjoyed viewing them.
So glad & thank you~
Looks like you ended up in a strange sort of dream 😀 But Germans do start their preparations for Carnival early…
The kind of dream you want to keep on dreaming…..
The windmills’ photos are so beautiful. Lovely.
Thank you. Holland is so perfectly picturesque!
You’re welcome.
Sorry about the dearly departed laptop, but great post anyway! Love the carnival costumes.
Be safe out there…prayers for Paris.
Be well my friend and cheers to you! <3
Fantastic photos! So sorry about your computer woes. It is stressful when our hardware goes on the blink. Hope you find something that works for you soon. Safe travels.
Thank you my friend and all the best to you!
Right after Mary Jane’s lollipop I got confused….., something about a topless broad drifting through Germany with a Bulgarian ????? Hahaha !!!!! 😉 Looks like fun, Cuz. Hope you’re not getting near what has happened in Paris. So absolutely insane…, and sad for those French families. Hugs !
Just noted the Packers fan in the crowd (cheesehead). Good lord, they’re everywhere ! Germany, you’re still on the heritage trail of my mother’s family, Cindy. If you continue to Austria and to what was at one time Prussia, you’ll have completed the path. Ha! Hope all is well over there. 🙂
I am thinking of your Barton history (and mine too cuz) as I travel. Love to you and your family.
Stay out of harms way over there, Cuz. I’ll feel better when you tell me you’re home. Hugs!
Awwwww, so nice to be cared for cuz! <3
Oh no, death of a laptop. Funny how lost we are these days with something that didn’t exist not so long ago.
Yes, I experienced the dreaded Blue Screen of Death!! erghhhhhh……
What fun!
<3
Whoa, bad news about the laptop, Cindy. Hope you can find a replacement SOON! In the meantime, have fun — certainly looks like Carnival to me!!
Those Koln folks know how to paarty!
Looks like a lot of folks were having fun
They were having a party-hearty time!
Well, now, that would have quite a surprise. At least it was a celebration and not the norm! Looks like a fun time was had by all. I see you reference getting a new German laptop. I didn’t know you could read and write German! 😆 Bwaahhahahahaha!
Well, I really can’t so that’s the problem…. 😉
“Wow, totally like crazy man…” Did you find out what it was all about? Everyone looks to be having lots of fun…
Well. it carnival, a religiously based holiday originally…….
So much fun and such wonderful smiles. Thanks for sharing. This is Ruth anomy other blog was sunset dragon and after way to many times to get into it, and not being able to I started this one.
I am hopefully following you now, although God only knows what I am doing now with my German laptop!
Fab photos and so uplifting too. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Yay! Thank you~
Thank you!! 🙂
Such fun! ～̎̎٩(⌒͡∀⌒͡⌯̊)̥̊◦
Thank you ～̎̎٩(⌒͡∀⌒͡⌯̊)̥̊◦ !
What a fantastic time Cindy. The celebration is wild, right? So sorry to learn of your computer problems – hope you are able to fix it while you are overseas.
This was one wild PAARTY!
🙂
Well the nun with the beard quite clearly had a lollipop (or two!). You can tell just from his eyes (A Doctor Writes…). RH
Cracking up. I need to do more of these posts just for your comments!!! 😉 😉
Wow, adventures! Stay safe!
Yes, the dull life of an aging retiree……
🙂
Cindy – I echo Ineses’ comment above – please stay safe. This post made me homesick for Germany and mad all at the same time. The Koln Cathedral is one of my all time favorite places to find peace and perfect for contemplation – and to find it locked is a sin in and of itself. I know it’s because of the changes in our world but it breaks my heart all the same. Knowing the world traveler you are, you’ve probably been there several times but you can never see the Koln Cathedral too many times. Will you still be in Germany when the Neurenberg Christmas Market rolls around or perhaps it’s already started.
I was there at the start of the market in Nuremberg. I am now in Regensberg, Christmas is HERE! Be well my friend~
I loved, loved, loved the entire holiday season in Germany. They really know how to do it up right. But, then, so do all the other European countries. My dream is to go back one day.
Oh, I hope you do! We are going to the Christmas markets in Vienna tomorrow. Hugs to you Sheri~
What fun you’ll have. I see all the lights now.
Wunderschöne Fotos wünsche einen schönen Tag und eine gute neue Woche Gruß von mir und Umarmung Gislinde
Wunderschöne Fotos wünsche einen schönen Tag und eine gute neue Woche Gruß von mir und Umarmung Gislinde
Danke schoen mein lieber Fruend Gislinde! <3 <3
Danke, dass du mein lieber Freund Gislinde. Ich bin im schönen Deutschland jetzt!
I wonder what my cousin in Germany will add to this. She’s always telling me about all the fun things going on they enjoy. <3 <3
Oops. Forgot to say thank you for sharing. Much enjoyed. 🙂
Germans definitely know how to celebrate! 🙂 <3
They sure do from what I hear by way of emails. <3 <3
Now it is the Christmas Markets and they are wunderbar!!!
What a fun post! All those costumes and colors leaves me smiling. Hope you resolve your technology problems soon.
Thank you and yes, this celebration was full of joy and energy!
Based on the photos above, I agree with you ~ you did not buy one MJ lollipop, but several and shared them with your camera and lens as how else could you see such things 🙂
My camera and lens are bad influences, like hanging out with the wrong crowd in high school…….
You didn’t have to go to Amsterdam for an MJ lollipop. We have plenty here in Colorado. 🙂
So I have been hearing…… 🙂
That’s wild! I hope the nice weather continues for couple of more weeks so I don’t get stranded in a snow storm 🙂
Excited you are coming and looking Forward to seeing your photos!
They & you sure know how to have fun!!
Fun is imperative! <3
What fabulous fun, brilliant photos. Enjoy your travels.
Thank you Charlotte and someday I hope to travel to hear a performance from you my friend. We’re going to hear a quartet tomorrow in the Vienna Symphony Hall!
Fabulous, wish I was there. I’ve an exciting solo concert on Saturday one hour, it will be my first time performing the Haugtussa cycle.
Best wishes Charlotte
Someday soon Jim & I will be in ýour audience! <3
I can see myself fitting right in with this crowd!
Me too, when I was a lot younger 😉
😊👍🏼
>3
great photos!
So pleased you enjoyed and cheers to you!
Sorry about your laptop!! It does leave you feeling a bit helpless without one. What oh what was the occasion at the Cathedral? We lived in Spain for 12 years and traveled summers north– I remember dancers in front of the Cologne Cathedral, but nothing quite so interesting as you saw!
Yes this was quite an cccasion, this was carnival, which is an official German day of celebration.
Looked like crazy sort of fun!
Exactly!
They sure know how to have a good time in Amsterdam. So the laptop broke…..know you can feel my pain.
Well, I am responding in my German Laptop, constantlz mixing up the y´s and z´s!!!
Ha! When and if I get my laptop unbroke ( just invented another word) it´s configured in Spanish, so you also have the same problem like me, feal the pain!! 😉
Yep. I feel your pain. 😉
Hi Cindy …your photos are really great ! I love the many friendly people I met in Bulgaria 2 years ago and Amsterdam was glorious ! Thankyou so much for these reminders of lovely days . Love and blessings , megxxx
Love & Blessings back to ýou, and so glad the photos prompted happy memories!
Such a very fun and lively post, Cindy. How wild it must have been for you to see all this craziness and fun around you. The costumes are quite elaborate! I’m so glad you were able to get these great captures and use a stranger’s laptop to share this fun day with us. Thanks so much Cindy! 🙂
I really appreciated their exuberant ability to celebrate and the creativity and humor they displayed! Thank you for your kindness!
Seems like I missed a lot of your latest adventures – need to catch up. Hope all is well HW.
No hummingbirds to whisper at here! I miss them! Be well Antionette~
I looks a lot like Key West, Florida the last week of October, except there are more clothes in your pictures.
Cracking up……it was a lot colder of course! 😉
Reblogged this on Oyia Brown.
How thoughtful of you and thank you!
I found you again. Computer is not happy with the storm outside. Wanted to thank you for following my blog and let you know how much I enjoyed the pictures of the Germanic signs. I grew up in Germany and have visited a few times since. It has a very different feel than here. I’ll be back.
It was called Fasching when I was a kid. My parents dressed up but it was not a holiday for children. I didn’t do Halloween till I was 11 and then it was over a year later. Too old and no more Fasching. 🙁
lol not the kind of carnival i am use too that’s for sure 😛 thank you for posting 🙂
What fun!!!!!
Cheers to you Gigi!